Increasing chain/sprocket/chainwheel life on Rohloff/hub gear drivetrains

[Hamish]

I was well into my second chain after reversing my sprocket/chain ring when I noticed that the chain seemed to have 'stretched'  (yes I know it is not really stretching but you know what I mean)  quite a lot.  It got to the stage where it barely fitted the chain ring and rode up on the teeth so I could see loads of light between the chain ring and the chain when looking at the shadow of the bike as I rode along.  The chain had obviously worn much faster than the teeth and as such the wear of the chain seemed to be the limiting factor.

The transmission then became quite rough and noisy and i thought it was time for chain 3 and new sprocket and ring.  I must admit that i had hoped for more miles and was a bit fed up that it had worn so fast.  Anyway, I tried a new chain on the old chain ring and it was no surprise that it didn't work very well - the teeth were too worn.  But, it seemed, they were not completely worn out and seemed to have plenty of life in them if only the chain fitted and hadn't stretched so soon.  With this in mind I looked in my spares collection and found a part worn chain that i had taken from my MTB some time ago when chain suck was causing problems and I had replaced the chain rings.

I put the part worn chain on and went for a spin- the chain was a perfect fit for my part worn teeth and the bike was smooth and silent.  That made me happy.  I'm not sure how long it will last - but I will make sure I never throw out old chains - they may come in handy.

[travellingman]

The chain/chainring/sprocket relationship with an IGH such as a Rohloff Speedhub is the same as a motorcycle. I've never heard of replacing a chain in exactly the same position as before. Sheldon Brown was an authority on many things but this sounds spurious in the extreme.
Maybe it's me but as previously stated there are more important variables such as adequate lubrication, adjustment and NOT fitting a new chain onto part worn sprockets/chainrings or vice versa.
That's the golden rule with motorcycles anyway and I can't see why it should be any different for a bicycle....

[farnorth]

I'm amazed by the chain lives noted.  I don't expect to get more than a season (2-3000 miles) out of a chain before the elongation is obvious and sprocket damaging. OK I have been using inexpensive Shimano chains...

I've just bought me an expensive KMC single speed chain (rather more than the £4 mentioned below, and will be reversing the sprocket to the un-worn side, so here's hoping.

[mountaincarrot]

I get about 1700KM out of KMC chain. Each year I use three KMC chains in rotation, swapping them monthly. Together the three do about 5000 KM which is 1 annual oil change. After 1700KM a KMC chain is at about 1% stretch and the sprockets are very concave. In 2 years I do 10,000KM and "use up" a 16 tooth Rohloff rear sprocket and Thorn chainring after turning them round halfway at oil change time. After this, the teeth are teeny sharp points, sometimes snapping right off, and the chains are starting to fall off too regularly.

I ride off-road. - This can make 100 times the difference in chain wear compared to clean road riders.

Since I have the "benefit" of using so many chains I can quickly test the theories of the late Sheldon Brown, and thing he had about fitting the chain on the same (even) teeth. It seemed a good idea, but after carefully filing marks on my sprockets, and after always using chain on the same teeth over a whole season, I can safely declare it made no difference at all to chain stretch, tooth shape or resulting chain slack, compared to the time I dropped the chain on in any "phase" each time I punctured. The odd an even teeth all had the same concave shape and the same wear. This was unexpected, but it makes my life simpler since nowadays I don't bother how I fit my chains.

[gillybert]

the only sure fire way of cutting the cost of transmission wear is to run cheaper parts all the bikes i have run over 36000 miles i found chain rotaition does not really work in the motorcycle world i have allways been told never run old and new parts becouse old chain will wear sprkts out double quick time

[gillybert]

i normally get 9000 miles out of a rohloff chain no sighn of wear to chianring or rear sprocket as yet done 21000 miles so far

[Hamish]

I am now about 3000 miles into a new Raven Tour and my chain has started wearing.  It has gone way past changing the chain before it is too late and there are signs of wear on the teeth at both ends.

I am happy to wear all three components into the ground as per usual but I am noticing a slight roughness in the transmission as if the chain has worn faster than the chain ring.  Does anyone else get this as the chain starts to wear?  I am hoping the other bits will catch up and it will get smoother again - but last time this did not happen!

My commute takes me through a lot of blown sand on a cycle path and is very hard on chains - so that may be why I wear them out in this way.  

Anyway, has anyone noticed the same thing happening on their bikes?

[Andre Jute]

My commute takes me through a lot of blown sand on a cycle path and is very hard on chains - so that may be why I wear them out in this way.  

See the very last post in this thread about the Hebie Chainglider. It will keep the sand off your geartrain.

[neil_p]

I can see daylight between my chain and the sprocket.... only 7000km of use.... I'm happy to buy a new chain.... but is it ok to put new chain onto part worn sprocket/chainring? I don't want to reverse the sprocket/chainring just yet as they don't have any visible signs of wear.

[geocycle]

You should be OK.  Chains don't last as long as sprockets or chain rings.  It might be a little rough at first but should settle down.  I have two chains I run for 3000 miles then swap over so try to equalise the wear a bit.

[Hamish]

I can see daylight between my chain and the sprocket.... only 7000km of use.... I'm happy to buy a new chain.... but is it ok to put new chain onto part worn sprocket/chainring? I don't want to reverse the sprocket/chainring just yet as they don't have any visible signs of wear.

I had the same problem on my Catalyst.  The chain wore faster than the ring/sprocket and then seemed to ride up on the teeth.  (see my post above)  I tried a new chain but it felt terrible.  Then I found a part worn chain that worked perfectly.  My current problem is that this chain seems to be heading the same way.  I guess I will have to see what happens, but it seems that the chain wears much faster than the sprockets.  I tried a new chain and it was far too rough already!

[greywolf]

The current "snake oil" of choice down under is "Squirt", an emulsion of wax in water. Applied to a oil-free clean chain on a regular basis, little and often, people are reporting 20000+ km from a chain. I am presently using it on my Rohloff MTB and both derailleur equipped roadies, have yet to get the long life, but the chains are running sweetly. When you need to clean the chain and drivewheels, boiling water or steam-cleaning takes any crud away and leaves sparkling clean metal. Google it.

[wheezy]

I used the Squirt oil for a year or so. Works fine, but the oil that "weeps" from the hub mixes in with it, forming a more than usually gungy coating on the chain.

I imagine derailleurs are better suited to it.

[Andre Jute]

I think Oil of Rohloff is cheap enough, sticks like the proverbial, is very economical in that a few drops go a long way (three years and still some left in the first bottle but note that I have chaincases on all my bikes).