Bicycle chains and cassettes are both important parts of a bike’s drive train and hence maintenance of them can be time consuming. Getting value out of your bicycle chain is important and a key aspect of that is understanding how well a bicycle chain wears. To get a handle on how my bicycle chains wear, I maintain this blog posting of my bicycle chain wear rates and my bicycle cassette wear rates. I have tried out Shimano chains, KMC chains, Wipperman chains and SRAM chains and my current preference is for Wipperman 10 speed chains and SRAM 9 speed chains.
Bicycle Chain Wear Check
To put my bicycle chain wear rates in context I record all my rides in BikeJournal so I have an accurate measure of the kilometres ridden. I also use BikeJournal to track my chain use. Cassette usage is done in a spreadsheet.
As part of my bicycle chain maintenance program and hence something to keep in mind with my bicycle chain wear rates is that I service my chains every 500 kilometres in the wet riding season (winter to spring) and every 1,000 kilometres in my dry riding season (summer to autumn). My standard bicycle service is detailed here.
This post of my bicycle chain wear rates is updated approximately once a month to ensure the information is current. I am always interested in your feedback on how you experience with your bicycle chain wear rates and general experiences with bicycle chains and cassettes so please do leave a comment below.
Bicycle Chain Wear Rates – Chains and Cassettes Currently in Use
| Chain/Cluster Brand and Model | Last Reported Mileage | Other Comments |
Bicycle Chains |
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| KMC X10L Gold 10 speed chain | 8,209 km as at January 28, 2012 | Fitted to my Kinesis Racelight Granfondo Ltd commuter |
| Shimano HG 93 9 speed chain | 993 km as as January 28, 2012 | Fitted to my Giant XTC 2 mountain bike; touring |
| SRAM PC 991 9 speed chain | 3,524 km as at January 28, 2012 | Fitted to my Surly Long Haul Trucker; touring |
| Shimano Dura-ace CN-7801 10 speed chain |
935 km as at December 27, 2011 | Fitted to my Look 555; Weekend warrior and Audax ride |
Bicycle Cassettes |
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| Shimano Ultegra CS 6700 11-28 10 speed cluster |
1,381 km km as at January 28, 2012 | New fitment to the Kinesis Racelight Granfondo Ltd on September 24, 2011; at 5,749 km. |
| Shimano Ultegra CS 6700 11-28 10 speed cluster |
8,114 km as at January 28, 2012 | Fitted at 13,575 km to my Look 555; Weekend warrior and Audax |
| Shimano Deore XT CS-M770 11-34 9 speed cluster |
9,357 km as at January 28, 2012 | Fitted to my Surly Long Haul Trucker; touring |
| Shimano CS-HG50 11-34 10 speed cluster |
993 km as as January 28, 2012 | Fitted to my Giant XTC 2 mountain bike; touring |
Bicycle Chains Wear Rates – Chains and Cassettes Retired (Archive Data)
| Model | Number of Chains Used | Average Mileage | Other Comments |
Bicycle Chains |
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| KMC X10 10 speed chain | 1 | 4,240 km | Fitted to my Giant CRX 1 commuter. In fairness to the chain I may have prematurely retired it due to my incorrect use of my new Shimano TL-CN41 chain wear tool. |
| Shimano CN-5600 10 speed | 1 | 1,874 km | OEM chain fitted to my Giant CRX 1 |
| Shimano CN-6600 10 speed | 1 | 9,606 km | OEM chain fitted to my Look 555 |
| SRAM PC-971 9 Speed | 1 | 5,833 km | OEM chain fitted to my Surly Long Haul Trucker. |
| Wipperman Connex 10s0 10 speed chain |
1 | 11,147 km | Fitted to my Look 555; Weekend warrior and Audax ride |
Bicycle Cassettes |
|||
| Shimano 105 12-27 10 speed cluster |
1 | 18,672 km | |
| Shimano Ultegra CS-6600 11-23 10 Speed |
1 | 13,575 km | OEM cluster fitted to my Look 555 |
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