[ire]

Even though I've ridden most of my life, I have a n00b question. How does everyone determine when to replace their rings, cassette, chain? Do you track the mileage and replace based on that? Do you replace your chain when it reaches a certain wear point? Most of my bikes I've unloaded before I get to this point, but I would like to be more diligent with my training bike. That bike sees a lot of use and I've had it for 2 years now. I've replaced the chain on a regular basis, but I haven't replaced the rings or cassette yet. Two of the cassette cogs are looking worn, but I'm not sure if it actually needs to be replaced.

 

[Bicyclist]

I change my chains when the Park Tool indicator drops into the .75 wear indicator portion, but not the 1.00. This is so the cassette (hopefully) isn't so worn that it will need to be replaced - when you completely wear a chain out then replace it, the cassette and sometimes chainrings will need to be replaced. Other people do chain wear based on the length of 12 full links, but the indicator is an easy way to determine approximate wear.

My process is usually something like this - replace chain. Does it skip on certain cassette cogs? If so, replace cassette. Does it still skip in one chainring or both? If so, replace rings.

 

[SuspectDevice]

When I was racing I always just chose a certain mileage. For me it was 1500. I used to break tons of chains doing sprint workouts and I just had a hunch that that much use gave me a decent safety margin. Cogs are a lot more expensive than chains and chains are far cheaper than dental work.