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I conciously decided that I didn't want to do my own bike maintenance, I do enough stuff as it is. Every three months I replace the tires, breaks and chain, an

I conciously decided that I didn't want to do my own bike maintenance, I do enough stuff as it is. Every three months I replace the tires, breaks and chain, and have the bike shop do a complete tune up and clean. My last service cost about $400. Then there's inner tubes, clothing, handle bar tape, other replacements, etc that also add up. My bike is my primary form of transport, and I average about 8000km per year. That's not far off what people put on a car.

secondcoming 6y ago
If you're happy doing that then fine. I will add though that replacing a chain every 3 months only makes sense if you're a pro. Make sure you also replace the cassette and chainrings at the same time or else you'll just wear your new chain down very quickly. They should all be replaced at the same time. If your cassette and chainrings aren't worn then your chain isn't either. A chain-splitting tool costs about $20. Entire brakes or just the pads? I hope it's just the pads.
- 0xfaded 6y ago
  No I appreciate the advice, and at risk of turning HN into a bike forum, I have to ask, how long do you run a chain for? I was told that frequently replacing the chain prevents the cassette from wearing down because you replace the chain before it becomes too stretched and mismatched to the cassette.
  - secondcoming 6y ago
    It really depends, there are cheap tools that can measure chain stretch. A decent chain should last a year or more unless you're climbing up the Alps every day. The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. Check their teeth. A sign of a worn chain can be gears slipping. It takes some really intense power to wear out a bicycle chain every 3 months. Cassettes aren't that expensive unless you're going for elite titanium ones. But if you're at that level you should have your own tools in case something breaks on your 100km regular ride!
    - andor 6y ago
      The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. That's not true. If you change the chain early enough, cassette and chainrings will last for a couple of chains. If you ride with a worn chain, the other components wear at an accelerated rate.
      - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
        Chainrings will last for more than "a couple of chains". In the touring world, one is usually advised to replace the chain every 2500 km or so. A steel chainring, however, should easily give you 20,000 km of life.
      - Matthias247 6y ago
        Right. My rule of thumb is about 3 chains for 1 cassette and set of chainrings. Where one chain was about 2500km.
  - andor 6y ago
    That depends on initial manufacturing tolerances and how it's used. The better you keep it clean and well-lubricated, the longer it will last. Some people get 15,000km out of their chains, I'm hoping for 5000km or more. I ride about the same distance as you and according to my chain checker the chain is still good enough after 4.5 months ("0.25% wear", change at 0.5%-0.75%).
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    You are correct about preventative chain replacement (which prolongs the life of the much more expensive cassettes and chain rings). But, even at that, it's unlikely you need to replace the chain more than annually, unless you're riding many thousands of miles/year. When I was training 10+ hours/week, I would replace chains a few times/year, but now that I'm averaging about 8 hours across 3 bikes, it's pretty much an annual thing. A simple wipe down of the chain after wet/dirty rides will also help a bunch - just run an old rag along the chain as you wheel it into the garage/shed/whatever. Brake pads should be annual or less frequent unless you're riding in sand or gritty soil. Same for cables (shifter or brake). Tires are all over - depends on the type of tire. Mountain bike tires rarely last a season - the knobs start to wear off and the rubber gets harder. I measure their life in hours, not months. Road tires should last a few thousand miles unless damaged. Even longer if you aren't worried about absolute traction. Edit - you said you do about 8,000 km/year. Most of those maintenance items are probably fine to do annually. What I'd do... take the bike in for a basic service every quarter (clean the chain, adjust the brakes, check for wear). Then annually, do the chain replacement, tire replacement, etc.
  - hadlock 6y ago
    My experience on a 9 speed bike is that you can safely get 8000km/5000mi out of a chain in a flat dry place like Texas. For me that was about once a year, and lubricating it 3x a year. Once you add in bike racks/panniers, trailers, hills, rain, snow, sea spray, sand/grit, etc you may need to reduce service intervals. There are different schools of thought about cassette wear etc. If you have a 10 or 11 speed bike, which have very thin/lightweight chains (9 speed chain is considerably larger/beefier) then you probably need to shorten your service intervals even shorter. 11 speed chains in particular seem to be very expensive and have relatively short lifespans. That said, changing a chain on a bike takes about 2 minutes with the quick release links they come with now. It's probably more effort to take the bike to the shop than it is to do it yourself.
  - cranekam 6y ago
    Replacing the cassette and chainrings every time you replace the chain is excessive. Chains wear most quickly so have the shortest lifespan. I generally replace the chain when it’s worn by 1/16th of an inch over 24 links (see https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/when-to-replace-a-chain-on-a-bicycle https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/when-to-replace-a-...), which is around 3000km for me. Cassettes easily last for several chains — you can tell when they need replacing because the teeth look like shark fins. Chainrings last even longer. I’m also not convinced that a worn chain actively wears the cassette and chain more quickly. How would that happen? The loads involved are the same. In my experience putting a new chain on a worn cassette just results in the chain skipping over the teeth when under load. If you notice that it’s easily fixed with a new cassette.
  - petre 6y ago
    Get a chain gauge, it will tell you when to replace your chain along with advice from YT Park Tool videos. Normally every 2k kms but varies with wear and lack of maintenance. If you do 8k a year, they you're probably better off with a belt transmission, a Rohloff hub and a pair of Marathon Mondial tires. They're heavy but they can last 10k. And rim brakes, the pads for them are cheaper and last way longer. I still have Maguras on my touring bike and Marathon Supremes.
theCodeStig 6y ago
Even at 8000 km per year, I highly doubt that you need a new chain every three months.

secondcoming 6y ago

If you're happy doing that then fine. I will add though that replacing a chain every 3 months only makes sense if you're a pro. Make sure you also replace the cassette and chainrings at the same time or else you'll just wear your new chain down very quickly. They should all be replaced at the same time. If your cassette and chainrings aren't worn then your chain isn't either. A chain-splitting tool costs about $20. Entire brakes or just the pads? I hope it's just the pads.

0xfaded 6y ago
No I appreciate the advice, and at risk of turning HN into a bike forum, I have to ask, how long do you run a chain for? I was told that frequently replacing the chain prevents the cassette from wearing down because you replace the chain before it becomes too stretched and mismatched to the cassette.
- secondcoming 6y ago
  It really depends, there are cheap tools that can measure chain stretch. A decent chain should last a year or more unless you're climbing up the Alps every day. The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. Check their teeth. A sign of a worn chain can be gears slipping. It takes some really intense power to wear out a bicycle chain every 3 months. Cassettes aren't that expensive unless you're going for elite titanium ones. But if you're at that level you should have your own tools in case something breaks on your 100km regular ride!
  - andor 6y ago
    The chain, cassette and chainrings are a combo. If your chain is worn then they are too. That's not true. If you change the chain early enough, cassette and chainrings will last for a couple of chains. If you ride with a worn chain, the other components wear at an accelerated rate.
    - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
      Chainrings will last for more than "a couple of chains". In the touring world, one is usually advised to replace the chain every 2500 km or so. A steel chainring, however, should easily give you 20,000 km of life.
    - Matthias247 6y ago
      Right. My rule of thumb is about 3 chains for 1 cassette and set of chainrings. Where one chain was about 2500km.
- andor 6y ago
  That depends on initial manufacturing tolerances and how it's used. The better you keep it clean and well-lubricated, the longer it will last. Some people get 15,000km out of their chains, I'm hoping for 5000km or more. I ride about the same distance as you and according to my chain checker the chain is still good enough after 4.5 months ("0.25% wear", change at 0.5%-0.75%).
- alistairSH 6y ago
  You are correct about preventative chain replacement (which prolongs the life of the much more expensive cassettes and chain rings). But, even at that, it's unlikely you need to replace the chain more than annually, unless you're riding many thousands of miles/year. When I was training 10+ hours/week, I would replace chains a few times/year, but now that I'm averaging about 8 hours across 3 bikes, it's pretty much an annual thing. A simple wipe down of the chain after wet/dirty rides will also help a bunch - just run an old rag along the chain as you wheel it into the garage/shed/whatever. Brake pads should be annual or less frequent unless you're riding in sand or gritty soil. Same for cables (shifter or brake). Tires are all over - depends on the type of tire. Mountain bike tires rarely last a season - the knobs start to wear off and the rubber gets harder. I measure their life in hours, not months. Road tires should last a few thousand miles unless damaged. Even longer if you aren't worried about absolute traction. Edit - you said you do about 8,000 km/year. Most of those maintenance items are probably fine to do annually. What I'd do... take the bike in for a basic service every quarter (clean the chain, adjust the brakes, check for wear). Then annually, do the chain replacement, tire replacement, etc.
- hadlock 6y ago
  My experience on a 9 speed bike is that you can safely get 8000km/5000mi out of a chain in a flat dry place like Texas. For me that was about once a year, and lubricating it 3x a year. Once you add in bike racks/panniers, trailers, hills, rain, snow, sea spray, sand/grit, etc you may need to reduce service intervals. There are different schools of thought about cassette wear etc. If you have a 10 or 11 speed bike, which have very thin/lightweight chains (9 speed chain is considerably larger/beefier) then you probably need to shorten your service intervals even shorter. 11 speed chains in particular seem to be very expensive and have relatively short lifespans. That said, changing a chain on a bike takes about 2 minutes with the quick release links they come with now. It's probably more effort to take the bike to the shop than it is to do it yourself.
- cranekam 6y ago
  Replacing the cassette and chainrings every time you replace the chain is excessive. Chains wear most quickly so have the shortest lifespan. I generally replace the chain when it’s worn by 1/16th of an inch over 24 links (see https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/when-to-replace-a-chain-on-a-bicycle https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/when-to-replace-a-...), which is around 3000km for me. Cassettes easily last for several chains — you can tell when they need replacing because the teeth look like shark fins. Chainrings last even longer. I’m also not convinced that a worn chain actively wears the cassette and chain more quickly. How would that happen? The loads involved are the same. In my experience putting a new chain on a worn cassette just results in the chain skipping over the teeth when under load. If you notice that it’s easily fixed with a new cassette.
- petre 6y ago
  Get a chain gauge, it will tell you when to replace your chain along with advice from YT Park Tool videos. Normally every 2k kms but varies with wear and lack of maintenance. If you do 8k a year, they you're probably better off with a belt transmission, a Rohloff hub and a pair of Marathon Mondial tires. They're heavy but they can last 10k. And rim brakes, the pads for them are cheaper and last way longer. I still have Maguras on my touring bike and Marathon Supremes.

theCodeStig 6y ago

Even at 8000 km per year, I highly doubt that you need a new chain every three months.