How long should a chain last on a E-MTB

[Deleted member 4366]

Haibike Sduro (Yamaha) 968 miles.

I am not a road cyclist, my bike gets used for purpose eMTB (electric Mountain Bike), not so mountainous but very hilly.

That's very strange. It's your top gear that's worn. When do you get a chance to use top gear in your sort of rides? Did your dealer do a dirty on you and swapped your cassette with somebody else's?

 

[chris_n]

It's not just top gear that is worn in that photo, all of the sprockets have a burr on them. Wear shows more on the smaller tooth counts as contact with a stretched chain is more frequent. I found with the standard gearing on an Sduro I was frequently in the top 3 gears (unrestricted) while riding in mountainous terrain. There are always flat sections in between climbs and descents. This was a large part of the reason I converted to dual chainrings.

 

[IR772]

That's very strange. It's your top gear that's worn. When do you get a chance to use top gear in your sort of rides? Did your dealer do a dirty on you and swapped your cassette with somebody else's?

I bought a good new bike and the dealers reputation is not in question.

It is wear as it started recently and chain slip became more frequent.

We do go downhill as well as up, using the high gears off road a lot.

As Chris_n spotted there is wear on the other gears to a lesser extent, the chain slipped in 10 but now I have replaced it, it is like new again.

I would rather the gear and chain wear than something more expensive.

It's a small price to pay for such a brilliant pass time.

 

[EddiePJ]

My wear is completely the opposite. All of my wear occurs on the lower three cogs of the cassette. The higher gears have zero wear.

I don't have the exact mileage to hand, but this is after roughly 700 miles of use. The front sprocket would have only have achieved about 500 miles.

New chain against old.

 

[soundwave]

what is the sprocket wear like on the 11spd ?

 

[EddiePJ]

The ten speed Sunrace cassette that the above replaced, shows no sign of wear, even after about 2-2.5k miles of use.

The 11 speed SRAM set up also show no signs of wear, but I am currently clueless about the mileage without looking. The 11 speed set up is nothing but hassle in respect of clogging up with mud and debris though.

SRAM jockey wheels are just as much of a pain for clogging up, where as Shimano ones remain free from clogging.
The SRAM jockey wheel are more aggressive in profile, and also have holes on the side which hold onto mud, and seem to then create build up.

Note that even after the above mileage, that the 42t still even has most it's paint on.

I wouldn't hesitate in recommending a Sunrace cassette, but oddly my bike shop owning friend that sold it to me, has said that he has experienced a few issues with them. Perhaps I have just been lucky.

 

[soundwave]

no the front sprocket as that seems where most of the wear happens first.

i know why as its because you are pushing past the cut off and then using all ur force to power the bike and not surprised you bust the bearings out of it.

tho pcg now has the wide narrow sram sprocket id say that is worth a try

 

[EddiePJ]

The sprocket wear has been no different.

I also hardly ever ride above cut off speed when riding off road. I just don't have that interest.

I get my fun either from very steep climbing, or from slow very technical terrain, and most of my riding time is spent weaving in and out of trees and over ditches and roots etc, sort of trials fashion, with an average speed of less than 10mph. It is only when out on the forest or South Downs that it increases, but again, the average ride speed for a ride is never really over 12mph.

Chain and jockey wheel wear, can be attributed to riding in local grinding paste conditions such as this. Brake pads don't tend to last five minutes either.

 

[soundwave]

so the 11spd wide narrow has less wear than shimano then over the same miles?

just it is a pita like mine lol

just i still cant get this fkn 25t to work spacer or not it just feels like it is twisting and getting a grinding feeling when i pedal in certain gears.

its as much in line with the ses wheel i can get it but still dont feel right.

hmmm?

http://www.pro-cycling-golla.de/Kettenblaetter/16_Zaehne_Sram_artikel5793b1dee75b6.html

 

[Trevormonty]

I've a 11-42t XT looking to fit a 11-46t cassette. Will it be a start forward replacement of cassette, or does derailleur need to be modified?.

 

[Mortlake]

I've read many posts about the 11t sprocket on ten and eleven speed cassettes wearing prematurely, but nobody mentioned replacing them individually,

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cassette-spares-shimano/

https://www.rosebikes.com/article/shimano-xt-cs-m771-10-speed-11-tooth-replacement-sprocket/aid:483978

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Well, after 1500 miles on my stealth, looks like the chain has stretched quite a bit.
The drive has started to feel loose of late, so I read through this thread, watched a video of how to see if your chain needs replacing, and im pretty confident it does.
If i pull the chain forward off the front sprocket, i can pretty much lift the chain off.

Cant ever remember changing a change back when i was a kid on a bike, things just lasted forever...

 

[soundwave]

you will need to split the chain with a chain tool to fit a new one.

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do?method=view&n=3338&p=523001&d=124&c=4&l=2&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Tools & Maintenance&gclid=CjwKEAiAi-_FBRCZyPm_14CjoyASJAClUigOnb_m7ZYOKMpT84Z2vtJVPcFOsQ9M1QP92tGrCniFHBoCW-Hw_wcB

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

you will need to split the chain with a chain tool to fit a new one.

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do?method=view&n=3338&p=523001&d=124&c=4&l=2&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Tools & Maintenance&gclid=CjwKEAiAi-_FBRCZyPm_14CjoyASJAClUigOnb_m7ZYOKMpT84Z2vtJVPcFOsQ9M1QP92tGrCniFHBoCW-Hw_wcB

Cheers, sorted,,,picking up from halfrauds tomorrow...cheapest place i could find.... £12 odd for a chain and the tool

 

[BillyBoy88]

Well, after 1500 miles on my stealth, looks like the chain has stretched quite a bit.
The drive has started to feel loose of late, so I read through this thread, watched a video of how to see if your chain needs replacing, and im pretty confident it does.
If i pull the chain forward off the front sprocket, i can pretty much lift the chain off.

Cant ever remember changing a change back when i was a kid on a bike, things just lasted forever...

I sold my old 20 year old MTB when I purchased my new E-bike, in the 20 yearsI had this bike I never had to replace anything apart from brake shoes and tyres, and it was mainly used off road in the UK in the worst wet muddy conditions.
It seems these new bikes are like new cars nowadays, that most things are classed as consumables and are not built to last and but some of these "consumables" are not cheap.

 

[Emo Rider]

I sold my old 20 year old MTB when I purchased my new E-bike, in the 20 yearsI had this bike I never had to replace anything apart from brake shoes and tyres, and it was mainly used off road in the UK in the worst wet muddy conditions.
It seems these new bikes are like new cars nowadays, that most things are classed as consumables and are not built to last and but some of these "consumables" are not cheap.

This is a fair observation as many will echo a similar senario, myself included. The big differences in yesterdays MTB's and todays ebikes are many, firstmost being a 250watt motor driving the chain along with one's legs. Ebikes are heavier. Old MTB's had 7 or 8 speeds with a wider chain and a final drive of 12 or 13 teeth. Today, the ebike has a 9, 10 or 11 speeds with a final drive of only 11 teeth. This means thinner chains and gear teeth. Combine this with the ability to go much further with more power than you would on your old non electric and there you have it, worn out chains and drive components.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Well, I changed the chain easily enough, gear changes a lot smoother..but...the chain was jumping all over the place on the rear cassette.

Called into the local bike shop on the way home after the chain popped off.
Turns out the cassette is worn badly, and I have also broken the derailleur pulley when the chain came off.
Probably should just have left the old chain on longer....

Tip I was given by the bike shop was to try and use more gears as its an ebike, I have mostly used 6th and 7th gears...and they have worn that much quicker because of that.

 

[BillyBoy88]

This is a fair observation as many will echo a similar senario, myself included. The big differences in yesterdays MTB's and todays ebikes are many, firstmost being a 250watt motor driving the chain along with one's legs. Ebikes are heavier. Old MTB's had 7 or 8 speeds with a wider chain and a final drive of 12 or 13 teeth. Today, the ebike has a 9, 10 or 11 speeds with a final drive of only 11 teeth. This means thinner chains and gear teeth. Combine this with the ability to go much further with more power than you would on your old non electric and there you have it, worn out chains and drive components.

You would think that chain technology would have kept up, it has in motorcycles with the increased in engine output, with 'O' ring chains to keep the dust out, I realise that chains and sprockets are now a consumable items, but the inconvenience of having to replace them by developing a product that will last longer not just a matter of months I feel most of use would be will to pay that little bit extra.

 

[blaw1201]

It depends on the conditions,
dusty conditions are wearing it out quickly, proper maintenance and greasing is needed.