A mate of mine swore by the same. Seems a bit OCD. I'd rather buy another X8 chain for about £12 more often, than go through all that pfaff!
Mid-drive chain and drive train wear measurements
- Thread starter matthewslack
- Start date
One thing I forgot to add to this thread.
I have had generally good success changing my chain at the wear limit to put a new one on and extend the life of the cassette, but.....
On some occasions when I have changed a chain inside the wear limit I have found the new chain has sometimes skipped on one or two of the cassette cogs, usually the ones with less teeth, but not always.
However rather than immediately change the cassette I have added some miles and always found the grumbling cogs to settle down after 50 to 100 miles and get better each ride you do. The new chain kind of bedding in with the part worn cassette despite the previous chain being changed inside the wear limit.
A large proportion of my mileage is off road which is a lot harder on the drive train than keeping to the road.
I have had generally good success changing my chain at the wear limit to put a new one on and extend the life of the cassette, but.....
On some occasions when I have changed a chain inside the wear limit I have found the new chain has sometimes skipped on one or two of the cassette cogs, usually the ones with less teeth, but not always.
However rather than immediately change the cassette I have added some miles and always found the grumbling cogs to settle down after 50 to 100 miles and get better each ride you do. The new chain kind of bedding in with the part worn cassette despite the previous chain being changed inside the wear limit.
A large proportion of my mileage is off road which is a lot harder on the drive train than keeping to the road.
Neat! I'll bear that in mind for when my new chain arrives... which I've just discovered I have accidentally ordered from an Amazon Marketplace seller based in China (damn and blast!), therefore it could be a fako KMC X8, which is why I've stuck to buying from Amazon or bigger online shops. It's my own fault, I should have squinted at the big Amazon shopping basket more closely, but my eyes aren't great at the mo. I will go utterly ballistic if it's fake, of course. I've kept packaging from my previous X8, so will be comparing that and inspecting markings on the chain itself in minute detail, and raising more hell than I usually do, fuelled by the long wait. Arriving 6th to 10th of May! Strewth... it was only 50p more ordered from Amazon directly, and it would've arrived here with everything else this afternoon. It had better not be fake
A couple of very low priced "KMC X8" chains purchased on ebay arrived without packaging, had tight links, skipped, never worked right... probably counterfeit. I've ordered chains from big online shops ever since. Until now.
Last edited:
My KMC X9 with my TSDZ2 (250w, 36v) currently has 2,900Km use and the wear guage is nowhere near even the 0.7% wear limit.
My 'riding type' is generally dry weather on roads although over the winter the roads have been pretty mucky.
My friend who also rides a TSDZ2 250w 36v had a 'no name' chain and was over the 1% wear limit when I measured it at 1,400Km
I've never been overly fastidious about chains but I try to keep then clean and lubricated and always change them at the 0.7% wear point.
As an approx rule of thumb it has been said that with good chain maintenance you'll go 3 chains to one rear sprocket cassette and 3 cassettes to one chainring set but TBH my record keeping is fairly lax so I can't atest to that rule!
My 'riding type' is generally dry weather on roads although over the winter the roads have been pretty mucky.
My friend who also rides a TSDZ2 250w 36v had a 'no name' chain and was over the 1% wear limit when I measured it at 1,400Km
I've never been overly fastidious about chains but I try to keep then clean and lubricated and always change them at the 0.7% wear point.
As an approx rule of thumb it has been said that with good chain maintenance you'll go 3 chains to one rear sprocket cassette and 3 cassettes to one chainring set but TBH my record keeping is fairly lax so I can't atest to that rule!
At 1,802 miles, you're doing pretty well with your TDZ2 chain - my chain replacement after a mere 1,528 miles is due to not making any effort whatsoever to preserve the chain, other than squirting 4 in 1 sewing machine mineral oil over the chain whenever it got rusty, and also because I use high power at all times to prevent knee pain. Hypoid 90 arrives today, the chain arrived yesterday despite my fears it was being posted from China... and other than having a wonkily applied label, the packaging looks almost identical (apart from one number formed on the plastic case) to what I believe was a genuine X8 bought directly from Amazon 1,528 miles ago. I'll inspect the chain in detail later on, comparing embossed trademarks...
The 3kg tin of Aeroshell 22 arrived today, and it does indeed appear to have the consistency of lard. You're right, looks like I've bought enough to last me 1000 years! It's a dented tin, which I'm guessing won't be a problem - there are no breaks in the tin.
For anyone interested in using Aeroshell 22, there are still a couple of big 3kg tins available on ebay for £26. Otherwise it's 50ml to 100ml for a tenner or something...
Last edited:
The best lube any chain will see is the stuff applied at the manufacturing point, after that if one cleans a chain any detergent used, white spirit, gunk or paraffin, etc,etc, simply washed out any grease/lube within the roller bushes. Replacing it will mean complete immersion for a few day/weeks then left to hang and drip dry.
A worn /stretched chain in mm is small and 1.59mm stretch means the chain is worn, 1.59mm = 1/16"
Simplest measuring tool is a tape/rule, pin to pin a chain should be 12" and at 12 & 1/16th " it is stretched/ worn so need changing. For metric buffs 10 links should be 254mm new and 255.6mm worn or 15 links 381mm new & 382.6mm worn.
A worn /stretched chain in mm is small and 1.59mm stretch means the chain is worn, 1.59mm = 1/16"
Simplest measuring tool is a tape/rule, pin to pin a chain should be 12" and at 12 & 1/16th " it is stretched/ worn so need changing. For metric buffs 10 links should be 254mm new and 255.6mm worn or 15 links 381mm new & 382.6mm worn.
Last edited:
Hi @guerney
That's interesting about using high power at all times as that will be a contributing factor to chain wear no doubt (I rarely go higher than ECO now, having recovered fitness after heart issues). I watched an interesting vid HERE a couple of days back where the guy (a very experienced e-biker) goes into why using the gears on a mid-drive 'properly' will prolong the life of the whole drive train and motor.
I bought a 19.2ah battery to ensure my knees have an easier time. I use lower gears to get to the highest gear, maintaining a high rpm - I'm nervous of killing the controller, but have a spare controller in storage. It's reassuring that even if I melt motor windings or something, a new bare motor option is inexpensive from greenbikekite.com and other sellers. BBS01b parts aren't expensive, the motors look easy to repair.
My bike gets me to work and back, also helps shift gardening supplies and produce from my veg growing projects... sometimes carrying heavy weight. Use will be heavier this year because I will using a bike cargo trailer plus rucksack and pannier bags, so I can't compare if Hypoid 90 prolongs chain life, as opposed to basic 4:1 mineral oil. Neverthless, hydrophobic sounds good to me - it should reduce rusting and likely be a superior lubricant, although chain stretch and wear have necessitated chain replacement.
Last edited:
Over fifty years ago when was young & foolish enough to ride a motorcycle I would regularly take off the chain & soak it in a thick grease that I boiled up on the stove while my mother was out.
Do motorcyclists still do that? After dabbing it on the chain, I was going to try melting Aeroshell using a hairdryer... was worrying that expansion and contraction through the application of any higher temperature than that, might move or dislodge link pins. Hypoid 90 was supposed to arrive yesterday, maybe I'll try both because 3kg is a lot of Aeroshell - will it fry eggs?
X8 chains arrive coated in wax, which is much more viscous than oil... I am very tempted to try melting Aeroshell onto my chain, but will resist for awhile if Hypoid 90 arrives.
Now that I think about it this wasn't a grease I melted but a wax that was solid at room temperature. It came in a tin which you heated up on the cooker then cooled the chain up in left it for a while then lifted the chain out before the wax cooled down & solidified.
Wax might be a better bicycle chain lubricant than gear or mineral oils?
Comparison of the solid lubricant wax and lubricating oil
Comparison of the solid lubricant wax and lubricating oil | Technical | 助川鉄工株式会社
www.sukegawa-works.co.jp
Last edited:
Hypoid 90 has arrived, but I will order beeswax to try anyway, because I don't have enough - how bad could it bee? Would bees bee attracted to the chain by the smell? Would my legs bee stung? Seems quite hydrophobeec, and because it's a wax there will bee less wear?
Like Nigelbb I used grease on my motorbike chain. Duckhams chain grease (looked like wax) the instructions were to soak in paraffin to clean the chain then when drained to place on the wax, heat on the stove until melted, remove from heat and hang it up to drip dry. Did that at service intervals (1500 miles) and never had any chain problem in the 25000+ miles I owned the bike. Still got the tin of grease so maybe next time I service the ebike I should try it out again.
- I am amused by the various shinanigans used with oils, waxes and so on - I simply spray my chain with GT85 now and again especially after a Muck-Off/hose down (or maybe using one of the proper bike lubes lurking in my tool box) and then wipe the excess off after an overnight soaking.
- I am also diligent in monitoring chain wear and at the 0.75% point I buy a new 9 speed chain from my local Decathlon for £13 (it's actually made by KMC as per the link stamping) and swap it out.
- I've not kept count of how many new chains vs sprocket changes I've done, but I definitaly get more than 3 chains per sprocket cassette and I can't remember ever wearing out chain rings although I must have done so at some time or other?
For my Cotic with double narrow wide chain rings and the alfine I use a cheaper £6 KMX 1/8" BMX chain.
I finally got round to measuring outer side plate length on a sample of 10 links each of the new and old chains in a not particularly precise attempt to distinguish actual stretch of the metal parts from wear in the pins.
My vernier caliper and eyesight can only get to the nearest 0.05mm, which for new was 21.00mm and old 21.05mm, a difference of +0.24%. In this case, pin wear would seem to be double sideplate stretch.
Threre are no doubt detailed studies lurking online.
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
