Mid-drive chain and drive train wear measurements

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
as is usual I`v learnt the hard way and now call/text/email again to check "its" been done instead of "me"........
It's a right effort escaping Vengeful Vermin Virgin Media. My trusty OnePlus phone has recorded all conversations (records everything automatically anyway). and I warned them before it did so.

Clingy Virgin Media won't let us leave, customers complain
Ofcom launches investigation into whether telco is making it difficult for people to cancel services



There's another dark pattern when leaving the Vermin Virgin - when you sign in to pay your final bill, you're presented with a bill without the refund (30 days notice required, so you're supposed to be refnded for whatever number of days you won't be using), but on the next screen the refunds are included, yet on the following screen the refunds disappear and the full bill is auto-entered at the payment stage. I entered and paid the smaller amount with refunds included (£7.26), let's see if they go away. I'm certainly not giving them any more money than that, to wait for a refund some time in the future when they feel like refunding me, and having use up more of my remaining time on this planet to chase that refund up (Mars awaits). Customers desperate to leave might make the larger payment perhaps.

With my new broadband provider Smarty, to cancel I'd simply disable that automatic payment on the Paypal website. Practically, it's lower speed hasn't made much difference, and it doesn't disconnect several times a day (sometimes for hours) like Vermin did. Damned saga. :mad:
 
Last edited:

Bikes4two

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 21, 2020
1,006
432
Havant
I tend to forget when exactly I change chains and cassttes, but lookig at this thread my KMC X8 has lasted about a year
Any idea on how many miles you did in that year?[
So, I've just now ordered another from Amazon directly (dispatched and sold by Amazon),.... Amazon's own price was £12,
hmmm, that's a good price for KMC - I'll need to go take a look.
Anyway, I've finally last night replaced the old cassette, with the new one bought in Feb this year.
So how long had the cassette been on the bike (and miles done approx?) and what make/version was it?

As a rule of thumb, I get around 4,000 miles per KMX X9 chain and I go through at least 3 chains before a new cassette is considered. Again as a rule of thumb (not my rule but what others have postulated) chain rings might need changing after 3 cassettes.

Those rule of thumbs were 'held beliefs' from the unassisted cycling world so an ebike rider using oodles of power through their mid drive motor will see higher levels of wear (as in 'how long is a bit of string'?).
 

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,854
1,341
Any idea on how many miles you did in that year?[ hmmm, that's a good price for KMC - I'll need to go take a look. So how long had the cassette been on the bike (and miles done approx?) and what make/version was it?

As a rule of thumb, I get around 4,000 miles per KMX X9 chain and I go through at least 3 chains before a new cassette is considered. Again as a rule of thumb (not my rule but what others have postulated) chain rings might need changing after 3 cassettes.

Those rule of thumbs were 'held beliefs' from the unassisted cycling world so an ebike rider using oodles of power through their mid drive motor will see higher levels of wear (as in 'how long is a bit of string'?).
Keep an eye open and be prepared to add links, and the 114 link unplated KMC X9 can usually be found for £12.99.

Same goes for SRAM basic 11 speed chain.

I only got three chains worth of wear, not three cassettes, out of my first chainring. 14,000 km in numbers. A 1x system with ebike loads is always in use, as compared to the sharing of time across several cassette 'most used' gears, so not overly surprising.

I've managed to pick up spares for my Shimano e5000 for around £22 on average, so not devastatingly costly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500
im only on my 2nd cassette as i change chain at 0.50 and even with my axs rear mech shifting under load wear rate is the same.

DSC_0114_03.JPG
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500

if i wore out parts and motors like that id not even bother with one of these bikes seems from all the posts i have seen over the years means a dongle makes the motors last longer as not putting massive stress on the drive train and motor with no power over the speed limit.

i had over 10.000 miles on my old motor.
DSC_0125_02.JPG

got my moneys worth out of that motor, new bearings and transfer gear it is still going today, i was going to keep it but as i have a kiox display means if i swapped motors back down the dealers for a can shake for 30 bloody quid to push a button cos the sn has changed :rolleyes:
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
Any idea on how many miles you did in that year?[
I wish I could give you an exact answer, but chains are so cheap that I don't bother to note how often I change them. However, looking at my posts on this thread and my ODO, this last chain lasted about 1,527km, which I changed to sometime after 29th April 2022. I suppose I get through chains more often, because of high levels of assistance and hauling of heavy trailers.

FYI @guerney - New cassette at 3,986 km. (Else I won't remember, and I very much hate going through receipts.)


hmmm, that's a good price for KMC - I'll need to go take a look.
Looks like I got one of the last X8s at £12, new stock in two or three weeks, sorry about that. I might have ordered the actual last one, because I was unable to add two to the cart. Do Amazon honour the price quoted when you pre-order?



I only got three chains worth of wear, not three cassettes, out of my first chainring.
As for chainrings, it's time may be soonish... I'm tempted to buy a Bafang spider converter wotsit, in order to use something like a 58T, to replace my Bafang stock 52T, now that I have increased the current limit of my controller to 18A (15A previously). Tempted by my speed obsessed younger self mind.


So how long had the cassette been on the bike (and miles done approx?) and what make/version was it?
"SRAM 8 Speed Cassette 11-32T CS PG-850 Silver, 00.0000.200.396". £15.50

3,986 km or 2,476.79 miles.


im only on my 2nd cassette as i change chain at 0.50 and even with my axs rear mech shifting under load wear rate is the same.
Hmmm, good point. Maybe I should change my chains sooner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500
and keep it clean all i really do is soak it with wd40 with a rag to clean off all the crap and re lube it with muck off wet or dry.

my 12spd gx chains are only 20 quid and think im on chain 8 or 9 as broke one as the rear mech decided to explode :rolleyes:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
and keep it clean all i really do is soak it with wd40 with a rag to clean off all the crap and re lube it with muck off wet or dry.
I don't know what you're talking about. My chain is perfectly clean.


53112


The new cassette is embarrassingly shiny aaarrgghhhh
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500
thats called grinding paste ;)
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500
but it helps destroy the planet look at all those dog turds wrapped up in plastic bags if you drive a horse it can just $**** in the middle of the road :oops:

53113

get one of those and a job as a uber driver

53114

and if it blows up just cook it and eat it :p
 
  • Agree
Reactions: guerney

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,895
6,500

robo Dave wont hurt a sole , can you prove it even exists under law ,your honer the product was out of warranty.

case closed :oops:
 

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
While begrudgingly giving my bike it's rare year plus several months clean... I discovered that Aldi's concentrated non-bio washing machine liquid (diluted a bit) cleans my hands more thoroughly than Swarfega! :oops: And not only that - it conditions (says so on the bottle). It also did a spectacular job of cleaning black oily grime off my bike, that and 90% isopropyl alcohol. Might have conditioned too, I can't tell. Hypoid 90 is excellent chain lube, but it does spatter... I considered mixing in a knob of buttery Aeroshell 22 to thicken it up, but I expect that'll be worse than the 4 in 1 I was using before the Hypoid 90, depending on the ratio.
 
Last edited:

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
Hypoid 90 is excellent chain lubricant, but it does spatter... therefore I've thickened it up a bit: 1 teaspoon of Aeroshell 22 + 3 teaspoons of Hypoid 90. The result doesn't seem much thicker. They don't mix easy, had to stir with one of those small horsehair electronics brushes. Seems to work fine so far, but this could change in cold weather. If it doesn't work out, I'll simply wash it off... and if nothing else, I'll be increasing the odds of ever using up my lifetime supply of Aeroshell 22 (huge tin) from zero to unlikely.
 
Last edited:

matthewslack

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 26, 2021
1,854
1,341
Entry level 11 speed SRAM chain £5.99 at chain reaction just now.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,917
8,533
61
West Sx RH
Thinner oil is better as the chain won't end up as treacle and collecting all manner of gunk .
When I oil my chains I wipe them after with a rag to remove excess so no spatter occurs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: guerney

guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,382
3,234
Thinner oil is better as the chain won't end up as treacle and collecting all manner of gunk .
When I oil my chains I wipe them after with a rag to remove excess so no spatter occurs.
Yep, you're right - Aeroshell 22 and Hypoid 90 mixed didn't work out well lol. Worse than 4 in 1. Ended up with treacly AeroHype 112.


hmmm, that's a good price for KMC - I'll need to go take a look.
They're back in stock at £12:


53998
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two