Chain wear checkers , are they any good ?

barrymanilow

Thinking of getting one of these as I have a few bikes now and I'm into keeping them in good nick . Are they any good / accurate ? been using the ruler method so far . Any ones you could recommend ?

Thanks ,

Barry

G1032

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/x-tools-chain-wear-indicator/rp-prod10219

It works. Takes a matter of seconds to check chain wear. It's only €4.49!!:)

Wishbone Ash

Much handier than with a ruler for very small outlay. They usually have two settings so you can tell whether the chain needs replacing immediately or in the near future.

youtheman

Without doubt the best tool you can get (in my humble opinion).

tomasrojo

I've never used the dedicated tool, as I got an old roll-up steel tape measure with a broken retraction mechanism that I turned into a chain wear tool, using a pair of scissors, and I've used that ever since.

This is the only downside to using the dedicated tool, that I've heard of:

There are also special tools made to measure chain wear; these are a bit more convenient, though by no means necessary, and most -- except for the Shimano TL-CN40 and TL-CN41 -- are inaccurate because they allow roller play to confound the measurement of link-pin wear.

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Maybe that isn't true anymore. It's not that much of a downside either, as I think it just means you might change the chain slightly earlier than strictly necessary.

(Bizarrely, that page repeats the canard that 3-in-1 is a vegetable oil. It really isn't.)

disco1

If your serious about your bike maintenance yes there needed. It's important to have.

tomasrojo

disco1 wrote: »

If your serious about your bike maintenance yes there needed. It's important to have.

That's overstating it. If you have a ruler in the house, you don't need a wear checker. It might be worth having for the extra convenience, but it isn't actually any more accurate.

Koobcam

I was thinking about getting one of these, seems like they are pretty cheap anyway. Up to now, I tend to just swap chains after about 2,500-3,000km, maybe a bit longer. You can get Ultegra 11-speed chains for about €20 so I think it's better to change that wear down more expensive drive-train components.

slow

For the price of two energy bars, get one.

Alek

For the price of two energy bars, get one.

One bar for the price of two? If we haven't had an anti-bargains thread we have one now.

:P

Wishbone Ash

tomasrojo wrote: »

... as I think it just means you might change the chain slightly earlier than strictly necessary...

I would have thought a 'downside' would be leaving it too late before changing. What's wrong with 'slightly earlier'?

endacl

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I would have thought a 'downside' would be leaving it too late before changing. What's wrong with 'slightly earlier'?

Economy, dude. Over a lifetime of cycling, you might end up buying an extra chain. What the hell are you supposed to do with an extra chain in your last year of cycling? Buy a new bike with no chain? And get no use out of it because you're nearly done cycling anyway? Crazy waste of money.

cython

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I would have thought a 'downside' would be leaving it too late before changing. What's wrong with 'slightly earlier'?

Chain economy, I'd imagine

tomasrojo

For me it might mean changing the chain months before strictly necessary; my wear is very slow, due to full mudguards with mudflap

It's small beer, but so is the minimal saving of hassle of buying the wear checker. It isn't very hard to measure 12 links.