Michael: My opinion (you'll get others on this) is to swap out the chain early & often. It's the (relatively) cheapest & easiest to change part in the drive train. They are always available. Since I started changing chains more frequently, cassettes last many times longer.
Chain life is highly dependent on environment & lubrication / care. I live in a benign chain environment (dry, little dust) and run chains around 3,000 miles and toss 'em because I can find 8 speed for $20. If you're in a wet climate with lots of road salt/ grit and generally hostile conditions, I've heard of people only going 1,000 miles on a chain. The conventional wisdom of changing chains & cassettes at the same time is conservative. It's recommended by bike shops because you brought them the bike with "shifting problems" and they want you to leave with "problem solved" and not be back next week with "it still doesn't shift like it used to". My cynical side says this also sells a lot more parts. As to the chainrings, you are correct. Since most of us tend to use one ring for most of our riding, they don't wear out all at once. Just replace the worn one(s) when they look crappy. When they get shark finned they also tend to be noisy. dougP On Sunday, February 23, 2014 7:07:15 PM UTC-8, Michael wrote: > > I know there are two schools of thought on this. Was wondering what Riv > peeps like with these bikes. > > I have Sugino cranks and some stock RBW cassette. All stock on the Sam. > > 1. Should I swap it early, or ride it till the cassette is trashed and > then get a new 'sette along with a chain? > > 2. Also, I am under the impression that chainrings don't have to be > swapped at all until they get shark toothed. Is this right, *just > cassette and chain swaps until then*? > > Thanks for any info. > > Sorry if I asked this here before. I searched, but no find. Gettin' some > miles on the Sam and was wondering. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
