Drivetrain Formula

This could also be called:

My New Years Revolution:

After many total drivetrain replacements, I have come to the resolution that I WILL replace my chain every 3 months, or less.The chain is what causes all the cogs to wear. There's a whole set of technical jargon to explain why this happens, and the purists would refute what I am about to proclaim, but here goes--'the chain stretches', and no longer matches the teeth perfectly after a certain 'X' amount of time--kind of like when you buy a new car and drive it off the lot--its not new anymore. So prolonging the time between chain changes(say that 3 times fast) only naturally puts undue wear on the softer cassette and chainring metals. Of course the  bigger chainrings last longer because there bigger, but the granny I usually replace every coupla chains anyways. My formula goes like this:

Every three chains, one new cassette

Every four chains(or one year), new middle ring and one new granny

Every time I forget to do any of this, one new of everything, every year, except big ring. (I have never replaced one of those.) Which is probably cheaper in the long run. But your drivetrain WILL run smoother if you use the formula! AND use Phil's Tenacious oil.

Just my two Abe Lincolns. You can take that to the bank.

SteveC

(from the archives)