Hey guys, I did a search and couldn't find anything much on the normal life of a chain. How often do you guys replace your chains? I replaced mine about 1500 miles ago, and have had to tighten it three times, and its almost down to the "new chain" area on the indicators. I'm by no means a sever rider. Most of my miles are running around town, to or from work, or an occasional 100 mile ride or so. I try and lube my chain every 200-300 miles, but sometimes not quite as often. Is this normal for my chain to be almost completley worn out/stretched out already? Also, I don't remember what brand of chain I bought, but I got it off ebay(said it was new)which is probably the problem.[:@]

Any help from you guys would be awesome!!!

 

Also curious if this could mean my sprockets need replaced??? As far as I know they are the factory ones. Thanks in advance!!!

 

1500 miles is nothing for a chain...that seems odd. to check the sprokets, see if the teeth look pointy...

right now, my chain is shot and my bike has 14K miles on it. i'm almost positive my chain has never been changed...the sprokets aren't bad, but again, none of these items have been changed.

 

You should always replace your chain/sprockets together. Old sprockets wear out new chains and vice versa.

 

Ok, so I tightenedmy chainup last night and took some pics of my rear sprocket. Tell me if you guys think it needs to be replaced or not. They're not ideal pics cuz its my cell phone camera, but hopefully it will help solve my problem!

 

that looks pretty normal to me.

 

so what gives? why would my chain wear out so fast? It doesn't make any sense to me.

 

Are you possibly tightening it too much and causing it to stretch?

 

well, I don't think so. I usually leave about an inch of flex, from pushing it up to pushing it down. (from the middle of the chain). Thats what I have been told to do

 

Let me guess. Your sprockets arn't stock size. That would make the chain life indicator wrong. When I put new chain and sprockets that weren't stock size my chain life indicator was in the replace zone starting at mile #1.