I’ve finally got around to replacing my worn chain and chain rings/cogs on my bicycle. I have gone for 2 extra teeth on the front and one less on the back. This means I’ll be getting a few extra turns of the wheel for each turn of the pedals.
Before putting the new chain on, I compared the two, and the old one had stretched by nearly 2 links over the whole length. No wonder the teeth were wearing away so much, and making so much noise when pedalling.
On my test ride this afternoon, I noticed it was running a lot smoother. Though it does appear that the hub requires to be pulled apart again to be fully re-greased, though I’m maybe thinking that it will need to be replaced due to the wear.
There are a couple of photos of the old cogs below. Take a look at how worn they are.
Those are seriously worn cogs. They should have been replaced about six months ago. The chain was overstretched as well. I usually replace my chain about every two months, but then again, I ride about 1,000 miles in that time span. The hub may need a rebuild, but not due to the chain problem. I think this is due to weather, possibly rain, were water is getting into the hub and contaminating the grease.
Unfortunately 6 months ago I couldn’t afford to buy the new cogs and chain otherwise I would have replaced them. As I have an internal gear hub with no derailleur gears, I should be able to get more than 1000 miles out of the chain and cogs.
Unfortunately I’m not currently tracking my distance travelled. Maybe it’s time I built an app similar to iTunes, just for gps tracks instead.