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My chain checker tool has been lying to me. (rant and PSA) (lemmy.ca)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/bikewrench

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I watched a video from Zero Friction Cycling where he tested a bunch of chain checker tools.

The original video can be found here.

Only a few were accurate, and the Park Tool CC-3.2 check that I've been using for a few years now, seems to be one of the bad ones.

Today, I decided to get the CC-4 (the Shimano checker they recommended isn't available in Canada, apparently), and rechecked the chains on my bike.

It went from "beyond 0.5mm wear" with the CC-3.2 to "not even close to 0.5mm" on the CC-4.

I guess I figured out why my chains weren't lasting long... according to the CC-3.2. 🤑😭

What chain checker tool(s) are you guys using, and have you used any that were just flat out wrong?

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[–] dual_sport_dork 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Uh. On all bikes throughout my entire life, both pedal- and motor-, I've just measured center-to-center on the link pins with a ruler, like it says in the manual. It's even easier on a bicycle than a motorcycle because you can just grab a pedal with one hand and make sure all the slack is taken up out of the chain. You don't even have to get your hands greasy.

For sprocket and/or chainring wear, my rule of thumb has just been once the teeth start looking like the water in Super Mario Bros. world 2-2, it's time for a new one.

That's gotten me across many hundreds of thousands of miles, no sweat. I fail to see how spending money on a specialized (and apparently shitty) tool to make this more complicated on yourself is a better way to live your life vs. spending that money instead on tires/oil/honey waffles/whatever it is you're into.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Same with the caliper suggestion, when fractions of a millimetre make the difference between a "worn" chain and a good one, I wouldn't want to use a ruler. Especially not on the bike.

It's so easy to use a chain checker tool, I'm not sure why anyone would use rulers and calipers. Just make sure you use an accurate one, which is the point of the post.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

JFC... 🤦

I guess a caliper tool could also be used to do this.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

As the video pointed out, we're talking fractions of a millimetre making a difference, and calipers for this use case would require the user to be dead on accurate, I wouldn't personally go that route.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

You're probably right.

[–] agent_flounder 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not big on watching long videos so, I found this article that hopefully adds to the value of your post.

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/workshop/how-to-know-when-its-time-to-replace-your-bicycle-chain

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm aware of the article. Funny enough, they have a photo of the inaccurate tool I was using.

And it seems to be widely circulated that you should change a <10 speed chain when it reaches 0.75mm, but the Zero Friction guy says that replacing it before 0.5mm is probably going to save your other components.

I run pretty cheap stuff on my bike, so replacing a $25 chain too often doesn't really same me much when the cassette is like $35 😂

[–] agent_flounder 1 points 10 months ago

Funny enough, they have a photo of the inaccurate tool I was using.

Yeah I saw that too. I don't have much experience but I don't see why the # speeds matter -- the sprockets have the same shape so I would think a worn chain would cause exactly the same wear regardless of how many speeds?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I use the Pedros chain checker tool, it’s reliable and accurate.