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Chain length and life

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Cudzoziemiec:
This is actually prompted by a cargo bike, but as it's recumbenteers who most commonly have long chains, this seems the best place to ask. A cargo bike owner was telling me that his super-long chain, which he described as "two and a half normal lengths", lasts longer than a normal chain because each link is working, pulling and bent over the sprockets, less frequently. Something seems wrong about that to me, but I'm not sure what. Please explain how it is, dark siders.

LittleWheelsandBig:
True, each link is bent round a cog fewer times per mile ridden. It is the change of direction of a link that wears it. A constant link angle causes no wear.

Quint:
Length of life of a chain (IMHO) is also down to good maintenance, also the type of lube used, I currently use MucOff C3 lube on my trike and Finish Line Teflon Dry Lube on Barbaras (reason for different lubes being the Teflon Dry is just that and means a cleaner chain when wearing light clothing).
          Both lubes are giving minimal wash off even in the torrents from above at the moment  :o :o and good chain life, I shall stick with these I reckon, have tried wax lubes but they seem to give a shorter life of the chain, hope this is of use.

                                                                                            8)

Kim:
Two and a half normal lengths is typical for recumbents too.

Not having worn out many chains, I can't really contribute much in the way of meaningful data, but the one on my recumbent is currently at about 5000 miles without appreciable 'stretch'.  My upright has worn out chains more quickly than this, but I suspect that chain length isn't the pertinent factor - the upright goes out in far muckier conditions, and the chain gets subjected to far more force on a regular basis (you don't generally 'honk' on a recumbent).

It's further obfuscated by the presence of idlers and chain tubes on most recumbent chainlines.  The Streetmachine's chainline is relatively harmless by the standards of such things - not deflecting the chain at all in some gears - whereas on the ICE trike the idler is always doing significant work.  Lowracers tend to have even more significant deflections around multiple idlers in on both sides of the chain.  Chain tubes mean the chain spends a lot of time indoors, and the very nature of recumbents means the chain is usually spared the torrent of muck from the front wheel.

tom_e:
I concur.  Each link lasts longer, but you need to replace the whole thing at once.

By my records, my single [upright] bike chains have been 1800-2600km, partly depending on whether it was a new cassette or not.

My two recumbent chains have been 8600km then 4500km.  The latter was a deliberate experiment keeping the same cassette on from the first one.  Looking at prices and that comparison suggests the cassette should be replaced every time, which makes sense when you consider it is roughly 2.5 chains : 1 cassette, similar to an upright.  I did suspect that before, but wanted to actually test it.

I am not a good bike cleaner.  YMMV, but I guess the pattern is likely to stay the same.

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