Dahon Sunrace cassettes - cheese?

[drossall]

I've only had my second-hand Dahon about three years. It was old but little-used when bought. Nonetheless, I had to replace the cassette after a year or so. Now it seems to be worn out again. So, to be fair, is the FSA chain ring - I had to put a complete new chainset on a year or so ago, after I broke a crank.

Given that this is a folder used for rail commuting, and does maybe 1500 miles a year tops, that seems a bit quick. I suppose there's far more stopping and pulling away from lights than normal, so maybe it gets a hard life.

Thoughts? Do I give up and replace the hub with a Shimano one, in the hope of getting more life?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Use the largest chainring/ cog pairing that you can get away with. That lowers the chain tension for a specific gear and reduces wear.

[drossall]

I'm pretty-much doing that. The chainset came with a 53T ring.

Things have moved on a bit today. I think the whole bike must be made of cheese actually. I checked it all over. The rims are very concave; I measured them for thickness and felt that 1mm was probably thin enough. The ring is worn, as I said. Stunningly, even the alloy sleeve for the seat post is worn away near the top; there are two holes in the metal!

I've got a front wheel, some chains and some cassettes laid by, so I've ordered a chain ring, a new back wheel and a sleeve for the seat post. Came to 2/3 of what I paid for the bike in the first place, and that's not counting the things I had already!