Shop Hours WTF

If someone measured your chain and it was stretched, then regardless of your other problems it was time for a new drivetrain.

i didn't read the original post, so i don't know the context within which this statement was written, but i'm going to call bs. there are varying degrees of "stretched". i bought a road bike with a completely worn 9 spd ultegra drive train in 2007. the guy i bought it from was getting rid of it for a song as he'd been told by a bike shop employee that the dt was worn to $hit and needed to be replaced to the tune of over $350. in that employee's defence, the teeth were getting curvy and the chain had more than 1% of stretch. i inspected the bike and figured it had at least another year in it - swapped the dt onto my commuter (i log about 40 km/week) and have been riding it year-round for going on 3 years - not butter smooth by any means but still going strong. my point is you can ride a "stretched" drive train for years - it's up to you when the thing needs to be replaced: based on its performance, not what some shop monkey says. (again, didn't read the post, not calling anyone a monkey here)

If someone measured your chain and it was stretched, then regardless of your other problems it was time for a new drivetrain. There are gimmicks in some bike shops for sure ($100 fitting for your entry level commuting bike?), but chain-stretch measurement tools are not one. I'm guessing you were AT BEST a month or two away from skippy skippy skippy.

I am kind of surprised that you would say this because you are usually fairly knowledgeable. I have one of those fancy Park Tool chain stretch measures and I never use it. I think such measurements are only useful if want to replace the chain before the cassette wears. If you replace both together you can go way way way past what those stretch measurements would give you as rules of thumb. And you can go even further if you are using friction shifters.

My own rule of thumb is when it becomes slow to downshift and I can't dail it in even with new cables its time for a new cassette and chain.

I think such measurements are only useful if want to replace the chain before the cassette wears.

Well yeah, that is the whole point of those checkers. Being a mechanic means I am a lazy bastard when it comes to checking my own bike, and nearly always have to change everything as I've never checked my chain in time. It's worth pointing out the wear to customers though and it's their call as to whether they change everything while the bike is in the shop, or potentially have the chain feck up in a small branch a week before pay day and miss a ride because they can't afford to change the whole drivetrain.

OT may not be perfect, but with the hundreds, if not thousands, i've saved i am perfectly willing to deal with the short comings they may have on occasion.

2nd this … they just have the best prices

2nd this … they just have the best prices

and a huge stock of consumables, as well as almost internet low prices

I'll admit I'm a big online shopper but I shop OT for the little things and Matt builds my wheels. You can't beat his service, he even hand delivered a wheel to me after hours because he knew I needed it.

What i love about OT is…… Bro, Ho or just your average Joe, everybody gets the same low pricing. None of this full retail crap inless you've boughten "x" amount of goods. Everything is marked at the price it sells at.Sure they have sales here and there, but for the most part, it's the price you see on the sticker.

Well yeah, that is the whole point of those checkers. Being a mechanic means I am a lazy bastard when it comes to checking my own bike, and nearly always have to change everything as I've never checked my chain in time. It's worth pointing out the wear to customers though and it's their call as to whether they change everything while the bike is in the shop, or potentially have the chain feck up in a small branch a week before pay day and miss a ride because they can't afford to change the whole drivetrain.

Maybe I've just been lucky because shifting performance drops off significantly before the chain really starts to actually skip and I've broken 2-3 chains in my 27 years (and the one that was in recent memory was really ready for metal recycling).

When I change cassette and chain would you change the chain rings as well? I never do (until they are visible worn) and haven't seen any performance issues but would it effect the life of the rest of the drivetrain?

lol no one pointed out the irony of the name "Overtime"

I am kind of surprised that you would say this because you are usually fairly knowledgeable. I have one of those fancy Park Tool chain stretch measures and I never use it. I think such measurements are only useful if want to replace the chain before the cassette wears. If you replace both together you can go way way way past what those stretch measurements would give you as rules of thumb. And you can go even further if you are using friction shifters.

My own rule of thumb is when it becomes slow to downshift and I can't dail it in even with new cables its time for a new cassette and chain.

I change my chains at 0.75 on my wear gauge and I have been using the same cassette for three years now on one bike. I would rather spend $30 or so each season than wear out my chain rings and cassette plus the chain.

There are about 2 uses for WD-40 in a bike shop and neither of them is your cables.

Is one of them making fireballs with a lighter?

lol no one pointed out the irony of the name "Overtime"

Ha!

I've only been in there once and the guy there was really helpful, even though they did not have what I needed (which was pretty obscure). I guess if they've only got a couple of staff, which presumably have other commitments outside of the shop, it's not surprising that they don't have MEC opening hours.

As for chainrings, yeah wear is normally visible (either hooking or generally worn down). Sometimes you can't tell, but the drivetrain does not feel completely smooth when test riding, and then I'd say it's up to the customer whether they ride it and let everything mesh together again (which is perfectly possible), or not risk it (and the potential associated chainsuck) and just replace the effected rings.

When I change cassette and chain would you change the chain rings as well?

assuming they're of relatively equivalent value, the rule is chain goes first, then cassette, then chain rings. most modern chain rings have a "wear indicator" patch between the teeth - a darker area that fades from back to front as the drive train wears out. as long as this wear indicator patch isn't more than half gone, the chain rings will mesh with a new chain - past that, they'll stretch the chain out faster than usual, and are probably worth replacing.

interesting, just gis'd chain ring wear indicator in a few variations and found nothing. are these well known?

and a huge stock of consumables, as well as almost internet low prices

I'll admit I'm a big online shopper but I shop OT for the little things and Matt builds my wheels. You can't beat his service, he even hand delivered a wheel to me after hours because he knew I needed it.

Didn't he get me to hand deliver the wheel to you?

Ha!

I've only been in there once and the guy there was really helpful, even though they did not have what I needed (which was pretty obscure). I guess if they've only got a couple of staff, which presumably have other commitments outside of the shop, it's not surprising that they don't have MEC opening hours.

no one's expecting a little shop to have MEC hours, however, if you call and say that you're going to be coming by it'd be nice to be told if they were closing early, for those of us that work 8-4 and cant get there during the day.

and OT has the best prices around, bar none. gary has always been super awesome to me.