Hot take: I think replacing chain and cassette together is a waste of money most times

Had a guy come into the shop yesterday with a bike that had maybe 800 miles on the drivetrain. Chain was stretched a touch but cassette looked brand new. Another mechanic told him he needed both replaced. I stopped him and said just do the chain. Customer was happy he saved 60 bucks. Been at this for 15 years and I see too many shops pushing full drivetrain swaps when the cassette has plenty of life left. If you catch chain wear early enough, you can get 2 or 3 chains per cassette easy. Why throw away good parts? Any other mechanics here think the industry pushes this too hard?

3 comments

3 Comments

calebc401mo ago

Man, it's even worse with those 11 and 12 speed setups. I had a customer last year with a bike that had maybe 400 miles on it, but the chain was already showing some wear. Shop told him the whole cassette and chainring needed replacing. I checked it out and the cassette was still in perfect shape. The real trick is that a lot of those newer cassettes are made with aluminum spider arms that can get scored up if you wait too long. So if you catch it early like you said, you save the whole thing. But if you skip that first chain swap, you're buying a whole new cassette and maybe even a chainring. That's where the shops make their money. They count on people not checking their chain regularly.

kim.nina1mo ago

And it's the same pattern everywhere, really. @calebc40 that whole "replace it all at once" thing is how every industry works now. Phone companies telling you to buy a new charger instead of replacing the cord. Car mechanics pushing a whole new alternator when the bearing is the only bad part. They design things so you can't fix just one piece. Planned obsolescence baked into everything from bikes to blenders. Makes you wonder what else we're throwing out way too early.

hayden_craig951mo agoMost Upvoted

400 miles seems pretty fast for chain wear, are people that hard on their bikes?