I just purchased a new mountain bike yesterday and the cluster is a cheapo, lower end model from Shimano. I was able to upgrade the crankset, bottom bracket and pedals, but ran out of time to upgrade the cluster to XT. What do you think? Should I just ride it until it’s done and if so, how do I tell if it’s ready for replacement or should I just bite the bullet and get the new XT cluster now before the chain starts to wear with the stock cluster and needs to be replaced as well.
Also, My buddy recommends that I replace my chain every 1,000 miles regardless if it doesn’t measure stretched, because it’s cheaper than chain ring/cluster replacements. What say you about this as well?
You’re buddy’s got a good plan, if a bit overzealous. Buy a chain guage and just replace a little early. Chains are cheaper than clusters.
As to the one you have, I’d ride it a while. Visual inspection of the cogs will sometimes help, or you can tell if your chain jumps a bit, but by then it’s already pretty far gone. I try to change my gears about every fourth chain (± 6000 mile) and that’s worked out OK for me.
I’ve also found that there isn’t a huge difference between top-of-the-line clusters and cheaper ones. I race on Dura Ace, but I use Ultegra on my training bike.