So i know that shifting is worse with a stetched chain, but how much power and speed is lost ? I have probably over 1100 miles on current chain and am a heavy shifter/ peddler. Am I losing speed ?
Bring it in to a bike shop. They should have a guage to let you know your chain is stretched too far. If your chain is stretched, it’ll start to chew up your cassette teeth.
Also you will be losing your casette since the chain is streched it will not sit on the rings properly.
I’ll guess zero loss. You are putting force into the chain at the chain ring, and all the force is being transferred to the cassette. No magic increase in speed when you replace it, sorry.
Ken,
You seem to be looking at the glass half empty alot it seem’s. I was worried about speed loss not a magic increase. I guess with some crappy shifting caused by the stretched chain there is a bit but most likely negligable at most unless it causes a derailment.
I’m at 8,000 miles on my current chain/cassette. I guess I’m a light shifter/peddler. I’ll be replacing chain/cassette soon for yucks, but it still shifts pretty crisply. You aren’t losing any speed with a stretched chain.
And from my experience, you could put a brand new chain/cassette on, take it for 1 ride so it gets a little dirty, bring it in to 90% of the bike shops out there and they’ll fumble around with the chain checker and tell you that you need a new chain and the cassette looks pretty worn too.
It’s eating into the cassette, therefore using energy to break the cassette down leaving less energy available to move the bike forward. Even when not shifting. Probably not a lot but I would bet it’s measureable.
I just noticed how stretched out my chain is. With the bike still, if I apply pressure to the pedal, you can see the loose chain lifting and shifting slightly until it catches the chain rings. It moves quite (3mm) a bit so this is probably happening on every downstroke I do. I’ve never replaced my chain but I am going to do it soon. I was hoping to compare before and after power but its raining outside so my results my differ.
I’m closing in on 10K miles for my current 105 cassette, replaced the KMC chain at ~ 7K.
Get one of these it will alleviate your stress of wattage dump…which I would guess is less than 1.
My 2 cents on asking an LBS: don’t. The LBS down the street loves to screw unsuspecting customers. They drilled my friend on her P2 which had less than 2K miles on it for a nearly $200 bill. New chain, cassette, cables and ‘tune up’. Freaking ass holes. I was out of town so couldn’t get to her bike and twist the barrel adjuster for her…leave it to the LBS to turn an out of tune derailleur into a $200 work job. At the time there was only a single Cervelo dealer in our area so she took it to a local competitive shop over driving 45 minutes each way.
1100 miles is just broken in. I wouldn’t worry about that.
jaretj
Measure the chain for wear. You do not want to break a chain especially if you are a heavy peddler. It gets worse if it snaps when you’re standing, you may never be the same after. I have one friend who shattered his elbow when his snapped.
Chain wear doesn’t end up in a chain snapping - that is usually the result of a poorly installed link pin or an excessive amount of rust.
I ended up just getting a new bike insteadnof replacing the chain. Just like my car when it is time to change belts it is time to change cars :0) kidding sort of, i did change (years ago this thread is from 2010) but needed a new bike after some misfortune.
Doh!!!
I normally don’t fall for that thread revival stuff 
Worry less, ride more.
As others have said, chain stretch is most likely a complete non-issue in your case. 1100 miles is very young for a chain.
Bike chains do not stretch.
Do the pins loosen and elongate a little? What is the reason for measuring them? Or Duf are you yanking my chain :0)
The round parts between the links get worn by the sprocket teeth. This shrinks the diameter increasing the distance between them.
Buy a chain. Measure its over all length. Use it until it is “stretched” then measure LOA again. No difference.
Chain wear doesn’t end up in a chain snapping - that is usually the result of a poorly installed link pin or an excessive amount of rust.
so you think those broken chains at the start of TT’s in the olympics and TDF were due to rusty chains and/or bad mechanics not installing the chain right?