Bike maintenance: new chain & brakes

[johnridley]

New chain, tested just at 1.0 on the wear gauge. Using old master link, new one put in the tool pouch.

Odometer: 19437

The old one went on at 17330, so I got about 2100 miles out of it. Usually I get 1800 miles, but I did try to clean this chain a little more often, and it was summer so there was usually less crud getting on the thing. We'll see how it fares winter, both because of more crud and because I'll probably be less inclined to clean the chain when it's 10*F out.

Also new brake pads on the front (disc). I put on a set of aftermarket pads at 14460, so I've already gotten 5000 miles out of them. The original Avid pads lasted only 2520 miles. Given that the aftermarket pads perform as well and cost 1/3 as much, clearly I'll be going with them in the future.

Comments

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

Which aftermarket pads do you use again?

I got some from DiscoBrakes.Com and they've seemed just fine.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I just bought the cheapest ones I could find on eBay. The brand name is "Ashima".

There is a Chinese vendor selling sintered BB7 pads for $7.99 plus $6 shipping (I would try to combine shipping there), or 10 for $45 with shipping (same place). I might go for the latter but it would take me 10 years to use that many pads.

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. That's good to know. I'd gone with the cheapest I could find, but still reasonable looking. The only problem I've had thus far is with the spring seeming a little odd and occasionally hitting the rotor, but that'll be fixed next time I poke with it.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

The springs I got look identical to OEM. If they were odd, I'd have just used the originals, I'm sure they'd probably last through several sets of pads.

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

Mine look the same, but for some reason one side of one is sitting a bit oddly. I've only noticed it on the last two rides, though, and just reseating it should sort things out. I've got a bit of detailed cleaning to do before winter. Chain, cassette, etc...