Felt dumb admitting my torque wrench habit, but the chain wear gauge proved me right

Spent 2 years ignoring my shop's insistence on checking chain stretch every 500 miles, figured it was overkill, then one 4-hour ride up Mt. Hood shredded my cassette in week 3 of the season and a $60 replacement taught me that $20 gauge wasn't the gimmick I thought it was, anyone else eat crow on basic maintenance tools?

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1 Comment

barnes.brian1mo ago

Figured the same thing for years, thought my shop was just trying to upsell me on fancy tools. Then I swapped wheels between two bikes one season and the new chain started skipping on a climb. That wore down my chainring faster than I thought possible, and I ended up replacing way more than a gauge woulda cost. Now I check it every few hundred miles just to shut my brain up, and honestly it takes like 30 seconds. The crow tastes a little less bitter when you realize the tool pays for itself the first time it catches something. Just wish I'd listened sooner instead of learning the hard way on a part that was barely broken in.