Why does nobody talk about chain stretch on single speeds?

I was rebuilding an old single speed cruiser last weekend and decided to finally buy a chain wear indicator instead of just eyeballing it. Turns out the chain had stretched way past the 0.75 mark, like 1.0 on the tool. I always thought single speed chains lasted basically forever since there's no shifting. Found a Park Tool video that explained how a worn chain can chew up your cog and chainring faster than you think. Has anyone else skipped checking on their single speed setup and paid for it later?

3 comments

3 Comments

angela_dixon27d ago

Ughhh yeah I learned this the hard way on a fixie I had back in college. Thought I was being smart by just lubing the chain and riding it into the ground. Then one day I tried to skid stop and the chain literally snapped, almost ate pavement. Replaced the chain and found my cog had these nasty worn down shark fins. Had to replace both cog AND chainring, cost way more than just swapping a $15 chain every few hundred miles would have.

spencer19929d ago

DUDE same thing happened to me last year. Thought my single speed was bulletproof until the chain started skipping and I saw the cog was totally sharktoothed.

ivanlewis29d ago

@spencer199 nailed it honestly (I had the same rude awakening on a beach cruiser last year). What finally worked for me was just swapping the chain every 300-400 miles and keeping the cog teeth greased lightly, it made my drivetrain last way longer than when I just let it ride. Checking with the chain wear tool once a month takes like 30 seconds and saves you from having to buy a whole new cog set down the road.