Because Haute Route is imminent, and my body is about as ready as I can make it, I am turning my attention to the bike over the next couple of weeks. I’m starting with my chain, which I thought was doing pretty well (about 6000 km since the last change), but wasn’t sure. Well, I am now, thanks to the newest addition to my tool bag – the Park Tool CC-2.

 

It’s a chain checker that accurately measures the amount of chain wear you have. I won’t go into the details on how to use it – that’s what YouTube is for – but I just thought I’d throw this out there in case anyone is forgetting about this all-important component of your bike.

If your chain wears past a certain point, you will lose power in your pedal stroke, not to mention the very real possibility of damaging your chainrings and sprocket (and anything else it rolls around, I guess). Keeping your chain clean (I give it a wipe nearly every ride) and remembering to change the thing once in a while will prolong the life of your bike and make you go faster, as a bonus.

This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood ‘wrench’.

P.S. The CC-2 tells me that my chain is nearly as tight as when I bought it…must not be pushing hard enough.