Wasted $60 on a Park Tool chain checker that lied to me

Kept telling me my chain was stretched at 0.5% so I replaced it 3 times in 2 months, then a buddy showed me his cheap caliper method and my chain was fine. Anyone else ditch the fancy tools for something simpler?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinson.jake17d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you replaced your chain THREE times based on that thing? That's brutal.

the_jake16d ago

Man that little Park Tool chain checker has cost me a small fortune in parts over the years. I swear I bought the first one back in 2021 and I didn't really understand how it worked so I was just guessing if the pins were lined up right. The first time I thought I saw it drop into the red zone so I swapped out a perfectly good chain for no reason. Then I did it again six months later because I held the tool at a weird angle. By the third time I finally watched a YouTube video and realized I was just bad at using a basic measuring tool. Now I just replace them when the bike starts making crunchy sounds like a bowl of cereal.