Recommended Order of Component Replacement

My stock TREK 5200 keeps going and going, but I am afraid that I will soon have a catastrophic failure of some component that will strand me somewhere far from home. I have the logged miles on each of the following parts of my bike. In what order should I start replacing them?

Tires - 3000 miles (Schwalbe Stelvio Plus - rear tread wearing down, but still plenty of rubber)

Cassette and chain - 6000 miles

Other drive train - 12000 miles

Frame - 12000 miles

Wheelset - 12000 miles

Thanks for your response!

The chain is getting to the point where you should be periodically measuring it for stretch. The frame, wheels, and rest of the drive train are just getting broken in.

I agree with the chain replacement as well as the tires. The rest you didnt say brand/model, why? - because a Dura Ace Cassette will last twice as long as a 105 under same use condition. But in any case those are mega miles and assuming you do regular maintenance (ie. lube, truing etc.) they might keep on going.

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Mileage intervals are basically useless for bike maintenance due to the extreme variation in environment, usage, rider weight and road conditions. Instead, everything you've listed should be inspected routinely and replaced whenever needed.

EG, tires can suffer damaging cuts at any time, making them prone to blowouts. As a result, they should be inspected often, not just assumed OK until some fixed mileage.

The chain can be measured for wear with a ruler, or checked with a $9 gauge. At 6000 miles, it could already be worn well past the recommended 1% "stretch" limit.

The same applies to everything else you've listed; keep an eye (and ear) out for any signs of excessive wear, looseness, corrosion or damage. Special times to check would be after riding in the rain, crashing, hitting a big pothole, etc.

If you don't want to learn to do these checks yourself, you can take the bike to a good mechanic for a routine check on an annual basis.

Thank you for the responses. As I expected there are no easy answers.

I have a Park Tool chain stretch checker that will tell me if I exceed 0.75% and 1.00% stretch. Which is applicable to a Ultegra chain? All of my drive train components are Ultegra.

My wheels are Bontrager Race. How will I know when my hubs and rims have worn out?

Also, how cut up must a tire be to warrant replacement? My rear wheel has dozens of small cuts on the tread that are not (yet) showing on the inside of the tire.

I never go near an LBS for maintenance. Every time I've brought my bike in with a problem, the answer has always been three days and $100. I've been sold tires, cassettes, chains, and cables well before the old ones wore out.
Learning to do my own maintenance saves me hundreds of dollars per year.

The limits on the CC-3 gauge apply to all chains. The 0.75% wear would be conservative; that's when I replace. Believe you could go to the 1% limit without any really excessive wear on the chainrings or cogs if necessary.

Your hub and rims need to be checked for cracks and loose spokes. Rims will wear due to braking wear on the sidewalls too. At some point, the rear wheel will start going out of true, and need tweaking more and more often. The wheel bearings may need attention if the wheel doesn't spin totally free when in the skewers, or if the bearings feel "crunchy" when you hold the axle and turn them by hand.

Sorry you don't have a good LBS. We've got a couple of good ones here, with great mechanics. Even though I can do most things myself, I call on them to rebuild BBs, hubs, wheels. I have found the type you mention too, always pushing to sell "upgrades", or other expensive and unnecessary stuff.

I agree with everything that everyone else has said.

Personally, I'd replace the chain and cassette. I would also get a new set of tires. Make sure there arent any flat spots on those things. And then have someone check your wheels, you might not need a rebuild but a bike shop you trust can give you an honest evaluation on those things.

Id also replace the frame cause 12000 miles is way too much... kidding on that one haha.

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2005 - TCR Advanced T-Mobile w 10spd D/Ace and Ksyrium SL

2003 - Gunnar Street Dog in Flamboyance Yellow w Miche track cranks running on D/Ace hubs and Open Pro Rims

2003 - S&M PBR Raw with FBM, Terrible1, Primo.. etc.

I understood that DA cassettes are lighter and softer, wearing down faster than the 10 and Ultrega cassettes... and that many pros and hardcore guys train on ultrega and race with DA cassettes.

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'05 GF Cake DLX SRAM X-9, 'Zocchi MX Comp, Avid BB7
Trek Equinox 7: 105, all stock, all fast
'99 GT XCR5000: LX/XT, Avid SDs, Judy XC
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Life is short, ride hard. BONZAI!!!!

Look at your tire straight on and if you see a flattening it's replacement time.

Mileage is subjective on stuff like cassettes, rings and chains, but if you have ridden your chain past the point of no return most likely you'll need all three components replaced. Look at your rings for a sharkfin type appearance. Chain is easy to check with a metal ruler.

They claim that the new DA cassettes have some surface treatment that increases the lifespan by 30%. They don't say what that's compared to, but if it's bare titanium they're still nowhere close to the durability of chromed steel.