On the bright side.

[w0nderer]

18. Nice ride!

OOkay so drive train 1500-3000 miles per chain possibly 1.5-2 times that per rear cassette, less if you torque it (less than 60 pedal strokes per minute), more if you don't
the front you should on ultegra be able to get rings only (chainrings) at $20 as opposed to the hundreds for a crank

also check hubs, steering and bottom bracket for play (instant pain if there is some)

if you primarily use the small gear on rear cassette , it exists as a separate part (8-9-10 ultegra lock gear)


keeping the chain clean (obviously)
keeping 2-3 chains is a better trick..this is an old 'touring' trick that you use a chain no1 for approx 250 or so miles
change, use no2 for 250
change use no 3 for 250
benefit of this...chains wear faster, so you keep 3 chains that wear with 1 cassette (expensive)
and get 7-10+ thousand miles from the set
3 chains 1 cassette

crank linkage bolt? (describe location) the one that holds the crank to the bottombracket (bearings at bottom of bicycle) that sucker is usually torqed to 490 lbs so yeah it comes out hard LOL

instead of hammering get a pipe and put it on the handle...it's better