 By Steve Outing on 10/8/2007 A buddy shot a photo of me coming down a choppy bit of Porcupine Rim, and I noticed the chain action in the shot below: I've had a problem for a while where after flying down anything choppy, I stop at the bottom and my chain has slipped off inside the granny gear ring -- even though I've been riding in the middle ring. Any suggestions for repairs that might stop this from happening? Thanks! |
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Chain issues: any advice? |
NVMtBiker says:
two things come to mind: 1) chain tension is too low - adjust it at the derailleur 2) chain is too long, which results in chain tension being too low -- take out a link or two, but make sure your not cutting too short! |
MikeG says:
 I had been thinking the same things, but I was waiting for the more experienced to weigh in with their answers. I have the same thing happening, although I replicated the factory chain length with my new chain, and the derailleur is less than a year old. Think it would be possible that the chain was always too long, even from the manufacturer? What kind of derailleur is it you've got there? Mine's a SRAM x7 MikeG Either riding or Thinking of Riding... The madness of MTB, I love it! |
Steve Outing says:
Mike: Derailleur is XT. Chain is new, as is rear cassette. I trusted my bike shop put on the correct length chain, and it certainly hasn't had time to stretch out. This has been a problem since that work was done (and before). Possible they didn't properly adjust the derailleur tension, I guess, and I should check that. I've also been planning to get rid of the outer chain ring and add a bash guard. That would give me the opportunity to shorten the chain, wouldn't it? Maybe that would solve the problem. Any advice appreciated. |
NVMtBiker says:
first - yes, removing the large ring would allow you to run a shorter chain and might help, if only because you might get the length right when you shorten. the rule of thumb that i use when determining chain length is to 1) remove the chain from the derailleur 2) wrap the chain around you largest ring and cog 3) pull it hand tight and add two links -- one if you use a powerlink i know that seems awfully short, but it is the recommended length. here's a link to the instructions provided with sram chains, should be the same for all brands: http://www.sram.com/_media/techdocs/Chain_all_MTB_08_02.pdf |
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