New Chain

ba

this morning i fitted my new chain - Dure Ace 10 spd. however there is a bit of slack. should i remove some more links?

btw i took the chain straight out of the pack, and fitted immediately and it probably still smells of alcohol. i should clean it later, oil etc.

and while i'm here, there is a 3month old ultegra groupset on my bike, and i am experiencing some slipping on my small ring (39). i'm not sure exactly whats causing it, could be the cassette on the back. does anyone have any instinctive solutions before i have a look at it later? this was also happening before i fitted the new chain.

blorg

There are mixed views on this but many reckon the stuff applied at the factory will be better than anything you will ever get on the chain afterwards yourself. My own experience would certainly bear this out; I have always left a new chain completely alone.

Sheldon Brown wrote:

New chains come pre-lubricated with a grease-type lubricant which has been installed at the factory. This is an excellent lubricant, and has been made to permeate all of the internal interstices in the chain.

This factory lube is superior to any lube that you can apply after the fact.

Some people make the bad mistake of deliberately removing this superior lubricant. Don't do this!

The factory lubricant all by itself is usually good for several hundred miles of service if the bike is not ridden in wet or dusty conditions. It is best not to apply any sort of lube to a new chain until it is clearly needed, because any wet lube you can apply will dilute the factory lube.

If you insist on attempting to clean and lube to better than factory standard, Sheldon Brown recommended this procedure.

Chips Lovell

ba wrote: »

this morning i fitted my new chain - Dure Ace 10 spd. however there is a bit of slack. should i remove some more links?

btw i took the chain straight out of the pack, and fitted immediately and it probably still smells of alcohol. i should clean it later, oil etc.

Might sound like a stupid question, but when you say you fitted it straight out of the pack, did you remove any links at all? If there's slack then yes, it sounds like more should come out. If you did remove links, how did you measure the chain?

ba wrote: »

and while i'm here, there is a 3month old ultegra groupset on my bike, and i am experiencing some slipping on my small ring (39). i'm not sure exactly whats causing it, could be the cassette on the back. does anyone have any instinctive solutions before i have a look at it later? this was also happening before i fitted the new chain.

Slipping only usually happens to me when I need a new chain. Has it happened since you put the new one on?

ba

i didnt think of measuring the chain until i had installed it. doh. but how do i discern how many links are to be removed?

it feels like the chain is slipping, even with the new chain. it happens when i use force, which is quite frequent. later i'll examine the teeth on my inner ring + cassette. if nothing seems odd, could be my BB. if it is, ill bring it to my LBS.

cheers

Morgan

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=26

"Largest cog and largest chainring" method is the most straightforward.

Chips Lovell

ba wrote: »

i didnt think of measuring the chain until i had installed it. doh. but how do i discern how many links are to be removed?

If you're simply replacing a chain, best method is to just use the same amount of links as the old chain. I just lay the two out on the ground side by side to make sure I've got the same length. If you still have your old chain, you could do this.

ba wrote: »

it feels like the chain is slipping, even with the new chain. it happens when i use force, which is quite frequent. later i'll examine the teeth on my inner ring + cassette. if nothing seems odd, could be my BB. if it is, ill bring it to my LBS.

if you're group is only 3 months old, it would seem quite unlikely that the rings or cogs are worn. There is the conincidental possibility that it was slipping first because the chain needed to be replaced and when it was replaced, because the chain was too long. When the chain slips, is there any noise or is it more or less silent?

cunnins4

ba wrote: »

later i'll examine the teeth on my inner ring + cassette.

Do you mean it's skipping when you have the chain on the smallest chainring up front and the smallest cog at the back?

kona

if its shimano ultegra i wouldnt be suprised if its worn in 3 months,if their XT and XTR stuff is anything to go by their race spec chainsets are shocking, they use a composite which is waaaaaaaaaay too soft:mad:

how many miles do you have up??
is your ultegra 10spd or 9spd??? what spd is the chain??

it could be your BB like you said, could also be your freehub at the back.

but do as el tonto said and cut your new chain to the length of your old chain.(should always do this before you do anything:))

why did you need to replace the chain???

let me know in a month or so how the chain is, i snapped my XTR/Dura ace chain twice in the first month!

ba

my old 10 spd ultegra chain snapped. i didnt bother repairing it because there were 22 cracked links. but i have been training a lot on it. 2 long spins with a club per week + commuting. there could have been anything up to 2400km on that chain.

kona

ba wrote: »

my old 10 spd ultegra chain snapped. i didnt bother repairing it because there were 22 cracked links. but i have been training a lot on it. 2 long spins with a club per week + commuting. there could have been anything up to 2400km on that chain.

and 2400km on the cassette/drivetrain???

if there is id replace the cassette too, and strip the bike apart and regrease everything, and anything that ive doubts over id replace.

get the chain length sorted then look at the slipping:)

Chips Lovell

Good point by kona. The cassette could be worn and is not mating well with the new chain.

gman2k

good bike shops always recommend replacing the cassette at the same time as the chain.
So further point, don't ever buy a second hand cassette, complete waste of money.
Lots of cassettes on ebay are used - but always with 'only' 50 miles done on the road - never off road, or in the rain etc etc etc.....

blorg

I would expect to get more than 2,400 km out of a chain never mind a whole drivetrain. How much depends very much on the conditions in which you ride and how you look after your chain - the damage is done by grit, not by cycling effort. Off-road you would expect a much shorter chain life.

If you replace your chain in time, _before_ it gets too worn/stretched you should not need to change your cassette every time. I have seen estimates of three or four chains before you need a new cassette. If you leave it until the chain is too worn, it will by that stage have worn the cassette which will need replacement.

EDIT: You can check for wear yourself using a special tool, but just as easy is to use an (inch) ruler. (Jobst Brandt reckons the only reason that chain measuring tools exist at all is because they don't have inch rulers in continental Europe.) Chain links are spaced 1/2 inch apart so align one end of the ruler with the centre of a rivet and check the other end. A new chain will line up with the 12-inch mark exactly. Sheldon Brown has the following handy reckoning as to whether you need to replace chain, cassette or both:

Sheldon Brown wrote:

If the rivet is less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.

If the rivet is 1/16" past the mark, you should replace the chain, but the sprockets are probably undamaged.

If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.

If the rivet is past the 1/8" mark, a new chain will almost certainly skip on the worn sprockets, especially the smaller ones.

Chips Lovell

blorg wrote: »

I would expect to get more than 2,400 km out of a chain never mind a whole drivetrain. How much depends very much on the conditions in which you ride and how you look after your chain - the damage is done by grit, not by cycling effort. Off-road you would thus expect a much shorter chain life.

I regularly butchered Shimano chains in less than 2,400km. And I tend to keep them so clean you could eat your dinner off them. I think it might depend on the style of riding. I've, errm, more of a sprinters build than a climbers. I've recently started using KMC chains but its too early to tell if they last any longer.

blorg wrote: »

If you replace your chain in time, _before_ it gets too worn/stretched you should not need to change your cassette every time. I have seen estimates of three or four chains before you need to a new cassette. If you leave it until the chain is too worn, it will by that stage have worn the cassette which will need replacement.

There are different schools of thought on this one. From experience I've found that cassettes will last much longer than chains, but then again, it may depend on the rider.

ba

so i measured the chain to suit my old chain. and all is well, thanks lads for the advice.

there is no skipping, things are really smooth. however i may add one more link, when on the small ring, 39, and 11 on the back, the chain rubs against the lower jockey guard. shouldn't really matter because i'd never use this combination of gears anyways.