chain width question

Quoted message said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I am
constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing would
reduce this need, and if there would be negative effects
on the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

7 & 8-speed chains are pretty much interchangeable, as the
spacing differences between the two cassettes are minimal. A
9-speed chain will most likely not do well on your crankset,
probably trying to fall in-between your chainrings at times
due to its narrower width.

Could be that the angle of your derailleur needs to be
adjusted. Check also to see that there's not too much play
in the derailleur pivots.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I
am constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing would
reduce this need, and if there would be negative effects
on the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

7 & 8-speed chains are pretty much interchangeable, as the
spacing differences between the two cassettes are minimal.
A 9-speed chain will most likely not do well on your
crankset, probably trying to fall in-between your
chainrings at times due to its narrower width.

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks with
no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No problem
at all. Is this something you see or hear in your shop on a
regular basis?

I thought the problem with 9-speed chains on a 7/8 setup had
more to do with the inner width.

Quoted message said:

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks
with no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No
problem at all. Is this something you see or hear in your
shop on a regular basis?

I thought the problem with 9-speed chains on a 7/8 setup
had more to do with the inner width.

Really. Sometimes people are mistakenly sold the wrong
chains, and there have definitely been issues. Could be that
it works fine on some (obviously it does!) based on wear,
the original spacing between the chainrings, how straight
they are, etc.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I
am constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing
would reduce this need, and if there would be negative
effects on the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

7 & 8-speed chains are pretty much interchangeable, as
the spacing differences between the two cassettes are
minimal. A 9-speed chain will most likely not do well on
your crankset, probably trying to fall

in-between

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

your chainrings at times due to its narrower width.

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks
with no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No
problem at all. Is this something you see or hear in your
shop on a regular basis?

I thought the problem with 9-speed chains on a 7/8 setup
had more to do with the inner width.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks
with no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No
problem at all. Is this something you see or hear in
your shop on a regular basis? I thought the problem with
9-speed chains on a 7/8 setup had more to do with the
inner width.

Quoted message said:

Really. Sometimes people are mistakenly sold the wrong
chains, and there have definitely been issues. Could be
that it works fine on some (obviously it does!) based on
wear, the original spacing between the chainrings, how
straight they are, etc.

Correct. That's happened to me. Sometimes the chain would
just sit in between the two chainrings without engaging
onto either. I went in and asked for a bit wider chain:
problem solved.

Sergio Pisa

Rob said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I am
constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing would
reduce this need, and if there would be negative effects
on the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

Try a SRAM PC48 (7/8 spd) chain. The side plates are
chamfered to avoid just this problem. Jobst says they shift
poorly as a result, but I've never really noticed.

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks
with no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No
problem at all. Is this something you see or hear in your
shop on a regular basis?

I thought the problem with 9-speed chains on a 7/8 setup
had more to do with the inner width.

Really. Sometimes people are mistakenly sold the wrong
chains, and there have definitely been issues. Could be
that it works fine on some (obviously it does!) based on
wear, the original spacing between the chainrings, how
straight they are, etc.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

Have you noticed any pattern in the problems with 9-speed
chains and chainrings? I ask because I have some old
cranksets and have been moving them around, including
onto 9-speed setups. I don't want to buy new cranks if I
can avoid it.

For what it's worth, I've had a mid-80s 105 double crank
with pre-9 Willow and SR chainrings on one bike. Bar-end
shifters, so maybe that leads to different ways of dropping
the chain onto the smaller ring than STI does it. And an early-
90s LX crankset with original rings on a Rapidfire 9-speed
with no problems. Soon I should be getting new chainrings
for a Sakae triple crank and maybe a Suntour XC crank. Maybe
I need to search out '9-speed' chainrings? Or drop back to
8-speed for those cranks.

biknfish-<< I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105
components. I am constantly trimming the front derailleur to
prevent rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing
would reduce this need, and if there would be negative
effects on the rear shifting? >><BR><BR>

You already have a 8s chain. A 9s chain won't shift
well...moving the front sder around with STI is not
uncommon.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Dan Daniel <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I
am constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing
would reduce this need, and if there would be negative
effects on the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

7 & 8-speed chains are pretty much interchangeable, as
the spacing differences between the two cassettes are
minimal. A 9-speed chain will most likely not do well on
your crankset, probably trying to fall in-between your
chainrings at times due to its narrower width.

Really? I've been running 9-speed chains on old cranks
with no adjustment in spacing for six months or more. No
problem at all. Is this something you see or hear in your
shop on a regular basis?

I have used 9-speed chains on older cranks, and have
experienced this problem on rare occassions if I downshift
very slowly and tentatively (with friction shifters). It's
not enough of a problem to make me change cranks -- maybe
it happens once every ten hours of riding. I imagine that
with indexed shifting this would not be a problem but I
don't know.

JT

(Rob) may have said:

I have an older 7 speed cassette with 105 components. I am
constantly trimming the front derailleur to prevent
rubbing. I was wondering if an 8 or 9 speed chaing would
reduce this need, and if there would be negative effects on
the rear shifting? Any tips or advise??

First, check to make sure the der hasn't moved up on the
tube, and that the mount isn't loose. I had that happen
recently. Otherwise, I suspect you've got a cable that's not
moving as freely as it should. 7 and 8 speed chains have so
little dimesional difference (if any) that changing to an 8
won't help. The narrower 9-speed may not shift right; if the
chain is *too* narrow, the der must move farther to the
right get it to shift up a gear, and if the system is
working correctly, your shifter's throw won't change, so
you'd end up having to trim the der to the right...making
the shifts down less certain. If the chain is rubbing, the
cage isn't moving far enough or precisely enough. This can
be due to cable, shifter or der adjustment, wear, crud or
corrosion.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via
e-mail. Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature. Words
processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Dan Daniel said:

Have you noticed any pattern in the problems with 9-speed
chains and chainrings? I ask because I have some old
cranksets and have been moving them around, including onto
9-speed setups. I don't want to buy new cranks if I can
avoid it.

I'm running a Sugino Mighty Tour x 110 bolt pattern
double, 50/34, in my Campy 10 sp system with pre 8sp
rings. Zero problems.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Have you noticed any pattern in the problems with 9-speed
chains and chainrings? I ask because I have some old
cranksets and have been moving them around, including
onto 9-speed setups. I don't want to buy new cranks if I
can avoid it.

I'm running a Sugino Mighty Tour x 110 bolt pattern
double, 50/34, in my Campy 10 sp system with pre 8sp
rings. Zero problems.

Paul: The extra spacing that your cranks/chainrings are
providing is actually a good thing, given the large gap
(size difference) in your two chainrings. In general, the
closer the chainrings are in size, the closer they have to
be in terms of distance between them (width). People with
true half-step gearing often had nasty problems with the
chain slipping in between the rings unless they modified the
system to reduce the spacing. And those with very big
chainring differences would often find the chain flying off
to the inside (on a downshift) unless the spacing were
increased a bit.

--Mike Jacoubowsky Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

"Paul Kopit" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dan Daniel said:

Have you noticed any pattern in the problems with 9-speed
chains and chainrings? I ask because I have some old
cranksets and have been moving them around, including
onto 9-speed setups. I don't want to buy new cranks if I
can avoid it.

I'm running a Sugino Mighty Tour x 110 bolt pattern
double, 50/34, in my Campy 10 sp system with pre 8sp
rings. Zero problems.

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles said:

In general, the closer the chainrings are in size, the
closer they have to be in terms of distance between them
(width). People with true half-step gearing often had
nasty problems with the chain slipping in between the
rings unless they modified the system to reduce the
spacing. And those with very big chainring differences
would often find the chain flying off to the inside (on a
downshift) unless the spacing were increased a bit.

This is exactly correct.

I've had the chain slip problem when I would put a 53-46 on
my front for certain races (Cat's Hill, for ex., except I
knew about and corrected the problem before using it at
Cat's Hill), and certainly had the same problem when I've
played around with half-steps. It is actually difficult to
get the right rings for this particular problem.

Conversely I've run a 53-33 front too, in a 9sp system. I've
had to put 1 mm spacers between the 33t and the 5 crank arms
to get the chain to drop down nicely.