Chain Side Play

Derailleur chains must be 'droopy sideways' to make the short bends of a
shift. DeLong's Bicycle has photos. The situation worsens with each
additional cog, Fred's were 7-sp and now 10-sp are common.

"Pat and Bob Chambers" <patnbobattpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The callow youth at my LBS offered to replace my spare MTB chain on the
basis that the side slack/play was excessive. On their Chain stretch
gauge the
chain came out as "good", so I didn't replace.

Does anyone have a rule for how much side play is good or bad? (I've got
to
admit my chain is pretty droopy sideways.)

--
Regards
Bob Chambers

On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 17:50:39 +1000, "Pat and Bob Chambers"

patnbobattpg.com.au said:

Does anyone have a rule for how much side play is good or bad? (I've got to
admit my chain is pretty droopy sideways.)

It has to still shift when the indexed derailer hangs under the next cog.
Preferably it should even shift well.

Jasper

"Pat and Bob Chambers" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

The callow youth at my LBS offered to replace my spare MTB chain on the
basis that the side slack/play was excessive. On their Chain stretch
gauge the
chain came out as "good", so I didn't replace.

Does anyone have a rule for how much side play is good or bad? (I've got
to
admit my chain is pretty droopy sideways.)

--
Regards
Bob Chambers

Their chain gauge measured elongation of the chain, resulting from wear in
the links and pins. 1/16" elongation in a 12" stretch of chain is the
generally accepted maximum for modern index systems. You can get your own
chain gauge for $20 or less in US shops, Rohloff and Park both make them. I
like the Rohloff but others like the Park. This would save you the trouble
of dealing with callow youths in LBSs in the future.

Like everyone said, modern chains are supposed to be droopy sideways.
--
mark

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 17:50:39 +1000, "Pat and Bob Chambers"

patnbobattpg.com.au said:

The callow youth at my LBS offered to replace my spare MTB chain on the
basis that the side slack/play was excessive. On their Chain stretch gauge
the
chain came out as "good", so I didn't replace.

Does anyone have a rule for how much side play is good or bad? (I've got to
admit my chain is pretty droopy sideways.)

Side play is generally irrelevant. The only thing to worry about is
length over a number of links; side slop aids in shifting. If you
could spot an individual link (or a group of them) that was
separating, that would be cause for concern, but mere flexibility in
the absence of "stretch" is a non-issue.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 14:46:16 GMT, Werehatrack <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Side play is generally irrelevant. The only thing to worry about is
length over a number of links; side slop aids in shifting. If you
could spot an individual link (or a group of them) that was
separating, that would be cause for concern, but mere flexibility in
the absence of "stretch" is a non-issue.

If side play gets to be too much, it becomes a detriment to shifting. That
happens when the chain is no longer derailed by the derailer moving to the
next cog -- so actually as cogs get spaced closer together, side play
needs to be less for indexing to work.

Jasper