I just put a new chain on my Sears 12 speed road bike. Went for a ride and the chain slipped a tooth on the smallest rear sprocket, every crank revolution or so, under moderate and heavy pedal pressure. It finally quit slipping after the first 15 miles or so. The only condidtions that changed during the ride are (A) the temperature warmed from 40F to 55F and (B) the chain got dusty from the ride on the gravel road.
I should also mention that before putting the new chain on I boiled it in grease, let it cool then wiped it with a rag. It was VERY well lubricated.
The sprocket teeth look good. Very symetrical from front to back as opposed to being hooked or worn otherwise. Is it common for a new chain with good lubrication to slip on a freshly cleaned sprocket?
Greg wrote: || I should also mention that before putting the new chain on I boiled || it in grease, let it cool then wiped it with a rag. It was VERY well || lubricated.
Wowl Chained boiled in grease. Must be messy as heck.
The sprocket teeth look good. Very symetrical from front to back as opposed to being hooked or worn otherwise. Is it common for a new chain with good lubrication to slip on a freshly cleaned sprocket?
More generally, my experience tinkering with mountain bikes is that a set of cogs and the chain are "a match". A mechanic friend of mine says that the chain does stretch over time. After a while, the chain fits your gears like a glove.
I encountered slipping when I changed only my rear cassette; similarly, when I changed only the chain. I hear it's best to change cogs and chain at the same time, but I haven't been doing that due to cost.
I just put a new chain on my Sears 12 speed road bike. Went for a ride and the chain slipped a tooth on the smallest rear sprocket, every crank revolution or so, under moderate and heavy pedal pressure. It finally quit slipping after the first 15 miles or so. The only condidtions that changed during the ride are (A) the temperature warmed from 40F to 55F and (B) the chain got dusty from the ride on the gravel road.
I should also mention that before putting the new chain on I boiled it in grease, let it cool then wiped it with a rag. It was VERY well lubricated.
The sprocket teeth look good. Very symetrical from front to back as opposed to being hooked or worn otherwise. Is it common for a new chain with good lubrication to slip on a freshly cleaned sprocket?
Howdy,
My guess is that you had a stiff link, but that it loosened up after a few miles.
"Kenneth" wrote: My guess is that you had a stiff link, but that it loosened up after a few miles. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'll bet that's it. I have a very hard time visualizing how a chain that is wrapped around a sprocket, engaging several teeth, could possibly "slip." It would have to rise over the tops of all the teeth that are engaged at once.
The sprocket teeth look good. Very symetrical from front to back as opposed to being hooked or worn otherwise. Is it common for a new chain with good lubrication to slip on a freshly cleaned sprocket?
More generally, my experience tinkering with mountain bikes is that a set of cogs and the chain are "a match". A mechanic friend of mine says that the chain does stretch over time. After a while, the chain fits your gears like a glove.
Can someone confirm this, sicne I've changed chains, hubs etc at different times without a problem. And since the chain has a certain number of links which may or may not sync with the same teeth on front or rear cogs I find it hard to believe since each tooth and chain link will wear differently and thus "average out" over time.
A mechanic friend of mine says that the chain does stretch over time. After a while, the chain fits your gears like a glove.
Howdy,
I would suggest that your friend is half right...
The chain does "stretch" over time (actually it gets longer due to wear, but nothing is "stretchin'"😉, but as it does, the fit on the cogs gets worse, not better. If you let it go, eventually this "stretch" requires replacement of both the chain, and the cogs.
More generally, my experience tinkering with mountain bikes is that a set of cogs and the chain are "a match". A mechanic friend of mine says that the chain does stretch over time. After a while, the chain fits your gears like a glove.
Can someone confirm this, sicne I've changed chains, hubs etc at different times without a problem. And since the chain has a certain number of links which may or may not sync with the same teeth on front or rear cogs I find it hard to believe since each tooth and chain link will wear differently and thus "average out" over time.
Sheldon Brown's resource seems quite thorough on this subject. It seems that there is not really stretching (in the conventional sense) involved, but rather an issue of the sprocket and chain wearing together. If they're not heavily worn out, then you can probably replace either part.
But if they have worn out together (as with mine) then replacing one of the parts causes a mismatch, leading to jumping or skipping under heavy loads. I only really noticed it when I made an effort to massively accelerate, slipping the chain and hurting my crotch somewhat.
