Australia and New Zealand · Public discussion

chain wear and missing teeth

eddiec · 2006-03-03T02:25:49+00:00

Warning: some of these images may disturb.... Okay, context: This is my mongrel commuter - 10 years old and in that time it's had probaby only a couple of cassettes and chains, and the rings have never been touched... It got to the point a couple of years ago where I thought I might as well run it into the ground as to replace any one item would have meant replacing the whole groupset - which I was happy to do, but in the interests of making the most of what I've got, wanted to wait until absolutely required... And to be fair, it's performed flawlessly for years with neglect and abuse... Riding home this week a little click from the cranks was bugging me - not in a 'oh my God the drivetrain's imploding' kind of way, but just that little irritating noise that doesn't sound like damage, but you'd rather do without. On having a close look at the drivetrain to see what the issue was, I finally made myself come face-to-face with this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/107000370/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/107000368/ Nasty looking, I'll admit - but the thing which makes me uncertain as to whether to replace now or leave is that apart from the little click (which could be unrelated) it's still doing what it should - no slipping, no jumping, no poor shifts... Should I just leave it until something more drastic happens? or would that something drastic be something i should really be avoiding?? I guess I just never feel like throwing out something that still works, but if safety's at sake, perhaps I should... And on a related note, on my other bike (which is in sterling condition comparatively), one of the teeth on the middle chainring appears to have snapped off (it's a mtb, so probaby got smacked somewhere) - Is that one tooth less likely to affect performance? My gut and wallet says no... Eddie(frugal)c

Started by eddiec · 3 March 2006 · Last activity 4 March 2006 · 10 posts · 656 views

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01 / Original postchain wear and missing teetheddiec · 3 Mar 2006 02 / This pagePosts 1–10Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #10Peter Signorini · 4 Mar 2006

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Original section: Australia and New Zealand
Published: 3 March 2006
Last activity: 4 March 2006
Original author: eddiec
Posts: 10
Discussion status: Public discussion
Total views: 656
Views / 30 days: 0
Topics: Chain wear Chain lube and cleaning Chainrings Single-speed and fixed-gear

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Original post
eddiec
Archived post

3 March 2006, 02:25 UTC #1

Warning: some of these images may disturb....
Okay, context: This is my mongrel commuter - 10 years old and in that time it's had probaby only a couple of cassettes and chains, and the rings have never been touched... It got to the point a couple of years ago where I thought I might as well run it into the ground as to replace any one item would have meant replacing the whole groupset - which I was happy to do, but in the interests of making the most of what I've got, wanted to wait until absolutely required... And to be fair, it's performed flawlessly for years with neglect and abuse...
Riding home this week a little click from the cranks was bugging me - not in a 'oh my God the drivetrain's imploding' kind of way, but just that little irritating noise that doesn't sound like damage, but you'd rather do without.
On having a close look at the drivetrain to see what the issue was, I finally made myself come face-to-face with this:
flickr.com107000370
flickr.com107000368
Nasty looking, I'll admit - but the thing which makes me uncertain as to whether to replace now or leave is that apart from the little click (which could be unrelated) it's still doing what it should - no slipping, no jumping, no poor shifts... Should I just leave it until something more drastic happens? or would that something drastic be something i should really be avoiding?? I guess I just never feel like throwing out something that still works, but if safety's at sake, perhaps I should...
And on a related note, on my other bike (which is in sterling condition comparatively), one of the teeth on the middle chainring appears to have snapped off (it's a mtb, so probaby got smacked somewhere) - Is that one tooth less likely to affect performance? My gut and wallet says no...
Eddie(frugal)c

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Resound
Archived post

3 March 2006, 02:45 UTC #2

"eddiec" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

Warning: some of these images may disturb....

<schnip>
Quoted message said:
Nasty looking, I'll admit - but the thing which makes me uncertain as
to whether to replace now or leave is that apart from the little click
(which could be unrelated) it's still doing what it should - no
slipping, no jumping, no poor shifts... Should I just leave it until
something more drastic happens? or would that something drastic be
something i should really be avoiding?? I guess I just never feel like
throwing out something that still works, but if safety's at sake,
perhaps I should...

<another schnip>
That's really enormously worn...replacing it might lead to grief as the
cassette and chainrings may already be badly worn too. My personal take on
it would be to replace the chain, but keep the old one in case it really is
too far gone. If you go back to the old chain, lube the new one well and
wrap it up before putting it away and it'll be there when you really DO need
to replace it.

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flyingdutch
Archived post

3 March 2006, 03:06 UTC #3

pppfffttt!!!
SOFT!
Mine was worn soooo bad there was no lil' tops to the teeth.
Just one curve meetin the other. same on RD wheels
going by tha tphot you should be able to get another 6 years wear out of it, no problems 🙄

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eddiec
Archived post

3 March 2006, 03:09 UTC #4

Resound said:
"eddiec" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:

Warning: some of these images may disturb....

<schnip>
Quoted message said:
Nasty looking, I'll admit - but the thing which makes me uncertain as
to whether to replace now or leave is that apart from the little click
(which could be unrelated) it's still doing what it should - no
slipping, no jumping, no poor shifts... Should I just leave it until
something more drastic happens? or would that something drastic be
something i should really be avoiding?? I guess I just never feel like
throwing out something that still works, but if safety's at sake,
perhaps I should...

<another schnip>
That's really enormously worn...replacing it might lead to grief as the
cassette and chainrings may already be badly worn too. My personal take on
it would be to replace the chain, but keep the old one in case it really is
too far gone. If you go back to the old chain, lube the new one well and
wrap it up before putting it away and it'll be there when you really DO need
to replace it.
I think it's already well past that point myself - I doubt any new chain would work with those rings or cassette - hence why I'm just intending to run it completely into the ground and then I'll completely overhal the entire drivetrain (it's one of those farked cranks with bloody welded rings which requires replacement of entire crankset, not just rings. Plus I've got a nine-speed shifter ready to go when upgrade time comes around)
The real question being how far can you run a drivetrain into the ground before nasty consequences result? - And by FD's experience, I guess the answer is 'a fair bit more yet'! yay - just the answer i was after...

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PiledHigher
Archived post

3 March 2006, 03:10 UTC #5

Well, it looks liek you have gone past the service interval!
Worn chainrings are not as bad as a worn cluster, once worn the cluster
will quickly damage the chain. Chainrings don't do that but will
eventually start to slip, particularly on shifting. Jobst Brandt
(author of The Bicycle Wheel) has strongly advocated that chainrings
can be used almost til there are no teeth left without adverse effect.
Myself I tebd to leave them go, till they are fairly pointy and would
leave them even longer for a commuter bike.

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dtmeister
Archived post

3 March 2006, 03:18 UTC #6

eddiec said:

Warning: some of these images may disturb....
snapped off (it's a mtb, so probaby got smacked somewhere) - Is that one
tooth less likely to affect performance? My gut and wallet says no...
It's normal for Shimano chainwheels to have odd shaped teeth, including
some teeth that are shorter than others. It's part of the system to help
the chain derail better. I had a quick look and I don't think any are
actually broken. Does look worn though.
--
..dt

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Random Data
Archived post

3 March 2006, 08:57 UTC #7

eddiec said:
On having a close look at the drivetrain to see what the issue was, I
finally made myself come face-to-face with this:
A little gappy, but if it's still working... You're in Melbourne aren't
you? I *think* I've got a similar Alivio crankset in my spares bin if
you're in Sydney.
Quoted message said:
And on a related note, on my other bike (which is in sterling condition
comparatively), one of the teeth on the middle chainring appears to have
snapped off (it's a mtb, so probaby got smacked somewhere) - Is that one
tooth less likely to affect performance? My gut and wallet says no...
It might cause a very occasional misshift - ie it'll start shifting up,
then drop back down - but you'll probably never notice it. I had 5 teeth
in a row missing from a 42 tooth big ring once - so long as you were
spinning it was fine, but put much torque in and it'd slip.
--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different
than riding a bicycle just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the
spokes.

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Random Data
Archived post

3 March 2006, 08:58 UTC #8

flyingdutch said:
Mine was worn soooo bad there was no lil' tops to the teeth. Just one
curve meetin the other. same on RD wheels
You were lucky! Mine was so worn it felt like I was riding 15 miles
through the snow, uphill both ways.
Though I have had some jockey wheels that were very hard to work out where
the teeth were
--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Where there's a flame-thrower, there's a way - Earl Grey

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flyingdutch
Archived post

3 March 2006, 10:44 UTC #9

eddiec said:
The real question being how far can you run a drivetrain into the ground before nasty consequences result? - And by FD's experience, I guess the answer is 'a fair bit more yet'! yay - just the answer i was after...
mind you, my experience ended up in a taco'd (oooh i used mtb terminology!!!) chainring halfway home and ended up doing a fred flinstone on it to get it vaguely OK to get home on.
Mond you, that was runnin one ring, off a 22/32/42 combo and the shifting ramps were pushing friendships. The downhill 44T i run now is coolio cos i dont have to bother with a FD to keep it all together and it's more chunky/bullet-proof
starting to get the gumpshion back to take the fixie out again, altho the SS project beckonssss......

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Peter Signorini
Archived post

4 March 2006, 00:03 UTC #10

eddiec said:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/107000370/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/107000368/
Nasty looking, I'll admit - but the thing which makes me uncertain as
to whether to replace now or leave is that apart from the little click
(which could be unrelated) it's still doing what it should - no
slipping, no jumping, no poor shifts... Should I just leave it until
something more drastic happens?
Ah, leave it on!
This level of wear is minor and not the cause of your click. I had a
worrying click the other day, turned out to be my LH crank just clipping the
mini-pump that was mounted in a bracket on the down tube.
Those steel chainrings wear very slowly. I had a similar set on my touring
MTB that were original equipment (from 1993). Only changed them for an
upgrade last December, and the chainrings were a _lot more worn_ than yours.
You can continue to run the drivetrain for a damn long time with no
problems, as long as you don't replace the chain. Then when it's really
looking poor (ie. teeth are needle-point shark fins, teeth are breaking off)
you replace the entire drivetrain for something new and slick. That's a good
feeling - revitalises your ride.
Cheers
Peter

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