Not sure if this should be in the track forum or not. Please feel free to move it.
I recently picked up a KHS Flite 100 and I've loved it since the day I rode it home from my LBS. It felt natural to me right away.
The mechanic told me to expect a little chain stretch after the first few days, which it did, so I tightened it up a bit. The problem is that the 48t Trutativ chainring doesn't seem to be perfectly symetrical. It's tight when my right pedal is in the front, but when I have my left pedal in front, there's a bit of play in the chain. It drives me nuts when I'm stopped and doing a trackstand.
My question is...is it common for a chainring to be off enough for me to notice the play? Or am I just being a perfectionist? FYI - I've tried to center the ring on the spyder, but it didn't help either.
The chain ring has to be centered on the crank. There's a good procedure for it here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html About a third of the way down.
Most chainrings are not perfectly round to help them shift... how did you center the chainring?
try this... Find the tightest part of the chainring based on crank position...pull the rear wheel so that the chain is tight the at that point. Loosen each of the stack bolts, and retighten them back just finger tight. Spin the crank slowly and watch for the chain to get to its tightest point. Hit the chain lightly to move the chain ring a bit on the spider. Rotate the crank some more to find the new tight spot, and repeat as necessary.
Thanks guys. I've tried Sheldon's method, and so has the mechanic where I bought the bike. It looks like the chainring is a little eliptical, kinda like a biopace chainring.
Oh well, I've been thinking about getting a 44T anyway, so it looks like I'll be doing it sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the input.
-Erik
jamesdemien said:
Most chainrings are not perfectly round to help them shift... how did you center the chainring?
try this... Find the tightest part of the chainring based on crank position...pull the rear wheel so that the chain is tight the at that point. Loosen each of the stack bolts, and retighten them back just finger tight. Spin the crank slowly and watch for the chain to get to its tightest point. Hit the chain lightly to move the chain ring a bit on the spider. Rotate the crank some more to find the new tight spot, and repeat as necessary.
