Getting a bend in your front chain ring from riding over rocks, logs, etc. Is this just part of mountain biking or am I doing something very wrong? I've done this a couple of times this season and had to "adjust" the chain ring with a wrench.
I wheelie up to an obstacle (lets say a large metal hydration pipe as was the case this weekend) but when the back wheel hits the obstacle the front wheel drops down and there's no clearence for the chainring. If it were flat terrain or downhill I could probably hop over it or at least get the chainring clear, but what do you do when you're climbing? Is it possible to bunny hop while climbing? If so, please tell me what planet you learned to ride on.
apologies. I was trying to move the thread to the tech forum, but I couldn't find a way to remove the thread from the "MTB-General" forum. I'm a bit new to the whole "forum" thing. Sorry for the inconvenience.
If you are a super-man mountain biker when you are climbing (assuming you are going pretty slow) lift your front wheel and have it rest on the obsticle, then shift your weight forward, lift the rear wheel off the ground and shoot your bike forward. Not really a bunny hop, more of a modified j-hop.
If you are an average joe mountain biker, get a bash guard of somesort. Probably the easiest and cheapest is a rock ring, which is a beefy aluminum guard that bolts onto the outer ring of your crankset. I have also seen a skid plate type of device that sits under the bottom braket that connects to the downtube and chain stays. Not sure if those are an aftermarket item though.
Or failing that, just buy a plain jane cheapo steel big ring, bash the hell out of it and bend it back into shape when you get home.
