sdmc530

Are these chainrings too worn? Shifting has been less than great, chain is new and FD has been adjusted so the only thing I can think of next is the rings are getting too far worn?

Opinions would be helpful..
thanks,

Kovkov

If those were some chainrings from the 50ies i would say yes since the teeth don‘t seem to be symetrical. On modern chainrings however that shape might be a design feature.

BlazingPedals

More importantly, does the chain sit at the bottom of the teeth without slop?

sdmc530

yes, no issues, no chain suck either. Just getting not as crisp shifting as I think it should be. Might just be in my head too....rings are from 2015 so not even that old really.

rm -rf

Slower shifting troubleshooting

Is the question about chainring shifting, or rear cog shifting?

On the chainring shifts, is it shifting to the large ring that's lagging? The shift to the small ring should drop right in.

It might need just a small derailleur adjustment, even though you recently had it done. (Fine tuning a derailleur cable is a good skill to have. You don't need to take it in to get it perfect. It's not hard to learn. Setting up a new derailleur from scratch is more complicated, with limit screws, etc.)

Or a new shifter cable with new housing. But I think it's rare for a front cable to need replacing. The rear cable is shifted way more often, and wears out, and frays from bending within the shifter.


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Chainring wear

They look fine. The anodizing wears off quickly, and the teeth are machined in different profiles for quick shifting.


I posted this in a previous thread:
My Ultegra 11 speed chainrings after about 5000 miles. This is minimal wear. (I'm now well over 20,000 miles, and the rings are still good.)

Note, this is a photo of the inward side of the chainrings. The chain is pulled against the left side of the teeth, and the chain is traveling counter clockwise. An outside photo, like yours, is the opposite.



The threads:
Shark tooth?


Chainring wear check

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sdmc530

I am thinking I am now crazy. I am going to re-adjust my FD and see if I have that off. Mike look like that...nothing really majorly different.

RushFan2112

Whenever my chainrings become super-worn I start to drop chains like crazy. That's when I know it's time to replace them.

zowie

Maybe your cables or shifter are getting worn. (Shifters last a long time, cables not so much and they're cheap to replace.)

sdmc530

Cables are 2 years old but that doesn't mean they don't need replacing. I do get lots of miles in so that is my next step probably. I adjusted the FD and went over everything again. If this doesn't remedy it I will put new cables on the complete bike.

then if all else fails I will go big with chainrings.

thanks!

DrIsotope

Easy way to check: take that little piece of chain you took off when you shortened the chain to install. Put it on the teeth of the big chainring, and try to slide the chain back and forth. It should only move a tiny bit, if at all. If you can slide it back and forth, or it doesn't want to sit all the way down onto the teeth, the chainring is worn. Note: even with alloy rings, this can take a whole lot of miles. Tens of thousands-- so long as you didn't use a chain far longer than you should have. I have two chainrings that have a bit of slop to them, both well byond 15k miles, and both who have lived through at least one chain used longer than it should have.

sdmc530

thank you for that tip/trick.

I am going to try that when I get home today.

NoWhammies

Does this little trick work with testing the rear cassette too?

DrIsotope

Absolutely. It's usually much more noticeable on cassette cogs, as they're much smaller and wear much more quickly. I had a cassette remain in use until it was so worn it make a click that sounded like a bad pedal or a loose cleat-- it was the chain slipping between the teeth on every pedal stroke.

phughes

I have that now. I swapped pedals out because I thought that was it. Nope. Probably the cassette. I removed it the other day and cleaned and inspected it, reinstalled and torqued it down. Better, but still there. It has been tough to figure out exactly what the issue is, but most likely it is exactly what you describe. It doesn't do it all the time now. It was doing it all the time on my tour in June, but the bike was fully loaded.

ksryder

FSA chainrings could also account for the less-than-crisp shifting.

Nachoman

DrIsotope

The cassette has the power to "speed wear" the chain, so the chain is likely grooved-in to the cassette now. That's where I am on my 1X bike. I don't have to worry about front shifting, so the whole thing is a lot more forgiving, but the cassette is absolutely knackered-- I can slide a new chain back and forth at least 3mm. I've had a new cassette, two new chains, and a new chainring waiting to be swapped in for like 2 months now, but everything is so perfectly worn in together, I can't bring myself to do it. When it finally starts ghost shifting on me, a drivetrain refresh will occur.

I think new drivetrain day is even better than new bike day, because the bike has been dialed in and fits. Parts have been chosen and swapped in or out. It's just all of a sudden so crisp and smooth and quiet.

phughes

I have friction shifters, so I have no shifting issues. Currently, I don't have the clicking, but, I'm not riding the bike fully loaded right now. I will replace the cassette soon. I think what is at issue with it, is that it was loose for a while. I noticed it ghost shifting a bit on the smaller cogs. I checked it out and saw the assembly was loose. I retorted it and the ghost shifting went away. I think it wore a bit while it was loose. I did that before my tour.

After the tour, and after hearing, or more accurately, feeling the clicking, I removed the cassette, and cleaned, and inspected it. It doesn't look worn, but there is a bit of movement on some of the cogs, more so than when new. The smaller ones tighten up fine. It may have developed some play when it ran loose. I know that some movement is normal, but not as much as I see now. I reinstalled it and am using it at the moment. No clicking right now, but it will return.

Homebrew01

I don't think I've ever worn out a large chainring.

sdmc530

Me either!!!

I went for a quick 5 miles tonight after some re adjusting and had no issues. Put it through the paces hard and did a couple of high wattage intervals with hard shifting and it was ok. I must have just not had it right. I am going to still recable the bike this winter though.