manapua_man

The same thing that happens with 2x and even some 1x setups that get worn or need to be adjusted and are taken on crappy dirt roads. I personally have never had any real problems with chain drop/suck with 3x but those were all mountain parts. I doubt that it's bad at all on smoother surfaces with road triples.

36Oly_Rider

Just this...

Rowan

Dog Fang.





Which is a Deda name, but it's a chain keeper.

Have them on our bikes with triples. What can happen if the chainline isn't quite spot on, and the front derailleur isn't quite adjusted properly, is that the derailleur will snap the chain inward and beyond the small ring. The big danger is not so much the chain dropping on to the BB shell, but actually getting caught in the gap between the crank spider and the BB... that can be a bastard to try to get out again after less than half a pedal stroke.

Rowan

Congrats on the bargain purchase. Many happy thousands of miles on it.

jefnvk

The real problem is not one, it is the three I've bought in as many weeks

Absolutely. I got a lot of practice digging my buddy's out of there on the last trip. Tweaked my FD to stop it the first time it happened on mine, but his never wanted to take an adjustment. Always seemed to happen going up hills, wonder if having more torque on the chain had something to do with it?

52telecaster

if she knows you well enough it will be cool. just make sure you actually make an effort to get rid of the other bikes. or you could start a rental fleet.

djb

more torque isnt the issue, although I imagine a lack of finesse, pedal strength while shifting can perhaps be a factor. its generally a limit issue, ie how far past the chain the fd is when in the granny and largest sprocket.
I recently changed shifters on my wifes bike, and thought I set it up properly, as Ive done numerous times on other bikes, but on last weeks trip, the chain was coming off sometimes going to granny.
I checked and sure enough, the gap was a good 3-4mm, so a slight barrel adjustment to tighten the cable up overall and then a final limit screw adjustment brought the fd right close to the chain in the low gear position and as its supposed to be, this took care of it.
When I installed the trigger shifters, I must have not noticed perhaps a housing end thing that wasnt properly seated or something, that produced the sudden extra space.

Generally, if the cable tension on installation is good, limit screw adjustment so that you get to the point where the fd rubs the chain, then back it off just enough to not rub, is a pretty basic sure fire way to not have chain drop.

This is assuming the fd is mounted properly and not bent or something also (always a possibility with older bikes, or bikes that folks arent careful with in bike stands with other bikes or whatever, bike fallovers onto stuff etc ), so dont forget to always check that first, visually checking from the side for height, and from above for alignment.

jefnvk

Well, stem went back, and they had nothing but an S-Works that was the length/rise I needed. Now to see if I can find another one locally, as Nashbar is sold out until the middle of September

Another quick question as I am playing around a bit: if I decide to drop the bars a bit, can spacers go up top (or do I even need to move them up top)? I don't really have a desire to cut the steerer right away.

mstateglfr 

Yeah, move the spacers above the stem. You need to keep the stem loose on the steerer when tensioning the headset bolt. Then you can tighten the stem's bolts. The stem needs to be free to move vertically when setting the headset tension which is why it shouldnt be tightened to the steerer until after the headset is tensioned. You need all the spacers on the steerer tube to properly tension the headset.

manapua_man

Yes you can do that. Just put the spacers on top and install as usual. And it's not an issue to just leave it like some people make it out to be, even with carbon steerers...so long as you torque things correctly.

djb

important thing is to understand the sequence of what to loosen, tighten, to adjust the headset properly. Never tighten or loosen the very top hex key bolt , the one facing upwards, before loosening the others.
If you dont loosen the two stem bolts that tighten it to the steerer, you will damage the star nut , which is the thing inside the steerer that the vertical top bolt threads into.

look at park tool youtube vids if you are not sure, and inexpensive stems can be found at all kinds of stores in diff lengths and angles.

Doug64

Make one of these your first spacer, and youcan loosen the stem for packing without messing with your headset adjustment:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...95&category=98

jefnvk

Oops, accidentally did it right! Guess I'll take a look at Park Tools before I destroy anything! Actually took me a couple shops to find one in the length/rise I wanted, as Nashbar is sold out til the middle of September.

@Doug64 - nifty, I'll definitely grab one before the next trip!

djb

full disclosure, I damaged a star nut once, by not understanding the sequence properly. It didnt happen right away, but at a certain point the headset adjustment wouldnt stay in place, and I finally figured out by looking inside and seeing that I had damaged the star nut. Learned my lesson.

and if this ever happens, a bike store can put in a new star nut (cost, maybe a few dollars) very quickly and easily. There's a special tool to put them in properly.

jefnvk

Noted, will learn the proper procedure

I took it out today for 17 miles with the short stem. Other than reach, the bike fits awesome. It does feel a lot like riding my MTB conversion, it just moves a lot faster. As I suspected, the 40mm tires are a bit beefy for what it will normally be doing, I'll probably bring them down to something in the 32-35 range (and read through the tubeless thread to see if thats a consideration, as the rims are ready) and stash the stock MSOs in the closet for more offroad days. Big tires function quite nice as flywheels once I got them to speed though!

Wore far more molding nubs off the tire than it was missing when I bought it, so I suspect it hasn't even gone that far before I bought it. RD needs a bit of an adjustmens, as does my mind, not really sure what to do with 10 cogs on the back

52telecaster

just went from a 10 speed 12-36 on my allcity to an 8 speed 11-34 on the bob jackson and its amazing how little difference it makes in terms of ridability. i have friction barcons on the bob and can get any gear i seem to need quickly. i really think derailleur bikes have exceeded the number of gears needed for me.

djb

What's nice with more gears is closer jumps between shifts, which I certainly feel.
One suggestion for the new bike is putting a tighter cassette on for faster riding, just for fun, although I admit this is more fun with sti shifters.
Even with the present cassette, slightly closer shifts when riding with a load is always appreciated, compared to 7 or 8 speed cassettes of similar range.

But that's progress in everything, incremental improvements.

jefnvk

Hmm, I've already got all the odd numbers from 11-25, and from there it jumps to 30 and 34. Single spacing from 11-20?

djb

this gets into the whole "fun and playing around" aspect of cassettes. On one of my bikes, for riding with a load, I put a 11-32 or 11-34 on it (9 speed) and the jumps are fine for touring, but usually have a 12-27 on it for regular riding and its fun having the 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27.
There is a 12-30 ten speed cassette that is the same but has the 30 on it also.
There are 12-27 ten speed that have 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27
and smaller cassettes even more.
The reason I like the "12" cassettes is that the 11 doesnt get used that often, and I like more having a closer bunched 12-13-14-15 group.

Like I said, using sti shifters its really fun having close shifts, its like driving or riding a close ratio car or motorcycle gear box, its just fun for going quickly.

You generally put on a new, diff length chain for a smaller cassette, but with quick links, its easy to do, and the rd adjustments in my experience have been really minute, just a teeny turn of the barrel adjuster at most.

All that said, my troll has a 11-34 9spd and it works perfectly fine for touring and general riding, and your 11-34 ten speed must have a closer jump in there somewhere.

jefnvk

Agree on starting on the 12.

I've got 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-30-34.

My Univega has much closer spacing, I do agree it is fun for "racey" applications!

52telecaster

Agree on starting on the 12.

yeah i may put a 12 on my 11-34. as for needing 10 or more gears, i think i rode three speed hubs two long. i want big jumps, just a few more than 3.

Squeezebox

For flat gravel paths my 15-25 cassette with 28+42 rings works nicely

djb

big jumps can be a real pain in the keester with a headwind, or a certain degree slope, especially when loaded.

52telecaster

i know what your saying but big jumps are relative. 8 speed 12-34 is as close as anything i had in the 70's and 80's. plus 8 speed is lighter and waaaaaay cheaper. i can have 2 or 3 cassettes and change them out for different purposes. of course i don't, but i could.

autonomy

@jefnvk So how do you like your bike so far? Did you do anything to protect the frame (Framesaver?)

I'm this close to pulling the trigger on the 3.1 since it's 25% off but still suffer from analysis paralysis hesitation (I don't do tours - yet, though would like to at some point - but I will use this as a commuter, gravel grinder, and kid-hauler in place of my heavy, old-ass MTB)