Dannyrowden345

Hey guys and girls first post here

I bought a brand new hybrid bike today and when I’m in certain gears the chain rubs on what I believe is called the derailer? I took it back to the shop and they said this is completely normal in some gears but I don’t understand every bike I’ve had before I can use all gears fine. For example it happens in gear 1 of left and gear 1 on right which I would normally use to go up a hill. But the man in shop said I shouldn’t use that gear? Please can someone help it’s driving me insane ☹️😩

thanks guys in advance

ridelikeaturtle

Well, it's not "completely normal" but the shop isn't completely wrong either.

Depending on the bike and the quality of its components, there may be some limitation as to whether or not this can be completely fixed.

And as far as what gear you should or shouldn't use: it is my belief that if the gear combination is available, you should be allowed to use it, however it is "best practice" to not cross-chain by having the chain on one extreme on the front chainring and the opposite extreme on the cassette. Doing so puts unnecessary stress on the chain and you are more likely to expose any issues with the derailleur rubbing the chain, as you have found out.

So if you can try to avoid doing that "cross-chaining", your problem may be fixed in that you won't experience the chain rubbing - and if everything else works perfectly as it is now, that is probably the easiest solution.

But if it really bothers you, you could spend a bit of extra time and money, either yourself or at another bike shop, that will take the time to meticulously adjust your front derailleur's height, angle, and limits so that there's absolutely no rubbing in any gear combination. Me being a cycling pedant, that's what I'd do for myself, and at the same time I'll always avoid cross-chaining as well.

SpedFast

Cross Chaining.

Cyclist0108

Many shifting systems have a trim setting, which is like a half-shift in the front. It will move the derailleur slightly to minimize rubbing.

Dannyrowden345

Hi thanks for reply

what is cross chaining ? And when u say u can spend money to make it not run at all shouldn’t the shop do this for free as it’s brand new ? Also if I’m in gear 1 of left gear 1 on right which is lowest gear so it’s easy for hills should that make the noise ?

Dannyrowden345

What is cross chaining ?

zandoval 

Newer deraileur sets and Brifters and the like somewhat accommodate cross chaining better than the old school components. On our old Ten Speeds (5 gears in back and 2 in front) we more or less had a rule that the Big gears/cogs in the back went with the little gears up front and the little gears in back went with the big gears up front...

ridelikeaturtle

It sounds from your original post that the bike shop wasn't so interested in doing this service for free, leading me to question how much they care, especially when "just don't use that gear combination" is their initial response. You can always try going back in, show them what you're experiencing, and asking if they can make the chain not rub the front derailleur. If they don't want to do it, even though you just bought the bike off them, smile, thank them, leave, and don't go back.

Dannyrowden345

I see okay I will call them tomorrow, so is there definitely a way to make it not rub at all in every gear? Also I took it to my local bike shop and they also added that it’s normal and said the bike is set up nice and correctly, I should be able to use gear 1 on left and gear 1 on right shouldn’t i ? If they say they can’t do anything what would u suggest I do to resolve this problem ? But when I call them tomorrow
should I just say to them the chain shouldn’t rub at all and I want it sorted ?

Ryan_M

I'd suspect crosschaining too. Can you provide more info? What bike? Is it a 1x or 2x drivetrain?

Dannyrowden345

On specs of bike it says
front derailleur - shimano FD-TX800-TS6
rear derailleur - shimano RD-TX800
shifters - shimano Altus SL-M315
speed - 24
crankset - 48t/38t/28t alloy crankset w/ 73-122mm bottom bracket
cassette - 11-32T 8 speed chain

hokiefyd 

If you're referring to the numbers you see on the shifters, then I do not agree with your bike shop. 1/1 is the easiest, hill climbing, gear and you should be able to use this gear without any noise. It's not uncommon for a poorly adjusted front derailler to have the chain drag against its inner cage plate in 1/1, but this can certainly be tuned out of the system so it doesn't drag.

The cross chaining scenarios, where you might be in 1/8 (1 on the left/front and 8 on the right/rear) or in 3/1, where chain noise is common and expected.

But you should absolutely be able to use 1/1 without any rubbing noise. What is rubbing or dragging? Is it the front derailleur? If the chain is rubbing on the inner cage plate of the front derailleur, you may be able to back the low limit screw out just a little bit to let the derailleur cage move a little further inboard. If you loosen the low limit screw and the derailleur doesn't move, then it's probably being held by the cable and you may be able to screw the barrel adjuster on the left shifter IN just a ltitle bit...this will effectively lengthen the cable and give the front derailleur just a little more slack. You may need to do both of those things in combination to get the results you need.

Certainly, your bike shop should be willing to do this, but you can probably get it sorted pretty quickly yourself also.

Fentuz

As others mentioned, smallest ring and bigger cassette cog is not cross chainring so it should not rub.
if it rubs in that configuration, it could be that the cable has too much tension (chain is offset on the cog towards the wheel hub) or not enough tension (chain is trying to go down).
It could also be the hanger which is bent, it will throw movement error.

then it could be the chain is too thick… I had a kmc 11s chain on a sram cassette and it rubbe on kmc x bridge. i put a cheap sram pc1110 chain and the shifting was perfect…
i got the same issue when I swap for a e13 cassette and I had to fit a 12s chain and it worked well (TT riders do that with sram red and mtb riders do that to allow for mud clearance) but it should not be required on an hybrid.

Trakhak

Pendergast

I doubt you'll be able to get it to not rub in all the gears because it's a triple chain ring bike.

SpedFast

Okay, it's been a while. Just wondering what the OP discovered. Did he learn that not all gear combos are available on a triple ring or did the shop tune to his satisfaction?