King Friday

I have a Vilano Diverse 3.0 24 speed Hybrid with the el cheapo Shimano Tourney TX rear derailleur. I put a new chain on a month ago and I always ride in Mid-range. I noticed that if I used any gear other then 2,3,4 & 5, the chain would rub on the Front Derailleur guide and sometimes jam up.

Now yesterday on my ride, the chain locked up & the rear Derailleur is horizontal (the two small guide wheels) and the chain is so tight that I can do nothing with it and cannot shift.

I can't post a pic until I have 10 posts.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

KF

soyabean

Needs a complete drivetrain verification by the book:

-check RD dropout alignment with a DAG-3
-check RD alignment and screws
-check FD height, alignment and screws
-verify chain is a narrow for 6-8s (sometimes folks grab 1s chains because they are cheep).
-Once all above done, then finally do the RD+FD cables

Videos out there to tell you what to do exactly.

If you get stuck, a basic tune up at the LBS is all that is required.

Barry2 

Welcome to Bike Forums

post 2-3 good pictures in the gallery.
We will go find them and place them in this thread for you.

Barry

Iride01 

Yeah, that's messed up. Here is one of your pictures and a link below to your album with the others..




https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/33476731

Welcome to BF

smd4

Looks like the chain is way too short to me.

Kontact

The chain is too short.

FBinNY 

+1

Chain's unbelievably short.

Unbelievable because I'm amazed you lasted a month before this happened.

When you cut it longer, the minimum acceptable length is so it can loop the big/big combination with an inch to spare.

smd4

Curious as to how this chain was sized...

Barry2 

I don't think it's been mentioned, but your chain is TOO SHORT

THIS is how to size the chain to length. <<clickable link



Barry

Kontact

Wait, are you saying the chain is too short? Like it isn't long enough?

Barry2 

OK, fun time over..

After all this is their first ever post at Bike Forums.


King Friday , Welcome to bike forums (and our sad sense of humor)

When sizing a chain it needs to be long enough for the longest/worst case.
The chain needs to be long enough for the big ring at the front and the big cog at the back at the same time, plus a bit for safety.
The link I sent above has a video demonstrating how to achieve this.

Your new chain has been cut at the incorrect length.
To fix it you could rejoin the piece removed with a 7 speed master link then cut the chain to the correct length.

All the best

Barry



PS: Master Links come in different widths, you do need one for the correct number of cogs at the rear. Your's appears to be a 7 speed at the rear.

Crankycrank

And I'll add that you will almost always have to remove some links with any chain you buy as they are usually sold in 2 or 3 generic lengths and most bikes require a different length than what is in the package. Try the sizing method in post #9. I wouldn't ride your bike until you get the chain properly sized as it may safely work in several gears but one mistaken shift into a non-working gear could trash your derailleur, chain and spokes.

Duragrouch

Slightly different model of the same rear derailleur below. I also suspected chain too short. However, my own philosophy is not, to make the chain as short as possible (big/big combo plus a couple links), but as long as possible and still be able to take up the slack on the small/small combo, that way, the derailleur cage is not wound up as tight, makes things like cage springs and derailleur pulley bores last better. It also gives me enough chain to upgrade from my 30 low cog to a 32 or perhaps 34.

big/big:


small/small:

Yan 

Where is that total fool who was here a couple of months ago insisting that chains should be sized based on the small chainring small cog combo.

smd4

Duragrouch above seems to prefer small-small.

Kontact

Small small is best as long as you know the total capacity doesn't exceed the derailleur capacity. Max chain length puts less wear on the drivetrain and future proofs the bike against a larger cassette being added without accounting for chain length.

Any fool would know that.


It isn't appropriate for 1x because the derailleur geometry is optimized for a certain amount of chain pull - something that a double cannot do

grumpus

Small/small is fine if you do it right, you're setting the chain as long as it can be which can be useful if you might want to fit a larger ring or sprocket. Big/big is harder to get wrong, you're setting the chain as short as it can be which is good for reducing chain slap and weight. Whichever method you use, you have to check that the gears operate through the full range without any under- or over-tension when you're done (including cross-chaining, although the forbidden gears needn't be as crisp and smooth as the preferred combinations). Any deviation from this is technically incorrect, although it might be a useful bodge to make a derailleur work beyond its actual range it's not something you should do on a customer's bike without being sure that they understand what the workaround entails.

FBinNY 

That might have been me. I've always sized chains this way, preferring to carry the longest chain that works.

But you have to follow the entire set of instructions, understanding that small/small is used to determine the MAXIMUM chain length, and big/big the MINIMUM.
Also, that the MINIMUM is the more critical consideration.

kcjc

He was referring to me because I make him the fool. He died on the hill stating the MAXIMUM chain length is derived from big/big.

FBinNY 

Too many claiming the crown....

Will the real fool please stand up.

Kontact

I would enjoy reading that debate...

Duragrouch

I resemble that remark.

I thought I was being original. But I went long, for reasons stated above (by me, and others), tried it out, worked fine.

I also don't like having the RD cage wound so far forward that it's barely behind its limit-stop, that just makes me worry about some road hazard or my right heel or whatever that yanks the bottom chain run down. I like being away from the limit-stops to prevent damage.

Duragrouch

1X... good to know.

smd4

And all this time I’ve just followed the manufacturer’s instructions.

Silly me.

FBinNY 

For better or worse, some of us learned this kind of stuff long before manufacturers provided instructions.