The Drivetrain Police

Hey y'all! It's way early, I've got my cuppa black goodness, and it's time for more mechanical madness. Jeff mentioned that his sweet rigs may be for sale, and how "clean" he keeps them. Puh-leeeze! This cat is, like TOTALLY obsessive when it comes to maintaining his rigs. I know, I watch him do alot of this. But you know, he hardly ever has a mechanical. Coincidence? I think not!

The working idea here is, if ya' gotta' rely on your rig, replace anything that you even think might be worn out. Don't chance it! The risk of a mechanical is not worth it in a race, or in the back country. (We call it the "boonies" here in Io-way) I agree, that for folks like Jeff, this is critical. The main point of focus is the drive train- that's where the action is!

What you can do is get yourself a good ruler, (steel preferred- not necessary) your repair stand, and have your chain pretty clean. With your rig up offa' da ground, line up your ruler with the chain between the lower jockey wheel and the front chain rings. Line up the "zero" mark, or the end of the ruler, ( where ever your rulers gradations start) on the center of a chain rivet. Now, check and see if where your ruler reads 12" is on the center of another chain rivet. Yes? Then it's all good! No? You've got chain wear. What in the world am I talking about? Well, most of us call it "chain stretch", but in reality, it's chain wear. New derailluer chains measure out on a ruler so that a chain rivet falls exactly on "zero" and twelve. Why? Look, it's just the way it is. Live it- Love it!

Now, make sure you have your chain shifted up to the middle ring. Try grabbing your chain with your index and thumb at the three o'clock posistion. Pull it off the chain ring outwards, if you can. Can't hardly see any space between the chain and chain ring- good! See alot of space between the two- bad! (Your chain was probably bad too!) This test shows whether or not the "valleys" between the teeth on your chain ring have elongated due to wear. Generally, if your chain ring is badly worn, your chain is shot too.

What You Should Do: If you have determined that you have significant wear, based on both tests above, get those things changed! Maybe you want a second opinion? Okay, go and find someone with the proper measuring tools,( there are actual tools designed for these tests!) and have them check it out. You could do nothing, and keep riding. Eventually, your shifting will suffer, your chain will start "skipping" under pedal pressure, and a small, burrowing creature will take up residence in your riding shorts! (Well, all but the last one!)

What I Say: Check out your chain/ chianring wear at cleaning time! Especially AFTER races, or extremely muddy/ dirty/ dusty riding. Best to find out you need new parts afterwards, instead of RIGHT BEFORE a race, or important ride! ( WORD to LAZY RACERS!) Get a Park Tools chain checker, and a Rohloff cassette checker. Be the drivetrain police!

See y'all next time! Ridin' an' Smilin'!

Jeff Kerkove said at 4:59 AM :: ::