Rear chainwheel

Leepie

Lo all I am a newbie, decided to get back into MTB to get fit and bought a 2007 hardrock pro disc, well happy!

Some advice on the rear gears, there is a clear plastic guard in between the largest gear and the wheel. anyway it got chewed up on my ride last night (got pissed on!) and I had to cut it off. Basically do I need it? the gears still work fine just looks like a pain to fit a new one.

Cheers

Lee

nicklouse

it is called a spoke protector.

and it helps reduce the chances of the chain going over the big cog and damaging the spokes.

Not needed but sounds like your gears need a tweek.

have a read of park tools.

Ticaboy

The H screw on the rear mech may not be adjusted correctly as this should stop the action moving too far over the top cog. However, if the rear mech was bashed which caused it to spew the chain over the top cog, then those protectors are very useful. Even a minor spill of the chain into the spokes is likely to cause damage to the spokes. It looks a bit rubbish, but I'd prefer that than to keep replaceing spokes and re-truing the wheel. Unless you enjoy that!

Leepie

Ta for your advice I will look to replace the spoke protector, is it a tricky job?
Lee

supersonic

Not really, you will have to remove the cassette. But as above, if your gears are sorted no need for it!