Noisy chain...

adrenalinemunki

I've had my Rockhopper for sneaking up on a year now, and after trying a fair few mates bikes I've found the rattling of my bike to be by far the worst over bumpy stuff...

I love my bike, but the way it sounds like its about to break whenever on gnarly bits is something I want to reduce. I have a neoprene chain stay protector which didn't make a whole lot of difference, could it be an overly slack chain? Is it sub standard kit at the rear? Should I go down to 2 cogs?

Advice please

mrmonkfinger

Check the chain length in big/big gear combination first.

Hard tail, yes? The derailleur should make almost no bend in the chain in that combo.

On a full sus you need to fully compress the shock to check the length.

nicklouse

welcome to the world of specialized and shimano.

an old inner tube will work better.

adrenalinemunki

No theres no noticeable slack in the chain (if thats what you mean by bend?) so maybe thats not the issue...

Nick, when you say specialised and shimano... is it particularly one or the other or are certain inadequacies magnified with this combination?

Not even sure if it is chain slap I'm hearing, I'm just assuming so...

1mancity2

Fitting a chain device if you go down to 2 rings may help reduce noise, as Nick says try an inner tube on your frame first to see if that damps it.

Anonymous

Out of interest, what rear mech do you have and what chainset and config (3x9, 2x9, 2x10, etc)?

Big ring at back, big ring at front, hold the pedal forward to tension the chain and pull the chain at the bottom down and release, see how much it springs about. The mech will spring with the chain. Chain might hit the chainstay, in which case the inner tube job will do. Might be the noise is the mech springing and the chain slapping on the front ring. That's the problem I've got at the moment.

bennett_346

Nothing to do with specialized, i've had two spesh and neither have made any noise. one 9 speed the other 10 speed.

felix.london

Yep - my HT Spesh/Shimano combo isn't noisy although I'm getting a lot less chain slap on the bumpy downhill stuff since I've converted to 2x10.

For real bumpy stuff I used to use the middle chainring (32t) and probably the 30t sprocket on the cassette (when I was running 3x9) now on the 2x10 set up I use the big ring (36t) and again probably 30t on the back

The combination of the bigger ring up front and shorter chain length definitely helps on those bumpy descents

Anonymous

Interesting as the reason I asked about the mech and set up is because there have been numerous reports of slackness with 2x10 set ups, particularly with SRAM mechs. That's kind of what I'm getting I think. Never had this much slackness with my 3x9 (later converted by myself to 2x9) on the old GT with SLX mech compared to the X0 2x10 on the Nomad.

Might be the SLX mech was better, though it did fall apart after a few years and was horrid shifting.

timpop

I also would get a piece of inner-tube or another pice of neoprene on the stay and get into the big ring on your bumpy decents, that helps a lot.

leaflite

An xtr shadow plus clutch mech should sort it, but they arent cheap!

Chunkers1980

XT, saint and slx will have it soon along with the new budget saint whatever it's called

felix.london

felix.london wrote:

Yep - my HT Spesh/Shimano combo isn't noisy although I'm getting a lot less chain slap on the bumpy downhill stuff since I've converted to 2x10.

For real bumpy stuff I used to use the middle chainring (32t) and probably the 30t sprocket on the cassette (when I was running 3x9) now on the 2x10 set up I use the big ring (36t) and again probably 30t on the back

The combination of the bigger ring up front and shorter chain length definitely helps on those bumpy descents

...and I presume the shorter cage mech helps too

mrmonkfinger

going double + guide helps, a shorter cage mech helps, a clutch mech helps, a chainguard helps...

singlespeed would fix it entirely

adrenalinemunki

Hi guys, after another long ride I now just want a shopping list to fix this. Had a go on a friends Whyte 901 and there was no noise from the back... We had a look and tried to compare to work it out...

I think the noise is coming from the front derailleur, the chain is very close to a lot of metal and rattling must be inevitable there...

I don't actually think its chain slap any more.

Also, he has 2x9 which must make a big difference and since I very rarely use the big ring, I might as well lose it.

What is the cheapest way to lose the big ring and do the job properly? Do I just need a few nifty bits and bobs or a whole new set of shifters etc?

Cheers folks

nicklouse

Buy a bash ring and remove the outer ring and fit bash. Adjust the upper stop to stop the mech shifting ont the bash.

The noise wil still be there.

adrenalinemunki

Oh... So what do you think it is that makes mine noisy and the 901 silent then? Can't all be about the subtle geometry issues surely?

If there is new gear I can buy as long as its not crazy money then give me a heads up

Anonymous

Does he have a chain guide?

Again - check the chain tension. Between the two of you, when pedals are tensioning the chain, biggest cogs, how slack are the chains compared to each other?

A 3x9 is typically set up out of the shop quite slack for best tension in the big ring, which many of us don't use. You could go 2x9 or 2x10, with a medium or pushing it a short mech cage. You'd have to re-size the chain to fit the new set up. Follow the various guides on chain sizing.

Work out what the chain is actually hitting. Is it actual rattle or is it rub?

Get a KMC chain - they're not as flexible as spaghetti

And the can't be arsed to fiddle solution - chain device.