Chain Catcher

canoas
canoas Posts: 307
edited May 2014 in Road buying advice
After a small scrap on my carbon bike chain stay after a chain dropped....looking at chain catchers

Anyone with experience with Rotor, K-Edge or Token?
Have 50/34 campy set-up

Are the bolts long enough are they easy to mount and test?

See all the pros have them now......looking at Giro bikes
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Comments

  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    Do you have a braze on or band fitment front mech. All the chain catchers seem to be for braze on.
  • golfergmc
    golfergmc Posts: 426
    Deda dog fang.
    Cervelo S5 Team 2012
    Scott Addict R2 2010
    Specialized Rockhopper Comp SL 2010
    Kona Tanuki Supreme
  • sandyballs
    sandyballs Posts: 577
    I use the K-edge, it comes with 3 lengths of bolt to ensure that you can fit it without faff, (Braze On only) had no cause to test it but I think thats the best way. Looks good and seems very secure once fitted. Have serviced a friends Scott that has a Deda dog fang and did not find it clamped very secure very easily, but have no personal experience of it at work.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    The Deda dog fang isn't suitable for all frames i.e. you need regular round tubes. I have a Token on my CX frame which works fine. K-edge is over-priced for what it is.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    I've used K-edge, token and Rotor. All fine, although I smapped a token. There are cheap version on ebay too - see user bi_king
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    Set your front mech so there is a slight rub in bottom gear.

    Then you will not need one unless riding Roubaix. Apart from marketing the only time you may need one is using oval rings and rough territory.

    Really if you set the bike up properly you never need one
    Don't know the Rules?

    http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/
  • flasher
    flasher Posts: 1,734
    So on the one hand you're saying:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Set your front mech so there is a slight rub in bottom gear.
    and on the other:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Really if you set the bike up properly you never need one

    :roll:
  • ct4oc
    ct4oc Posts: 98
    so what do you do if you've got a band fitment and don't want chain rub?
  • Eyorerox
    Eyorerox Posts: 43
    Or you could make one yourself with a Large Zip tie
    http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bmc/he ... 08114.html
  • ajb72
    ajb72 Posts: 1,178
    I've had a Token one fitted for 12 months or more and it has worked flawlessly (in that I have not dropped a chain since!). I believe my front mech limiter screws are set perfectly, but you cannot rule out a dropped chain completely due to british road suffices etc, and it seems easier to achieve with compact chainsets. Setting the front mech to deliberately rub is the daftest thing I've heard in a while!
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    edited May 2012
    ct4oc wrote:
    so what do you do if you've got a band fitment and don't want chain rub?

    Either use a Dog Fang if your seat tube is appropriatly shaped (I had to alter my Dog Fang on my Look as the BB lug got in the way), change your mech to a braze on sort with a band on adaptor or find one of the catchers that have their own band mount. Can't remember who makes those but they are pricey irrc.

    I have the Token on my Ribble and it's fine. Can't see a reason to spend up to three times as much for one of the other brands. The Dog Fang has been fine as well. Both bikes have Campag compact.
    Flasher wrote:
    So on the one hand you're saying:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Set your front mech so there is a slight rub in bottom gear.
    and on the other:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Really if you set the bike up properly you never need one

    :roll:

    I'm sure deliberate rub is allowed 'in the rules' :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    +1

    even with a perfect setup you can still drop a chain. Every bike should have one. They weigh nowt, cost nowt and can save a whole load of potential hassle/damage. No brainer, as our yank cousins might well say.
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    Rub in the bottom gear is to remind you that you're being a pussy and get back on the 17 where you belong
    Don't know the Rules?

    http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Then you will not need one unless riding Roubaix. Apart from marketing the only time you may need one is using oval rings and rough territory.

    Shleck was going up a hill.
  • godders1
    godders1 Posts: 750
    They’re not uncommon on pro’s bikes (and not just during Paris - Roubaix).

    I guess the pro teams must employ incompetent mechanics who can’t set up a front mech properly. :lol:
  • canoas
    canoas Posts: 307
    Brought a red Rotor chain catcher from Cycle Surgery in London for £20, works fine. Tested 1st time today with Campy groupset.

    ok your chain shouldn't come off, but when it does. Say goodbye to your nice looking paint job on your carbon bike! or chain stay! my test was manual and worked fine.

    Was told either K-edge or Rotor....forget the rest. they both use high grade T5 7076 aluminium
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    canoas wrote:
    Was told either K-edge or Rotor....forget the rest. they both use high grade T5 7076 aluminium

    Lol! Oh well then, I'd best be binning my Token because it isn't T5 7076. No wonder everyone keeps laughing at me :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,440
    I got a K-edge from tweeks cycles for about £8 I think because its a slightly mingin colour (or was it's black now :))
    Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
    Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
    Vitus Sentier VRS - 2017
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    canoas wrote:
    Was told either K-edge or Rotor....forget the rest. they both use high grade T5 7076 aluminium

    Is all your advise based on bikeshop bollox? :wink:

    Agreed that they should not really be needed on the road with a well set-up drivetrain, but battering your way across a muddy field in a CX race means you do all sorts of horrible, forced gear shifts with a drivetrain coated in mud - dropping a chain can be the difference between 10th and 20th
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • ajb72
    ajb72 Posts: 1,178
    canoas wrote:
    Was told either K-edge or Rotor....forget the rest. they both use high grade T5 7076 aluminium

    How strong do they need to be?? The chain only gives it a glancing blow as it passes by!
  • Latimer.Todd
    Latimer.Todd Posts: 9
    The new Sram piece looks nice. Im waiting for mine to come in now.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    I've just had one of these delivered

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KREX-CNC-Chai ... 371wt_1163

    Colour isn't as bad as I thought and it's half the price of the K-Edge equivalent
  • brucey72
    brucey72 Posts: 1,086
    ^^
    I have similar/same as Petemadoc:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/34-9mm-CNC-Ch ... 2eb634da67

    It took about 2 weeks to arrive from china but is an unobtrusive piece of kit that gives me piece of mind when chaning gear. It is well engineered and has a little allen bolt for fine adjustment of the gap between it and the chain which is a nice touch.

    I am sure that I had my gears set up properly but once every couple of months I would drop my chain. I initially bought a dog fang but couldnt get it to sit properly because of the flared seat tube tube and I couldn't do the ziptie trick as the gap between my chainrings and seat tube was too great and I wasn't willing to pay nearly £40 either so this was a good compromise.
  • itsnotarace
    itsnotarace Posts: 518
    Canyon do one that attaches to bottle cage bolts which is useful if you have a non-round seat tube / unable to attach to front mech

    http://www.canyon.com/_uk/shop/?category=P01&item=23491
  • not-another-hillǃ
    not-another-hillǃ Posts: 1,310
    Bit of a thread resurrection here, but after a nasty chain cuck yesterday that gouged my lovely carbon frame,a I want to invest in a chain catcher.....

    Dumb question though :D .....are there Campy/Shimano specific ones? .....I use Campy

    Cheers
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    Not-another-hill! wrote:
    Bit of a thread resurrection here, but after a nasty chain cuck yesterday that gouged my lovely carbon frame,a I want to invest in a chain catcher.....

    Dumb question though :D .....are there Campy/Shimano specific ones? .....I use Campy

    Cheers

    You're correct, that is a very dumb question :lol:
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,180
    just get one that'll fit your front mech mount, there're a few variations
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • not-another-hillǃ
    not-another-hillǃ Posts: 1,310
    Thanks guys- I couldn't think of a reason they'd be drivetrain specific but eBay had some that said Campagnolo specific?

    Anyway, cheers...off to the Bay now......
  • earthvspace4XTuUWcX
    earthvspace4XTuUWcX Posts: 322
    Recently bought this, seems to work okay. Simply clamps around the down tube below the front mech.
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1049223608
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    Campag make some - they have a bit of a bend to fit around EPS front mechs - butr most will fit on most bikes.

    Superstar make a decent one for little cash £8.99. Comes with various size bolts and washers.

    http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/index.ph ... o57oekovi0

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