Chain hitting chainstay when I stop pedalling

benws1

Have a Raleigh Mustang Sport that I bought new in September. Hadn't really ridden it much until I started back on the bike properly over the last month.

I've noticed a really annoying problem. When I stop pedalling (usually with my right foot at the top of the pedal stroke), the chain goes slack, slaps the chainstay and then resets on the front derailleur when I pedal again. I've also noticed that sometimes, I press down on the right pedal and there is a big clunk like the chain has jumped. Before I start off too, if I lift my right foot up, it makes the chain slack. Really annoying.

Anyone have any idea what could cause this?

I've only ridden the bike about 10 times. I think I'm too late to go back to the bike shop with it now without having to pay for anything. Keen to try and fix this myself though.

Thanks all.

P.S this bike has been a bit of a git from the off. Pedals it came with were extremely tightly attached, the rear hub was way too tight (hub was binding), it's making a bloody annoying clicking noise when hitting small bumps and the chain thing is a real pain too.

cougie

What gear are you in ?

benws1

Front derailleur big ring, rear around half way down the cassette. It's a gravel bike and I seem to be riding with only around 3 gears left on the cassette due to the gearing being more suited to hills and off road stuff.

Bike is an eight speed.

I can recreate the issue by hand by spinning the pedals backwards.

pilot_pete

Sounds like the spring in your rear derailleur is not keeping chain tensioned. Either that or your chain is too long, which I am assuming is not the case unless it was changed at some point...

PP

benws1

Pilot Pete wrote:

Sounds like the spring in your rear derailleur is not keeping chain tensioned. Either that or your chain is too long, which I am assuming is not the case unless it was changed at some point...

PP

I have never changed the chain.

Is there a way to check the derailleur spring? Thanks.

Chain definitely looks a bit slack. It even looks a bit slack on the Raleigh pic of the bike here:

https://www.raleigh.co.uk/mustang-sport-21051

cougie

Yes. What pp says.

Can you put it in the big big combo. What does the mech look like then ?

benws1

cougie wrote:

Yes. What pp says.

Can you put it in the big big combo. What does the mech look like then ?

Thanks. Will do that tomorrow and will see if I can get a picture.

timothyw

Sounds like your freehub is a bit stiff (the bit the cassette attaches to).

Try taking the rear wheel out and seeing how easy it is to spin the cassette backwards - it should be quite easy (and if you take the cassette off and hold the wheel by the freehub it should happily spin for a few rotations).

Might be it'll loosen itself up if you just ride it a bit (assuming it hasn't been out in the wet or otherwise neglected) but you might want to put a mountain bike frame protector on the chainstay if you want to try that.

benws1

TimothyW wrote:

Sounds like your freehub is a bit stiff (the bit the cassette attaches to).

Try taking the rear wheel out and seeing how easy it is to spin the cassette backwards - it should be quite easy (and if you take the cassette off and hold the wheel by the freehub it should happily spin for a few rotations).

Might be it'll loosen itself up if you just ride it a bit (assuming it hasn't been out in the wet or otherwise neglected) but you might want to put a mountain bike frame protector on the chainstay if you want to try that.

Thanks. I've had the thing off because the rear hub resembled something that had been done up with a air tool.

I spun the freehub (black thing cassette is attached too) and it did seem a little stiff. I have ridden the bike in the rain as it's been wet over the last few weeks.

crankycrank

My guess would be with the freehub as well. Seems to me you should still have some kind of warranty coverage if the bike is only 7-8 months old. Why not take it to the shop you bought it from and also mention the other setup problems you had when taking delivery of the bike. If they don't offer any help just flush the freehub body out, add some lube and see if this cures your problem.

benws1

crankycrank wrote:

My guess would be with the freehub as well. Seems to me you should still have some kind of warranty coverage if the bike is only 7-8 months old. Why not take it to the shop you bought it from and also mention the other setup problems you had when taking delivery of the bike. If they don't offer any help just flush the freehub body out, add some lube and see if this cures your problem.

Thanks.

Hard to get to the shop with it because if I take it in they can't look at it for days. Only day I can get to them is a Saturday, which means I can't pick it up until the Saturday after and I lose a whole week with it. Will pop it in though and see what they say.

I'll take a look at the freehub body after the shop visit, if I need to.

crankycrank

benws1 wrote:

Hard to get to the shop with it because if I take it in they can't look at it for days. Only day I can get to them is a Saturday, which means I can't pick it up until the Saturday after and I lose a whole week with it. Will pop it in though and see what they say

I know what you mean. I hate not having a bike for more than 2 days or so and having anyone else working on my bike plus all the logistics and time involved in taking it to a shop. Only thing you may want to consider is if the freehub is defective they may haggle with you over replacement if they know you've taken it off and tried to fix it yourself.

Vino'sGhost

benws1 wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

Sounds like your freehub is a bit stiff (the bit the cassette attaches to).

Try taking the rear wheel out and seeing how easy it is to spin the cassette backwards - it should be quite easy (and if you take the cassette off and hold the wheel by the freehub it should happily spin for a few rotations).

Might be it'll loosen itself up if you just ride it a bit (assuming it hasn't been out in the wet or otherwise neglected) but you might want to put a mountain bike frame protector on the chainstay if you want to try that.

Thanks. I've had the thing off because the rear hub resembled something that had been done up with a air tool.

I spun the freehub (black thing cassette is attached too) and it did seem a little stiff. I have ridden the bike in the rain as it's been wet over the last few weeks.

Def sounds like a sticky freehub. whip the freehub off and see if its gunked up AND if there is sign of wear/polishing on the freehub, perhpas on the palls. This is typical when you get that sort of chain slap and is usually caused by the freehub rubbing on the body of the hub and usually because a small washer has been missed when reassembling. If you have the rubbing and no washer check the mfr exploded assembly drawing.

kingofthetailwind

Sounds more likely to me that your rear derailleur mounting bolt is gunged up and will not allow the RD to pivot on the hanger. It needs to do this to take up the slack in the chain.

To check, loosen your mounting bolt slightly. Then check by hand if the problem is solved. If it is, then remove the RD from the hanger, clean and lube. Re-fit.

benws1

Thanks for the useful comments all. Duly noted.

I'm going to try and get it back to the bike shop on Saturday after my morning ride. Will ask them their opinion and see what they can do. I don't want to touch it before they see it, just in case they say I have done something (I've already had to redo the rear hub cup and cone).

Something else to note. I've noticed that the freehub is really quite loud when the wheel is rolling forward. Also, when holding the bike, I can feel something catching when I spin the rear wheel forward. As the wheel spins, it's also catching the freehub and is turning the pedal forwards. It's most noticeable as the wheel slows down. As it does this, it catches and the pedals turn with the freehub. Is this normal? I can't say I've really noticed this before on any other bike.

Finally, when it slackens the chain off, sometimes I have to pedal a few revolutions forward to get the freehub to lock again and turn the rear wheel. Weird.

Thanks again everyone.

benws1

Went to the bike shop this morning. They weren't very helpful at all.

Initially blamed it on where I store the bike. Then I told them it lives in a garage that is built into our house. Then blamed it on how I clean the bike. I told the chap I use a chain cleaner on the chain and he told me you should never do that. He said a chain never needs to be cleaned, I just use too much lube. I've only used it once!

I then told him the problem has been there since I got the bike. Admittedly, it was 6 or so months ago, but you can tell it's hardly been used. He then said I must have got some muck into the freehub. I reiterated the point that it's been a problem since I first rode the bike a month or so ago. Of all of the other bikes I've owned, I've never had such problems so early in the bike's life.

He told me I'd have to leave it with them. When I asked about if it will cost he said yes. At the minimum it will be labour costs, but if they find any issues with the parts, it'll be part costs too. I said thanks a lot and left.

Thing is, I know this should have been picked up a month or so after I got the bike. However, I've been using the shop for 8 years now. The chap who I spoke to this morning knows me (we spend a lot of money in that bike shop), and I spent over £1000 when I bought the bike as I bought accessories too.

It's peeved me off a little to be honest. He simply wouldn't look at the issues without charging me. Fair enough, it's been 6 or so months, but when you have been a customer of the shop for years? I've never been back with any other bike I have bought from them (5 in the last 8 years).

I'll be looking at the issue myself.

Another thing, when I was in the bike shop the chap noticed my brakes squeaking a bit when moving the bike. He said the pistons have dried up, so they will need looking at too. Then to top it all off, I got home and noticed my bar tape is coming off the handlebars.

I can't be bothered with local bike shops anymore. That's two that have let me down in the last year.

crankycrank

Try contacting Raleigh directly and explain your issues and name the shop. Email is best as you'll have everything documented. I wouldn't bother going back to that shop again for anything.

benws1

crankycrank wrote:

Try contacting Raleigh directly and explain your issues and name the shop. Email is best as you'll have everything documented. I wouldn't bother going back to that shop again for anything.

I was thinking about doing that on the way home.

Will give that a try. Thanks.

cougie

Photos of all of this would be interesting.

svetty

benws1 wrote:

......I just use too much lube. I've only used it once!....

If you've only lubed your chain once in 6+ months it suggests your approach to bike maintenance is - to say the least - sub-optimal. I'd get the LBS to sort it out and then look after the bike a bit better.

benws1

Svetty wrote:

benws1 wrote:

......I just use too much lube. I've only used it once!....

If you've only lubed your chain once in 6+ months it suggests your approach to bike maintenance is - to say the least - sub-optimal. I'd get the LBS to sort it out and then look after the bike a bit better.

Sorry. Poorly written. I've only used the chain cleaner once.

Have only been riding the bike around five weeks.

benws1

cougie wrote:

Photos of all of this would be interesting.

Photos of the chain slackened?

benws1

Been a bit quiet on here so thought I would update the thread.

Spoke directly to Raleigh. They responded to me within 24 hours, were concerned about what had been said at the bike shop and were quite pleasant to deal with. All they could do, however, was offer me the services of a bike shop that is 15 miles away from me. This isn't very helpful for me as I don't own a car, have a 3 year old running around at the weekend and work all week (hence why I visited the local bike shop). Therefore, I decided to have a look at fixing the issue myself.

I managed to sort the sticky freehub issue by giving it a damn good clean and a lube up. I didn't actually need to take it apart. This seems to have done the trick and although it is still a bit jumpy at times, it is much better and the chain doesn't hit the chainstay anymore.

Just after this issue went away, I noticed a very annoying rattling noise which made itself known when pressing hard on the pedals and when shifting my weight around on the bike. First port of call I thought was the headset. Upon investigating this, I noticed that it had been done up quite tightly and the grease that had been used on the bearings was rather thin and to be honest, quite non-existent. I noticed that even though everything should have been quite new, what grease was there had turned black in places.

I reassembled it all, packed it with loads of fresh grease and went for a ride. Everything was fine for a few minutes until the noise came back. Therefore, I assumed I had redone the headset up too tight as it wasn't loose.

I adjusted it today by making it loose and then only tightening and checking in increments. On a test ride, I couldn't hear the noise again. I'm hoping this is now cured, but I will know for sure when I'm next out on it this week.

Whilst tending to the headset I thought I would also check the seat post. I pulled it out and as expected, it had bugger all grease on it. Also, I have noticed that it is quite badly scratched and scored in places. This is the first time I've had the seatpost out and previously, I had only move it up to get it to the right height. It looks like it has been moved around a lot both sideways and up and down, due to the scoring. I have no idea what has caused this so I cleaned out the seat tube as best I could, smothered the seatpost in grease and popped it back in the bike. Thank goodness it isn't a carbon one.

On reflection, I won't buy another Raleigh and if I want another bike, I'll have to find a way of using a shop further afield. So far, I have come across the following issues on my 'new' bike:

1. Chain slap due to freehub sticking
2. Quite badly overtightened rear wheel hub
3. Bar tape that doesn't seem fit for purpose (it's coming off the other side now)
4. Quite badly overtightened headset lacking grease (issue may still be ongoing)
5. Scratched and scored seat post with little grease on it
6. Frayed brake cables where whoever assembled the bike has completely crushed the cables (spotted that today)

milemuncher1

It sounds like your chain is too long / angle of dangle on the rear mech is too shallow. Shorten the chain by a couple of links, and / or turn the B screw on the RD clockwise ( whilst on big ring / big sprocket) to tighten it up.

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

It sounds like your chain is too long / angle of dangle on the rear mech is too shallow. Shorten the chain by a couple of links, and / or turn the B screw on the RD clockwise ( whilst on big ring / big sprocket) to tighten it up.

Did you even read the thread before posting? He already said it was due to the freehub sticking...

milemuncher1

Imposter wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

It sounds like your chain is too long / angle of dangle on the rear mech is too shallow. Shorten the chain by a couple of links, and / or turn the B screw on the RD clockwise ( whilst on big ring / big sprocket) to tighten it up.

Did you even read the thread before posting? He already said it was due to the freehub sticking...

Fair enough, I’ve had that happen when the lock ring on the cassette has been on wonky, and it’s rubbed the stays on it’s way round as well