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Chain Catchers

ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
in Road general
Do they actually work?

I have a Canyon chain catcher that attaches under the bottle cage mounts on the seat tube & threw my chain yesterday going from big to small. The chain got well & truly jammed in between the chain catcher & the chainring so much so I had to break it, take the chain off completely & reattach it with a quick link.

I thought the whole point of them was (apart from protecting your frame around the BB if the chain goes onto it) that it would guide your chain back onto the chainring so it doesn’t come off in the 1st place.

I like the idea of them as a bit of insurance & was thinking about getting a K-Edge or something similar that attaches to the front mech but the way it’s positioned is the same so can’t see how it would be any better. If it’s as much use as the Canyon might as well not bother.

Posts

  • mrb123mrb123 Posts: 2,589
    I used to have one but got rid of it after my chain came off one day and got jammed under the catcher.

    The Deda dog fang type work well but don't usually work with carbon frames, just steel or ti frames where the seat tube is the same width all the way down.
  • redvisionredvision Posts: 2,615
    Well, if the front mech is set up correctly there should be no need for one. That said, they do what they are supposed to and (if positioned correctly) do stop the chain dropping and damaging your frame.

    They are cheap and weigh very little, and imo worth fitting.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    mrb123 said:

    I used to have one but got rid of it after my chain came off one day and got jammed under the catcher.

    The Deda dog fang type work well but don't usually work with carbon frames, just steel or ti frames where the seat tube is the same width all the way down.


    Pretty much exactly my experience yesterday. I’ve taken it off now.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    redvision said:

    Well, if the front mech is set up correctly there should be no need for one. That said, they do what they are supposed to and (if positioned correctly) do stop the chain dropping and damaging your frame.

    They are cheap and weigh very little, and imo worth fitting.


    Front mech is set up fine, complete user error on my part, misjudged a climb & thought I could get up it in the big ring, couldn’t & chose to change gear at the wrong time.

    That’s not really my point though, just wondered if anyone had dropped their chain & the catcher did what it’s supposed to do?
  • mercia_manmercia_man Posts: 1,368
    My Deda Dog Fang works really well on my steel-framed tourer. I have a triple chainset and the non-standard drop from 39 middle to 24 inner was occasionally too much for front mech if I tried to shift quickly, no matter how carefully I adjusted it. You need to fit chain catcher very close to inner ring to avoid chain coming off and getting caught under. The same would apply to a catcher suitable for a carbon frame.
  • flasherflasher Posts: 1,627
    You will never know if they work if set-up correctly.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    mercia_man said:

    My Deda Dog Fang works really well on my steel-framed tourer. I have a triple chainset and the non-standard drop from 39 middle to 24 inner was occasionally too much for front mech if I tried to shift quickly, no matter how carefully I adjusted it. You need to fit chain catcher very close to inner ring to avoid chain coming off and getting caught under. The same would apply to a catcher suitable for a carbon frame.


    Mine was set up literally within a hairs breadth of the chain when on small ring & largest cog at the back but somehow the chain got twisted & some of it got caught at the pointy end of the catcher & was jammed solid.

    Still can’t work out how.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    flasher said:

    You will never know if they work if set-up correctly.


    I can’t see how it could be set up incorrectly in all honesty.

    As above it was extremely close to the chain in the lowest gear but still didn’t work & in fact made the problem even worse.

    I will certainly take some of the blame for the poor choice of when to change gear but still think it should do better than it did.
  • flasherflasher Posts: 1,627
    ibr17xvii said:

    flasher said:

    You will never know if they work if set-up correctly.


    I can’t see how it could be set up incorrectly in all honesty.

    As above it was extremely close to the chain in the lowest gear but still didn’t work & in fact made the problem even worse.

    I will certainly take some of the blame for the poor choice of when to change gear but still think it should do better than it did.
    I have no idea how you set up the Canyon model, I use the K-Edge on 3 bikes and never had a chain drop, so they either work or my gearing is perfect!
  • mrb123mrb123 Posts: 2,589
    I think the issue I had was that the chain catcher must have been able to flex a bit so when the chain violently came off it managed to force itself between the chain catcher and chain ring. It was then impossible to extricate without removing the chain catcher.

    I had the catcher set up as close as possible without touching. There may have of course been other occasions where it had done its job as intended.

    That said, I never put the chain catcher back on. My gears were subsequently tweaked by my LBS and I've never dropped the chain since.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    edited 20 April
    Big fan of K-Edge stuff, quite expensive but well made & durable which was why I was thinking of having a go with one of theirs.

    It can’t be any worse!
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    mrb123 said:

    I think the issue I had was that the chain catcher must have been able to flex a bit so when the chain violently came off it managed to force itself between the chain catcher and chain ring. It was then impossible to extricate without removing the chain catcher.

    I had the catcher set up as close as possible without touching. There may have of course been other occasions where it had done its job as intended.

    That said, I never put the chain catcher back on. My gears were subsequently tweaked by my LBS and I've never dropped the chain since.


    I think this is what’s happened to mine. I can’t see how the chain would get past it otherwise.
  • mrb123mrb123 Posts: 2,589
    What kind do you need? The one I have is a K Edge band on 31.8mm, looks like this,
    https://www.wiggle.co.uk/k-edge-road-clamp-chain-catcher/

  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    mrb123 said:

    What kind do you need? The one I have is a K Edge band on 31.8mm, looks like this,
    https://www.wiggle.co.uk/k-edge-road-clamp-chain-catcher/


    That's the one that clamps to the frame rather than attached to the front mech but either will do I guess.

    The one you have will certainly be easier to fit as you don't have to mess about with the front mech which isn't my strong point.
  • mrb123mrb123 Posts: 2,589
    Happy to sell you mine for a reasonable price if you want it and if it's the size you need. Drop me a PM if interested. Can send pics if you want.
  • ibr17xviiibr17xvii Posts: 373
    edited 21 April
    mrb123 said:

    Happy to sell you mine for a reasonable price if you want it and if it's the size you need. Drop me a PM if interested. Can send pics if you want.


    Cheers mate.

    Will have to have a think as I'm not best friends with chain catchers at the minute!
  • step83step83 Posts: 3,866
    I have the factory catcher on my force 22 front mech, seemed to work when it was on there had zero chain drops.
    Titanium Px Spitfire
    Easty commuter
    Tripster AT
  • teisetrotterteisetrotter Posts: 326
    Dog fang works for me. I found it more important for Campagnolo, you have a lot more and faster gear changes with 5 up and three down rather than 2 up and 1 down. Which is great and is much more flexible and smoother, but as always there is an occasional downside to throwing your chain around so much, especially in the outer reaches of the cassette.
  • fatted864fatted864 Posts: 53
    Could make one using a heavy duty cable tie
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