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Probably a really easy fix.

dsorby2dsorby2 Posts: 74
in Workshop
When I was riding today. Big ring at the front and bigger gears on the back, when I put down substantial power on climbs etc my gears felt like they were 'slipping'

Bike only been ridden a handful of times from new, should I take it to the to LBS to get my gears re done after cables being stretched or is it an easy fix I can do myself?

Thanks
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Posts

  • pblakeneypblakeney Posts: 22,963
    Riding big/big is asking for trouble and shouldn't be done.
    Easy fix. Don't do it.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • veronese68veronese68 Posts: 26,323 Lives Here
    As above, shouldn't really ride big/big as it puts a lot of side load on the chain. Try to use the smaller 2/3s of the back with the big ring and larger 2/3s with the little. There is enough overlap in gears that you still get the full range.
    But having said that it still shouldn't slip. Rather than trying to explain it take a look at the Park Tools website how to pages for gear adjustment and maybe a few other videos to familiarise yourself. It's not rocket science but tinkering without knowing what you're doing and why will only make things worse. When you do start make one adjustment and take a note of what you did, if it gets worse go back to your starting point and go the other way. Don't do too much at once as you may really struggle to get it back to your starting point.
    Kinesis Pro6
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  • thecycleclinicthecycleclinic Posts: 394
    Gear slipping is not the best description. Your chain is most likely trying to move between sprockets. Yes take to the shop you bought it from. If bought from the web bikes will need setting up before being ridden.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    if the chain chunks around (ie doesn't seem to sit on the cassette and I suppose could be described as slipping) when you move up the cassette - ie to a larger sprocket - turn the barrel adjuster a 1/2 or 1/4 of a turn at a time anti clockwise.

    if its the opposite, do the opposite.

    repeat throughout the cassette range.

    all you're doing is playing with the cable tension that moves the mech.

    so long as you don't go undoing any bolts and ripping cables out it'll be easy to get back to your starting place.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • darkhairedlorddarkhairedlord Posts: 7,179
    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!
  • pblakeneypblakeney Posts: 22,963
    darkhairedlord said:

    If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    You still using a 5 speed block? I use 7-8 either side of an 11 speed cassette. All possible gear ratios can be met using this. Tuning is done as per above.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • 50x1150x11 Posts: 408
    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    This. Very well said.

    #goodpointwellpresented
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • shortfallshortfall Posts: 3,288
    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don't have any hard experimental evidence to the contrary but just because something works doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. If you're in big, big then you're likely putting a lot of force through the chain already, so from a mechanical point of view you would imagine that having the chain out of line is going to add a lot of extra stress at the exact moment it is under the most severe load. I do it myself now and again but I try and avoid it if I can.
  • reaperactualreaperactual Posts: 1,163
    edited December 2020
    What's the point of riding big to big anyway? Extra horizontal stress on the pins and rollers. Whatever the ratio is on that combo is somewhere else in a more mechanically sympathetic front/rear gear selection.
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    edited December 2020
    Because sometimes it easier to bosh it big to big then faff about with 6,000 gear changes - eg through town. Or up a short sharp hill. Or a multitude of other reasons.

    Tbh, its not really a problem.

    #theresnothingreallywrongwithit
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • First.AspectFirst.Aspect Posts: 12,165
    If you cross chain, it will wear out your chain days or weeks earlier than necessary and over the course of your lifetime could cost you literally several pounds.
  • reaperactualreaperactual Posts: 1,163
    Never did it to save a pound or two. Never did it to make drivetrain last a few days longer either. Didn't do it out of respect for my bike and because it feels like the wrong thing to do.
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    reaperactual said:

    Never did it to save a pound or two. Never did it to make drivetrain last a few days longer either. Didn't do it out of respect for my bike and because it feels like the wrong thing to do.

    So why did you do it?
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • reaperactualreaperactual Posts: 1,163
    I 'did it' on a workstand to make sure my chain wasn't too short.😲
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Cool. Coolcoolcool. Its just that your post confused everyone.

    #cool
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    reaperactual said:

    I 'did it' on a workstand to make sure my chain wasn't too short.😲

    Oh - as an aside, was it too short?

    #inquiry
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • darkhairedlorddarkhairedlord Posts: 7,179
    shortfall said:

    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don't have any hard experimental evidence to the contrary but just because something works doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. If you're in big, big then you're likely putting a lot of force through the chain already, so from a mechanical point of view you would imagine that having the chain out of line is going to add a lot of extra stress at the exact moment it is under the most severe load. I do it myself now and again but I try and avoid it if I can.
    Opposite, big big will have less force on the chain than small small. Maths innit!
  • elbowlohelbowloh Posts: 7,078
    darkhairedlord said:

    shortfall said:

    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don't have any hard experimental evidence to the contrary but just because something works doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. If you're in big, big then you're likely putting a lot of force through the chain already, so from a mechanical point of view you would imagine that having the chain out of line is going to add a lot of extra stress at the exact moment it is under the most severe load. I do it myself now and again but I try and avoid it if I can.
    Opposite, big big will have less force on the chain than small small. Maths innit!
    "Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • shortfallshortfall Posts: 3,288
    darkhairedlord said:

    shortfall said:

    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don't have any hard experimental evidence to the contrary but just because something works doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. If you're in big, big then you're likely putting a lot of force through the chain already, so from a mechanical point of view you would imagine that having the chain out of line is going to add a lot of extra stress at the exact moment it is under the most severe load. I do it myself now and again but I try and avoid it if I can.
    Opposite, big big will have less force on the chain than small small. Maths innit!
    Yes you're quite right, but what I mean is that you're probably in big at the back because you're going up something steep and having to stomp on the pedals a bit so having a crossed chainline in those circumstances isn't ideal from a mechanical point of view.
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Why will ypu be stomping if you are in an easy to pedal gear? Surely you'll be gliding?

    You'd be stomping the pedals if you were in a gear that you found difficult.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • reaperactualreaperactual Posts: 1,163
    MattFalle said:

    Cool. Coolcoolcool. Its just that your post confused everyone.

    #cool

    Apologies, it sounded right in my head. I'd cut the chain just right.😇

    #hatedfishingforgearstoo
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    groovy as gravy. glad to see all tranquillo.

    #cool.coolcoolcool.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • webboowebboo Posts: 5,502
    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don’t really care about whether cross chain chaining is good bad or indifferent but I don’t believe you have ridden 10’s of thousand miles in big and big. You might do few times as you go over crest of hill but thousands of miles no.
  • vincesummerskRoxcBTrvincesummerskRoxcBTr Posts: 309
    edited December 2020
    Ii can see cross chaining was a problem when people had triple front chainsets, but with a double? Like to see some actual evidence. I do it occasionally with big ring to big ring and don't see fast chain wear or other problems.
  • Harry182Harry182 Posts: 1,168
    webboo said:

    50x11 said:

    darkhairedlord said:

    Big-big isn't really a big deal and often overstated; You should still be able to set it up to run smoothly. If you only ever used 2-3 with each ring you would only have 5-6 gears!

    Yeah so many people are obsessed with "cross chaining", literally ridden 10's of thousands miles in this way and had no issues, once it's set up properly. No idea why people still think it's such a big issue.
    I don’t really care about whether cross chain chaining is good bad or indifferent but I don’t believe you have ridden 10’s of thousand miles in big and big. You might do few times as you go over crest of hill but thousands of miles no.
    Needs to change user name to "50x28".
  • Charlie_CrokerCharlie_Croker Posts: 1,592
    There's a lot of lateral movement (of the chain) on some of these new 1x things out there, we’ll see how those fair in time
  • reaperactualreaperactual Posts: 1,163
    edited December 2020
    Charlie_Croker said:

    There's a lot of lateral movement (of the chain) on some of these new 1x things out there, we’ll see how those fair in time

    The main and obviously unavoidable downside to 1x drivetrains.

    Although most of the time I'm in the middle of the cassette anyway so doubt there will be a quantifiable amount of extra wear.

    It's acceptible and the positives far outweigh the small compromises imo.

    #garlicbreaditsthefuture
  • MattFalleMattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Essentially though, what you are potentially looking at potentially is losing a couple of days wear from from a £15 chain? Yah?

    Righty-o

    #TDKBOMBlaughsinyourface
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • shortfallshortfall Posts: 3,288
    edited December 2020
    A few things. My best bike has a Chorus cassette which are currently retailing at circa £100 depending on ratios. I've tried a variety of different chains but Chorus and equivalent quality KMC cost me around £35 last time I bought them. Ok so that's probably not even a good night out darn Sarf but certainly a bit steep for something as consumable as chains and cassettes. In terms of lifespan I expect 3 chains and one cassette to do at least 10,000 miles and I'm 17 stone and do most of my cycling in the Yorkshire Dales so that's pretty hard on equipment. Anecdotally I can tell you that I get a lot more mileage from my chains and cassettes than most of my mates. I avoid cross chaining if I can, I'm fastidious about cleaning and lubing my chain, and I'm on Campag and they're all on Shimano. I don't know which of the variables contributes to the longevity of my stuff over theirs but I think it's probably a combination of everything. Whether it's my cars, motorbikes, fishing gear or whatever I try and show it a bit of care and mechanical sympathy and see that as part of the pleasure of ownership and getting value for money. Each to their own.
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