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I have been riding and fettling long enough to be able to sort this out but its got the better of me.
My Cranfield Yelly Screamy (hardtail) is prone to suffering from bad chain suck,I'm running two chain ring plus a bash guard up front where the third chain ring would normally be and a standard 9 ring cassette at the rear.Changing in middle rings of the cassette is fine, the problem is most noticeable when changing down to the granny ring with the chain in the lower geared area of the cassette and also in the granny ring with the last two of the higher gears on the cassette.
I think I have used one spacer washer on the BB bearing but can’t be sure without removing it. Can this problem be fixed be adding one or more spacer washers, thus altering the chain line or does the problem require a different fix ? Any advice, links, etc would be very welcome, thanks Paul
90% of chainsuck problems are caused by the chainrings.
Never had any chainsuck problems on my yelli when it was 2x9.
chainsuck is caused by a worn/damaged drive train.
What you're seeign is the result of chainsuck (i.e. chain hittign chain stay), not the cause.
As above, it's likely to be a worn or damaged chainring but a worn chain won;t help.
Ok and thanks. If its chain ring related why is it that the problem is more pronounced with the chain in certain positions of the cassette given the chain is constantly rotating around the chain ring.
On the plus side I have a credit note from Evans and a couple of new chains kicking around, any recommendations on chain rings ? Thnx Paul
it's probably to do with the angle that the chain is leaving the chainrings - higher angle means more likely for the chain to 'stick' to the chain ring.
Re: chainrings, if you want shimano it's often cheaper to buy a new chainset from CRC/Merlin than buy just the chainrings 🙁 I quite like Middleburn as an alternative.
its the angle the cassette holds the chain at against the wear on the chain rings.
As for new chain rings, have a look at chainsets, ribble. merlin, crc, rose. may be cheaper/better value than chain rings
chainsuck is caused by a worn/damaged drive train.
Not necessarily - and def not if you maintain it well.
Iv been through a period of granny ring chainsuck hell, trying every conceivable action to stop it. It was on a new XT drive train. Everything I tried failed and the problem went away entirely on its own after a few weeks - but not before putting some serious gouges in my Ti frame.
Best guess - slightly imperfect chainrings, perhaps not finished properly with some burrs still remaining which eventually wore down.
Not had it since on any bike.
[i]slightly imperfect chainrings, perhaps not finished properly with some burrs still remaining[/i]
so essentially, your new drive train was damaged?
there is a difference between damaged and not finished
and that's only a best guess
I had similar issues with my KTM Lycan and received the following advice
'You need to measure the chainline. If you're running a triple chainset, the measurement from the middle of the seat tube to the inside edge of the middle ring needs to be 47.5 - 50mm.
I can't remember the dim for double or single chain ring set up's, sorry. Shelton Brown has it if you do a search on his site.'
I made my own thinner bottom bracket spacer with a piece of plastic and used that on the drive side and then spaced out the non drive side with the original spacer. Only a few mm difference but worked for me.
cheers guys, apart from the chain suck and my original poor selection of rear tyre the bike has been great. Spech 29" Butcher Ground Control are a fine inexpensive tyre that seals from a UST point of view so easily.