Check your chain after you get a new tire
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:21 am
On a recent 3700 mile road trip, I stopped at a shop to replace a rear tire that was running out of life. The shop was nice enough to squeeze me in on a busy summer day, and I was grateful that they were willing to help me out so I could continue my vacation.
About 2,500 miles down the road, on my last day, the chain started making a horrible racket whenever I took off from a dead stop, or accelerated at low speed. I limped on home and figured the chain (with 23K miles on it) had just finally worn out.
Upon closer inspection, I verified that the links were binding as they rolled off the sprockets, resulting in a lot of noise and vibration. I'd never seen a chain go from smooth operation to suddenly worn out. It's usually a more gradual process. Checking even closer, I eventually noticed that my chain was not aligned properly. The bike shop had apparently goofed up the alignment bigtime. Sighting down the rear sprocket, the chain was obviously trying to make a right turn as it came off the sprocket.
This weekend I finally got around to replacing the chain and sprockets (an easy 30 min. job on the Nighthawk). I was surprised to find that the old sprocket teeth looked as good as the new sprockets I'd bought. The only anomoly was the bright shiny metal that had been worn off the backside of both sprockets by the misalligned chain. When I inspected the chain, there was damage to most of the O-rings on the right side, where they were getting pinched as the chain flexed laterally.
Overall, I can't say I'm too pissed about this. The chain was nearing the end of its life anyway. I'm just glad it held on until I made it home.
The moral of this story : Check your rear wheel alignment whenever the rear tire is replaced. I had just assumed that the mechanic mounting the tire would verify alignment and didn't bother checking it. A quick glance down the chain while the bike was on the centerstand would have saved me a lot of trouble.
About 2,500 miles down the road, on my last day, the chain started making a horrible racket whenever I took off from a dead stop, or accelerated at low speed. I limped on home and figured the chain (with 23K miles on it) had just finally worn out.
Upon closer inspection, I verified that the links were binding as they rolled off the sprockets, resulting in a lot of noise and vibration. I'd never seen a chain go from smooth operation to suddenly worn out. It's usually a more gradual process. Checking even closer, I eventually noticed that my chain was not aligned properly. The bike shop had apparently goofed up the alignment bigtime. Sighting down the rear sprocket, the chain was obviously trying to make a right turn as it came off the sprocket.
This weekend I finally got around to replacing the chain and sprockets (an easy 30 min. job on the Nighthawk). I was surprised to find that the old sprocket teeth looked as good as the new sprockets I'd bought. The only anomoly was the bright shiny metal that had been worn off the backside of both sprockets by the misalligned chain. When I inspected the chain, there was damage to most of the O-rings on the right side, where they were getting pinched as the chain flexed laterally.
Overall, I can't say I'm too pissed about this. The chain was nearing the end of its life anyway. I'm just glad it held on until I made it home.
The moral of this story : Check your rear wheel alignment whenever the rear tire is replaced. I had just assumed that the mechanic mounting the tire would verify alignment and didn't bother checking it. A quick glance down the chain while the bike was on the centerstand would have saved me a lot of trouble.
