I
Ian Jackson
Guest
I recently had to replace my rear wheel, and switched from the old
6-cog freewheel to a freehub (Deore XT) plus an 8-speed cassette
(Shimano HG50). The old chain was very worn - it had started to slip
- so I replaced that too (Sram PC850).
While doing the swap-out, I dug substantial quantities of black gunge
(a solidly caked mixture of oil and mud, I think) from the rear
derailleur. After I'd done this I noticed that the sprocket nearest
the cassette was very wobbly - perhaps 5mm of side to side motion
available at the edge of the sproket compared to the derailleur cage.
This didn't seem likely to be very good but the old wheel was well and
truly gone and I couldn't be bothered to reassemble everything while I
asked some kind of expert, so I thought I'd carry on see how bad the
effects were.
In fact, it turns out that I have no difficulty shifting; I only had
to adjust the endstops for the wider gearing range. After I got the
hang of the new setup it seems quite adequate. I have non-indexed
shifters and am very lazy, so I'm used to riding bikes with a poorer
state of maintenance than perhaps most people here . Ie, I'm used
to compensating for poor cables and shoddy old equipment, which I'm
sure helps.
Also, I haven't done anything about the front chainring set. It's
still the old setup which came with the bike (some kind of Shimano).
I don't experience any slippage and it shifts just fine. (Although
posting reminds me that I need to adjust the inner endstop.)
My main question is: have I done anything hideously wrong ? As I say
I'm lazy but if I wonder I should swap out the derailleur and/or the
chainring anyway to avoid having the chain wear excessively quickly.
I used to lubricate the old chain with chainsaw oil as it was cheap,
but experience with recent wet weather suggests it is quite quickly
washed away (about one short journey in heavy rain seems to be enough
to make it want re-oiling) which doesn't fit my lazy nature very well
, so I've pretty much decided to go back to `three in one' or the
equivalent. As advised by various sources I didn't add any oil when
fitting the new parts.
How soon should I think about oiling the chain ? I assume I shouldn't
ever try to lubricate the new hub. (Of course, dismantling it
periodically to repack with grease is out of the question.)
The bike is a tourer (Raleigh Randonneur) which I use for commuting
and other mainly urban trips, sometimes with substantial luggage
and/or a trailer.
--
Ian Jackson personal email: <[email protected]>
These opinions are my own. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
PGP2 key 1024R/0x23f5addb, fingerprint 5906F687 BD03ACAD 0D8E602E FCF37657
6-cog freewheel to a freehub (Deore XT) plus an 8-speed cassette
(Shimano HG50). The old chain was very worn - it had started to slip
- so I replaced that too (Sram PC850).
While doing the swap-out, I dug substantial quantities of black gunge
(a solidly caked mixture of oil and mud, I think) from the rear
derailleur. After I'd done this I noticed that the sprocket nearest
the cassette was very wobbly - perhaps 5mm of side to side motion
available at the edge of the sproket compared to the derailleur cage.
This didn't seem likely to be very good but the old wheel was well and
truly gone and I couldn't be bothered to reassemble everything while I
asked some kind of expert, so I thought I'd carry on see how bad the
effects were.
In fact, it turns out that I have no difficulty shifting; I only had
to adjust the endstops for the wider gearing range. After I got the
hang of the new setup it seems quite adequate. I have non-indexed
shifters and am very lazy, so I'm used to riding bikes with a poorer
state of maintenance than perhaps most people here . Ie, I'm used
to compensating for poor cables and shoddy old equipment, which I'm
sure helps.
Also, I haven't done anything about the front chainring set. It's
still the old setup which came with the bike (some kind of Shimano).
I don't experience any slippage and it shifts just fine. (Although
posting reminds me that I need to adjust the inner endstop.)
My main question is: have I done anything hideously wrong ? As I say
I'm lazy but if I wonder I should swap out the derailleur and/or the
chainring anyway to avoid having the chain wear excessively quickly.
I used to lubricate the old chain with chainsaw oil as it was cheap,
but experience with recent wet weather suggests it is quite quickly
washed away (about one short journey in heavy rain seems to be enough
to make it want re-oiling) which doesn't fit my lazy nature very well
, so I've pretty much decided to go back to `three in one' or the
equivalent. As advised by various sources I didn't add any oil when
fitting the new parts.
How soon should I think about oiling the chain ? I assume I shouldn't
ever try to lubricate the new hub. (Of course, dismantling it
periodically to repack with grease is out of the question.)
The bike is a tourer (Raleigh Randonneur) which I use for commuting
and other mainly urban trips, sometimes with substantial luggage
and/or a trailer.
--
Ian Jackson personal email: <[email protected]>
These opinions are my own. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
PGP2 key 1024R/0x23f5addb, fingerprint 5906F687 BD03ACAD 0D8E602E FCF37657