Skipping Chain Fix?



cbjesseeNH

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Jun 10, 2005
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I'm moving my Zipp808/PowerTap rear wheel between my Cervelo P2 aero-bike and my Felt Z45 road-bike (both new so no wear issues). Both have the same crank and chainrings but the Cervelo has an Shimano Ultegra CN-6500 chain and CS- 6500 cassette and the Felt a KMC X9 chain. The Felt was set up with a Shimano Tiagra CS-HG509-9 cassette with same range as the Cervelo.

The wheel moved from the Cervelo to Felt has major chain skipping under power on the 4 smallest cogs. Not from cog to cog, but the chain slips on the cogs.

Is it a chain incompatibility problem? I've ordered an Ultegra CN-6500 to put on the Felt, but wonder if it's a wheel dish, wheelbase, derailleur (Ultegra vs Tiagra) or other problem.
 
cbjesseeNH said:
I'm moving my Zipp808/PowerTap rear wheel between my Cervelo P2 aero-bike and my Felt Z45 road-bike (both new so no wear issues). Both have the same crank and chainrings but the Cervelo has an Shimano Ultegra CN-6500 chain and CS- 6500 cassette and the Felt a KMC X9 chain. The Felt was set up with a Shimano Tiagra CS-HG509-9 cassette with same range as the Cervelo.

The wheel moved from the Cervelo to Felt has major chain skipping under power on the 4 smallest cogs. Not from cog to cog, but the chain slips on the cogs.

Is it a chain incompatibility problem? I've ordered an Ultegra CN-6500 to put on the Felt, but wonder if it's a wheel dish, wheelbase, derailleur (Ultegra vs Tiagra) or other problem.

All hubs place the cogset a little differently in relation to the rear derailleur, each putting the cohset a little in or out. I suspect ya just have to adjust the RD each time you swap a wheel, since everything is new.
 
What he said, but if I'm reading correctly the PT wheel is used exclusively and switched between bikes depending upon the ride (like I do with mine). If that's the case, then you should be able to tweak the Felt RD to match that particular wheel spacing and then problem solved.
 
If the chain is skipping, you can tune it all you like but won't solve the problem.

The reason for chain skipping is wear on one of the chains and the cassette is very different to the wear on the other chain. It no longer meshes properly.

The solution is a new cassette and at least one new chain. Or better still a fresh chain and cassette for each bike Then you need to pay attention to the chain wear with a checking gauge. Chains should be swaped when they wear such that ther length is increased by 0.5~0.75%.
 
After spending two hours on it, I gave up and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea and checked this morning. Sure enough...

The Cervelo cassette and shifters are 10-speed and the Felt cassette and shifters are 9-speed. :eek:

I guess I'll need to upgrade the Felt shifters to 10-speed. That should be all I need to do, eh?
 
cbjesseeNH said:
After spending two hours on it, I gave up and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea and checked this morning. Sure enough...

The Cervelo cassette and shifters are 10-speed and the Felt cassette and shifters are 9-speed. :eek:

I guess I'll need to upgrade the Felt shifters to 10-speed. That should be all I need to do, eh?
FWIW. Yes, converting your FELT to a 10-speed is an option ...

However, I would be inclined to converting the CERVELO to a 9-speed instead ...

Theoretically, if you use the alternate rear derailleur cable anchoring at 9 o'clock (see your tech sheet if you don't know what it is), then your 10-speed shifters & derailleur will index to a 9-speed cassette. But, maybe not!?!

Eventually, you would want to change the front derailleur & chain to 9-speed components, too.

If you want to change the FELT to a 10-speed, then you'll also need to change the front derailleur & chain.

You'll want to change the rear derailleur, too; but, you can get by if you use the hubbub.com alternate rear derailleur cable anchoring at 3 o'clock.

Whether you switch the CERVELO to a 9-speed drivetrain OR the FELT to a 10-speed depends on your inclination & budget.

BTW. I'm presuming that your Cervelo was set up with bar-ends. Is that right?
 
cbjesseeNH said:
The Cervelo cassette and shifters are 10-speed and the Felt cassette and shifters are 9-speed. :eek:

Doh! :D

cbjesseeNH said:
I guess I'll need to upgrade the Felt shifters to 10-speed. That should be all I need to do, eh?

Upgrading the Felt drivetrain to 10sp isn't a small task, but another option is to just get a 9sp road cassette and swap cassettes when you move the wheel from one bike to another, depending on how often you switch between bikes. In my case, I typically wanted a tighter cassette on my TT bike (like 11-21) than road bike, so changing cassettes was a step I would normally do anyway.