Bike maintenance, am I just unlucky?

[macushla]

I’m pretty much at my wits end at the moment with my mountain bike. In the last few weeks it feels like it’s spending longer being fixed than it is ridden. For info, the bike is a Mondraker Chrono R Carbon that’s about 18 months old and owned by me for 12 of those.

I ride it about 5 times a week covering probably 100 miles a week maximum, mainly XC, a lot of it uphill, as I’m trying to work on that side of my fitness.

In the last month, I’ve had
New chain
New brake pads
Fixed an issue with the front mech (running 2x11, which I need as I’m a fat so and so)
New cables all round
A grinding sound in the higher gears
Replaced bottom bracket
Replaced both wheels

Today the new chain snapped as I was pulling onto a road, thankfully more or less at the end of the ride.

Is it just Sod’s law that everything happens at once, or am I just thenworlds unluckiest rider? The one thing that’s passing me off is that I’ve a much older, less well looked after RacePro at my place abroad and rode that for three months solid at the end of last year with no issues at all. Covered a lot more mileage too on that.

[Treb0r]

Are you able to or do you do any maintenance yourself? Some of this sounds normal but some is quite unusual!

New chain - consumable
New brake pads - consumable
Fixed an issue with the front mech - probably just indexing/limit adjustment
New cables all round - highly unlikely to be required
A grinding sound in the higher gears - probably indexing
Replaced bottom bracket - almost a consumable in bad conditions
Replaced both wheels - why? Unless they have been built extremely badly then this is very unusual

Today the new chain snapped - very likely to have been fitted incorrectly e.g. Quick link not engaged or connecting pin fitted wrongly

[macushla]

Thanks. I’m pretty much brand new to this, I’m not eof a motorbike / car racer type, but doing this for some fitness as somehow managed to get into the sharp end of a few races last year and with good fitness I could’ve been on TV with a couple more places up in the finishing positions!

I’m not overly good with spanners, but once shown am good at repeating what needs doing, albeit with limited knowledge of what I’m doing, if that makes sense.

The wheels were needed, the ones on there had some sort of non-serviceable captive bearing set up with no replacement part (three opinions sought for certainty). I decided new wheels with serviceable parts was a better long term option.

What’s indexing?

[Treb0r]

Indexing is making sure the derailleur lines up with the gear cogs - a small misalignment can result in funny noises or a skipping chain.
I have always found the Park Tools website very good for step by step maintenance instructions and they often have an explanatory video too.
Here's an example:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-der...

[macushla]

Thank you. I’ll spend some time on there and try to educate myself a little.

[gl20]

Seconded on parktool videos.

OP - most I’ve done on a car is basic servicing. In the 3 years I’ve had a road bike the only bit I haven’t adjusted or replaced/upgraded is the crankset. All using Parktool videos as reference. Calvin is the Ed China of the bike world.

[dhutch]

Supprised the wheels have lasted so badly, you should have got a fee years out of even the cheapest. But some do have integrated cups that are not replacable and new wheels made my children in China are sadly cheaper than the labour to rebuild with a new hub in the UK.

In terms of DIY:
- Learn to change your own pads, and the difference between sintered/organic/etc as it's easy and wet weather eats them.
- Chain, get some power links and a chain tool (link/pin remover) and carry them with you. If you're doing decent miles, get a chain wear indicator tool for £8 it will pay for itself in chains/sprockets.
- Then learn to adjust the gears because it's usually literally just a quarter turn on a plastic adjuster screw.

Less DIY:
- Changing a bottom bracket isn't hard but is medium rather than easy, you can write off the frame if you do it wrong, and you need another two tools.
- Bleeding brakes can be a pita and again you need the kit, which isn't expensive, but again all adds up and is one of the few things I don't do myself.
- Building/trueing wheels is daffy and slow and needs a wheel stand which is bulky to store so much easier to pay for than do, plus you only need to take in the wheel.


Daniel

[bombino]

macushla said:

I
In the last month, I’ve had
New chain
New brake pads
Fixed an issue with the front mech (running 2x11, which I need as I’m a fat so and so)
New cables all round
A grinding sound in the higher gears
Replaced bottom bracket
Replaced both wheels

Today the new chain snapped as I was pulling onto a road, thankfully more or less at the end of the ride.

So, the first thing that's apparent is the chain / gears. Question is, how long was the old chain on and what condition was it in when it was replaced? Do you keep your drivetrain clean and regularly lubed? My initial suspicion (and please correct me, if I'm wrong) is that you're riding 100 miles a week, off-road, in Winter and you've ridden the chain to the point that it's absolutely tuckered. You've replaced it, but NOT the rest of your drivetrain which has taken the same pasting as your chain. You put a new chain on, it's meshing (badly) with a worn out cassette and that explains the grinding in the higher gears. And, because you're mixing worn cassette and rings with new chain, that's going to put additional strain on the new chain. That could explain the snapped new chain (but equally could also be how it was installed).

Regarding the other stuff, again, if you're riding 100 miles XC per week through Winter, you're going to go through components pretty regularly. That's not bad luck, it's just reality. Bottom brackets and particularly brake pads are going to get trashed in poor conditions, so you need to expect to replace those. Component choice is important (some bottom brackets are far more reliable in British conditions than others) and properly bedding-in pads will pay off in longevity.

Then we get to cables. Cables should last a decent length of time, years if they're well looked after. That 'if' is the big caveat and, along with the gears/chain and the admission that you're pretty new to this, I'm going to take a stab and say you may not be looking after your kit as well as you perhaps could. As with most things in life, if you spend time looking after your kit, it's going to last longer and work better.

So just to give you a slightly extreme example, on my winter road bike, I rotate 3 different chains and after each dirty ride, the chain comes off and goes in to an ultra-sonic cleaner with degreaser. The chainrings and cassette get cleaned, the disc brakes are cleaned with a disc cleaner, components are all checked, everything's wiped down, a clean chain goes on and it's lubed, rolled in and wiped down. It's a fair bit of work, but it saves on the cost of replacing components and, more importantly, means I spend very little time by the side of the road in wet/freezing conditions. The chains will get measured in the Summer, but usually they go in the bin with the cassette and a new drivetrain will go on. Anyway, I'm probably waaay more anal than most, but if you're just throwing your bike in the shed dirty or hosing it down and just letting it drip dry, you maybe need to consider spending a bit more time looking after your bike. Or, just accept that you're going to go through components at a rapid rate.

[dhutch]

Agree you could have run the chain till it's well past it, and worn the cassette and rings. If you're doing big miles then rotating three chains (if not every ride) and then replacing the whole drive train, repeat, is a common way if getting the most out of it. With powerlinks is so quick to swap a chain.

Daniel

[macushla]

I’m pretty good with chain cleaning, lubing and keeping on top of the “housekeeping” stuff. I mentioned earlier that I ride / race motorbikes and I’m very keen on keeping on top of the chain / sprockets etc on that. It doesn’t end well when one of those chains lets go, especially if your doing 100+ at the time.

The cassette is as good as new according to both of the guys who’ve had it for service, so no issues there. If they’d flagged it as an issue it would’ve been replaced.

I’ve fitted a new chain today, so I’ll see how it goes. I expect a fair chunk of maintenance, as it’s similar on my MX bike, I was just surprised how everything seems to have failed very closely together. By the same token, I guess there are only so many moving parts on a bike and they will fail eventually.

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated and the chain fitting was quite easy compared to what I was expecting.

[Ian_sUK]

You did check the length of the chain didn't you? They usually come too long and you have to remove links. Would explain the grinding in higher gears as the chain rubs on itself as it goes over the upper jockey wheel.

[macushla]

Ian_sUK said:

You did check the length of the chain didn't you? They usually come too long and you have to remove links. Would explain the grinding in higher gears as the chain rubs on itself as it goes over the upper jockey wheel.

I did, but don’t get me started on a mate who was “helping out”. He decided to solve a problem that didn’t exist, like a typical engineer and decided that a 118 link chain was good enough when the old one was 112. Sure enough it did exactly as described above. I then broke the chain, removed the links and refitted myself and tadaaaaa it was perfect.

Lesson learned

Sometimes those with the most experience aren’t necessarily the best helpers

[stuarthat]

What was the make of the chain ? I haven’t broken one for years ,I am a regular rider ,some people like snap pin link I prefer two piece ,usually I can get two years out of running gear xtr or xt .

[macushla]

stuarthat said:

What was the make of the chain ? I haven’t broken one for years ,I am a regular rider ,some people like snap pin link I prefer two piece ,usually I can get two years out of running gear xtr or xt .

No idea, the new one that’s just gone on is a KMC X11-93 Silver 11 Speed Chain

https://www.merlincycles.com/kmc-x11-93-silver-11-...

I’ll see how I get on now, the weather’s not been great so missed the last few days anyway.

[yellowjack]

stuarthat said:

What was the make of the chain ? I haven’t broken one for years ,I am a regular rider ,some people like snap pin link I prefer two piece ,usually I can get two years out of running gear xtr or xt .

I've had two broken chains, or three if you count the one that was easily explained by it having been digested, along with the rear mech, by the spokes on the rear wheel.

First one was an 8-speed SRAM chain that was newly fitted. It broke far from the connector link too. I reckoned that was a manufacturing fault, but the shop that sold it to me said "we won't warranty what we didn't fit" and "looks like it got damaged by misuse". So I stopped using both that bike shop, and SRAM chains. It had come apart at the riveted end of a joining pin, allowing an outer plate to open up and let go. Obviously it looked damaged because I was riding it and it got dragged through the mechs a couple of times before I realised what all the racket was about.

Second one (10-speed KMC) nearly caused a DNF at a MTB race. Again a brand new chain, I'd only put 150 miles on a brand new bike! This time it gave up at the quick-link, with the side plate pulling completely out of the joining pin. I bodged that back together with my trusty Leatherman tool and finished the race, albeit more tentatively than I'd planned. Then I bought a new quick-link and kept the chain until it wore out. That one I presumed was an assembly error that I'd failed to notice until I was racing and therefore working it harder than I'd yet done.

From my own experience, and from helping friends out when they've had chains fail, I now carry a complete chain in my backpack on longer rides, along with quick-links in my saddle-pack. It's an old chain, with the correct number of links, taken from the same MTB, and worn to the limit. But it's enough to use to complete a ride rather than doing the "walk of shame" or making that call to try to rustle up a team car to get home again...

[Mr Gearchange]

I took my Enduro and DH bikes in for a service a couple of weeks ago.

I picked them up today along with a bill for £1400.

Oof.

[yellowjack]

Mr Gearchange said:

I took my Enduro and DH bikes in for a service a couple of weeks ago.

I picked them up today along with a bill for £1400.

Oof.

...and I thought £52.96 on a new chain, cassette, and some Shimano mineral oil for my brakes was wallet-wilting!

[macushla]

Mr Gearchange said:

I took my Enduro and DH bikes in for a service a couple of weeks ago.

I picked them up today along with a bill for £1400.

Oof.

Based on that I need to change the thread title to “How lucky am I”

[Mr Gearchange]

yellowjack said:

Mr Gearchange said:

I took my Enduro and DH bikes in for a service a couple of weeks ago.

I picked them up today along with a bill for £1400.

Oof.

...and I thought £52.96 on a new chain, cassette, and some Shimano mineral oil for my brakes was wallet-wilting!

macushla said:

Based on that I need to change the thread title to “How lucky am I”

It was somewhat eye widening when he rang up the bill.

New rear shock, new dropper post (both past the point of repair) new headsets, new BB's, new pivot bearings, rebuilt hubs, new cables, new brake fluid, service on two sets of suspension (including Fox Factory stuff on the DH bike) etc etc etc.

Being about to buy a new car this week I could have done without that sort of outlay - however without it they are just expensive garage ornaments. On the plus side they feel like new bikes - which they largely are now i suppose.

[dhutch]

Mr Gearchange said:

I took my Enduro and DH bikes in ... ....bill for £1400.

Mr Gearchange said:

New rear shock, new dropper post (both past the point of repair) new headsets, new BB's, new pivot bearings, rebuilt hubs, new cables, new brake fluid, service on two sets of suspension (including Fox Factory stuff on the DH bike) etc etc etc.

Oof indeed! Thats what I spent on buying my Enduro bike, and over double what i spend on the DH!

Thats said, I am not overly surprised, particularly as sadly local bike shops often struggle to get things like shocks/droppers/brakes for the prices they can be found online with even mild hunting.

Still as you say, without enough parts to work they dont work. I've spent the value of a car on getting it an £800 or so MOT before now. Without it its £75 at the scrappers.

Daniel