Rambino

It's a Truvativ Elita 50t chainring on a 2 x 10 setup

It has a relatively minor 4mm bend after a very gentle fall which has left the bike unusable( except for 3 or 4 gears after front mech adjustments)

Can this be repaired OR will I need to buy a new ring?

If it can be repaired how much will this cost and how complicated a procedure is it?

Thanks

fietsbob

Sight unseen, who the hell knows?

So, why not go in and ask. It can be a simple job with an adjustable wrench to bend it back, to DIY ,
if you have a trust in your own abilities..

HillRider

Doing it properly will require removing the chainring and flattening it carefully on a hard surface with a soft face hammer like a rubber mallet. A quick fix is to use an adjustable wrench as a clamp to bend the out-of-line section back into place.

dsbrantjr

You can usually bend it back, either by using an adjustable wrench, or I have had good results with a small long-nosed Vice-Grip pliers: IRWIN Tools VISE-GRIP Locking Pliers, Original, Long Nose, 4-Inch (1602L3) - Locking Jaw Pliers - Amazon.com

Rambino

Thanks guys, but I'm not comfortable with doing this repair myself so I'm off out, right this very second, to visit my LBS.

Andrew R Stewart 

I've straightened hundreds of rings and almost always while still on the bike. Some work out very well. Others not so much so. Without seeing the ring I won't speculate. Andy.

Rambino

Not long back from LBS and £10 is all they charged. I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried it was going to be yet another costly repair/replacement.

habilis

Were any teeth damaged in the fall? If not, this repair was within the scope of your abilities.

As others suggested, an adjustable wrench set to the thickness of the ring can act as an effective lever for straightening. With the ring off the bike, lay it on a flat surface and press down on different parts of the edge. You're done straightening when all places lie flat. Doing stuff like this leads to greater confidence and self-reliance, which carries over into home, car, and gadget repair. Your friends and loved ones will be dumbstruck with awe.

jimc101

not for £10, a new chainring from a LBS (even if they had one is stock) will cost at least £30 (your unlikely to get internet prices from your LBS), so thinking they just bent it, which the OP could have done for free if they had a usable tool.

habilis

I wrote that before reading the OP's last post. (I went back and edited it out.) The repair price was reasonable, I guess, but I agree with you that the repair was not rocket science.

Rambino

It's a good mid range crankset so it was never going be £10 for the chainring alone.

Check it out here.

Oh, and a shout out to Stan Jones Cycles in Shrewsbury

Chief

sort of like changing a light bulb.... you can be in awe of those who do it ....or learn how to do it yourself.

ltxi

Why pickin' on the OP like that? Good, legitimate question for someone who doesn't want to just hammer away at stuff not fully understood.

Rambino

My bike mechanics aren't that bad actually.

Just the other day for instance I had a rear hanger literally explode on my MTB but within half an hour (and a much shorter chain) I had myself an effective single speed for the remainder of my journey.

Could you have done that with just the use of a basic Topeak Alien multi tool?

Also, I've not encountered a bent chainring before plus, I don't have a pro VAR Chainring Straightener, and I don't want to risk using a wrench bending a relatively expensive chainring when the cost of having a pro fix it is just £10

habilis

Possibly not, and I'm a fanatical DIYer.

I looked up the VAR tool. Looks easier to use than an adjustable wrench because of the right-angle configuration (better leverage). But, the adjustable wrench holds the edge of the ring in the same manner and can be adjusted to fit the ring perfectly (the VAR tool has only two standard settings.) I've used the AW on steel rings with success.

However, I appreciate that you didn't want to risk messing up a good ring.

RandomTroll

I bent my outer chainring (52 teeth) once. I bent it back with a thin piece of wood (a spatula handle whose blade had worn out - useful piece of wood for many purposes) levered against the spider (? the part of the crank to which chainrings attach), didn't remove it. That was 12 years, perhaps 60K miles, ago. It works as well as ever. I don't put that many miles on it.