Sigurdd50

I just got my Dawes Galaxy back from it's tune-up and overhaul. New bearings, checked the crank bearings, added some Planet BIkes aluminum fenders (just so it would look cool and clean around town), anc chain. Looks sweet!

The mechanic commented about the severe chaing cross-over from front to back in the usual places. He did what he could on adjustments, and ever considered mounting the front gears differently, but short of swapping out the gear cluster, it's the way it is.

Any suggestions on remedying this issue? Is it pretty much a matter of taking the old cluster off and seeing what is available to replace it... where the gear spread is tighter? It is okay the way it is... just that you can't get too extreme or it clanks as it crosses.

TheOtherGuy

I think the answer is... don't get too extreme. When the chain's on the small front ring, stay in one of the large 3 rear cogs. When the chain's on the big ring, stay on one of the 3 smallest cogs in the rear. You never shift to a large rear cog when on the big ring.... do you?

Noah Scape

This advice will serve you well.

Is the crankset original? It seems odd to have this problem on a stock drive train.

The other fix would be changing your crank spindle length to give you a better chain line. If you're like me you've got a dozen or so spindles harvested off of old junk bikes so it is not an expensive endeavor to try out different lengths.

John E

Do you have problems just in large-to-large, just small-to-small, or both? If you have more trouble with the large-large combinations than the small-small, check the clearance between your inner chainring and your chainstay -- there should be very little. Ideally, the center cog in back should line up between the two chainrings in front. Are you sure you got a so-called 8-speed chain, as opposed to a narrower 9-speed?

My standard treatment of a bike with 120mm rear dropout spacing is either to spread the frame to 126-128mm (steel frames only) or to replace the 5-speed freewheel with an ultra-6.