Originally Posted by
miamijim
There are 2 ways to size a chain.....small/small or big/big. Depending on you setup either has the potential for causing issues. There is absolutely on reason why you should be taking out links. ZERO. NONE.
Chain shortness: Primarily determined by your small/small gearing. Since you 34/13 low/low hasnt changed you need to add back all of those links.
Chain length: It needs to be long enough to wrap the big/big gearing. You've added 8 teeth to the back which means you need to add about 4 links to your original chain length.
Have you ecked the derailleur hanger alignment? I know this is C&V but do yourself a favor and buy a full Shimano indexing system.
Thanks for your analysis. However, I would never run my chain little-to-little or big-to-big. I don't know many people who would. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, but I would never switch up to the big cog while riding if I was on the big chainring. Likewise, I would never switch down to the smallest cog if I was on the inner chainring.
That said, please understand that I did not take the links out of the chain that I had been running on this bike. That chain was put away in storage, along with the freewheel and derailleur that I took off the bike. This is a brand new chain. If I am on the middle chainring, and smallest cog, and the derailleur doesn't swing back far enough to take up all the slack, then I take a few links out. Likewise, I make sure that I can get up to the largest cog while on the middle chainring. Perhaps this isn't the correct way to do it, but it's always worked for me in the past.
BTW....I prefer my downtube levers and friction shifting. I'm not changing!
Thanks for your input!