oneofpr

Its time to change the 5,000 + miles clocked on the 10 speed chain. It has given its money's worth after been used and abused under the sun, rain, road debris, taken it to Puerto Rico and exposed to the worst tropical conditions ever.

After so much use to the 10-speed road bike, went and bought a new Shimano compatible (exactly the same) chain. Installed it without changing anything at all, no adjustments, nothing, and the chain skipped between gears. Did the typical loose the derailleur bolt, move the shifting to the smallest ring, as I learned by watching youtube, then I would adjust the end points with the L/H small screws, and some minor tweaking on the plastic black one. No matter what I did it still jumped from gear to gear, mostly so in the middle ones.

Decided to put back the old chain back again and the bike as good as new, good shifting and no jumping gears. The only reason to change to a new chain was for preventive maintenance as some guys on group rides have mentioned it helps on minimizing tear and wear on the drivetrain. As of now it has the old chain back because it shifts smoothly.

FYI: I did have a small accident while in Puerto Rico where I fell to the derailleur side, scratching it a little bit. One of my friends said the rear derailleur could be bent, but because the old chain is stretched out its within tolerances and once the new chain is installed signs of the damage show up.

Any advice, help about the weird symptoms?

cranky old road 

You used your old chain for too many miles and now the gears on your cassette are worn to match the chain. The cassette will need to be replaced if you want to use the new chain. <The only reason to change to a new chain was for preventive maintenance as some guys on group rides have mentioned it helps on minimizing tear and wear on the drivetrain. >

gyozadude

I'd check two more things. a) same number of links? (I'd assume you removed the old and lay them side by side for the correct number of links), and b) check the pulleys for wear. The older chain is worn and so are the pulleys. If they don't fit precisely, the chain may not be riding aligned on the top pulley and this can cause skipping. Not a problem with the worn chain that isn't cutting fresh into the pulleys. But it is a problem with the new chain that won't allow the cogs to ride inside narrow part of the chain.

marley mission

keep riding the old chain - save the new one until u r ready to pick up a new cassette

fusilierdan

Check that all the links are moving correctly. I just put on a new chain and one of the links, the one I broke the chain with, was tight and not loose enough causing the chain to skip.

oneofpr

Thank you for your quick responses. I am on my 3rd chain with the same cassette and pulleys, so by reading all suggestions it seems time for a complete overhaul.

This is my rain (summer) and indoor trainer (winter) bike, while the carbon its for nice sunny days.

Will try each suggestion, starting with the one that cost less money, and see how it goes one at a time.

Esteban32696

Since you are on the 3rd chain with it,,,I will agree with " cranky's " advise !

jimdays

If you want to spend several hours, you can grind each tooth (I use an electric drill with cheap small stone grinder) on the gears that skip. This will solve the skipping problem. The gear cluster must be removed and each gear separated to do this. Search on Google for details exactly how to grind each tooth.