yiffzer

Hello all, I am a complete newb on bike mechanics. I am hoping someone can help me out.

I bought a Surly LHT just last month and rode on my first tour with it. On the way, I experienced two main problems:

1) Sometimes when I switch to the lowest gear (the one when you ride up a steep hill), the chain would completely fall out and I end up pedaling freely. I don't know why it does that! It is very annoying.

2) On the 2nd and 3rd gear at between 3 and 6 speeds (I have 3 x 9 -- 27 total), the chain skips constantly. It's not staying on the rear derailleur! It started doing that as I went on my 3rd day of my tour.

The bike did not see rain until the 4th day and that was the only day which it rained. So what's going on? Does this bike need to be serviced or something? I barely rode it -- no more than 400 miles.

Thanks!

jimc101

If you bought it from a shop, most will give a free service after a month or so, cables will normally stretch from new and hence the need for service / adjustment.

Have a look on the Park tools site, there are plenty of guides there for setting up the FD & RD which will resolve your issues.

For the rain, if bikes broke in the rain, no one would ride them, the rain did not cause the (non) issues you are having; for distance, 400 miles in 4 days is probably more than many bikes see in there lifetime, so would consider it a lot.

MNRon

Cable tension, RD stop adj for low gear (to stop the chain from going to far and leaving the cassette), and perhaps some lube to replace what washed off in the rain.

dsbrantjr

yiffzer: Is the chain falling off of the front small chainwheel or the large rear cog?

noglider 

Bring it back to the shop and ask them to fix the problems. They owe this to you.

While they're doing it, ask them to show you how they do it. They don't owe this to you, but it would be a wise thing for them to do upon your request.