alcahueteria

So I have a soma juice that I ride moutain bike trails on. I have a woodman SS cassette hub and some hollowtech II LX cranks with a surly ring in the middle and a (****ty) wipperman chain. I use a tugnut on the drive side and it's QR.

My problem is that whenever I hit the trails I get a loud pop a 4 or 5 times out of every ride. Just a noise, chain stays on. I've never had a problem with the chain falling, but this chain does have like a million dead links in it now. I'm exagerating, but it does probably have about 5-7 dead links. Atleast it did last I checked. So I'm wondering if it would be chainline, or because I'm using a 1/8 chain on 3/32 stuff or what? I am pretty sure I measured my chainline when I set it up, but I haven't checked it since. I do plan on doing that, but I figured I'd petition you guys first to see if any of you had had a similar problem and knew how to remedy it. Thanks.

Eatadonut

uh...sounds like you have a stretched chain. measure it.

Jesse M

chain too tight?

MacG

What exactly do you mean by dead links?

It sounds like your chain might be snagging a tooth on the cog and binding up temporarily until it snaps free. You should measure your chainline (not just eyeball it; actually break out a dial caliper or at least a good ruler) and see how close you are. If your chainline is less than great and/or your chain is loose, it can swing laterally at just the wrong moment and snag an inner plate on the top of a tooth.

If your chainline is perfect, try a new chain and get the tension correct. You want a little bit of slop, but not much. The usual rule of thumb is to set the chain so the middle of the chain can be moved up and down about a half inch overall with your fingers. Any less and your chain will probably be too tight, which wears several components much faster than normal.

alcahueteria

by dead links I mean that if I bend them they stay that way until I physically bend them back the other way, and then they still just stay that new way. I may try a new chain, I just hate to put one on if the old one didn't break. I guess I'll check my chainline first though.

dolface

that's a tight link, not a dead one. try wiggling them back and forth (along both axes) to loosen them up.

alcahueteria

They come back. The first time I took the chain off to clean it I found like 5-7 or so. So I worked them all loose, cleaned the chain, oiled it up and put it back on. The next time I took of it off I found almost as many. The time between was maybe a few weeks with only a couple of rides, if even. I typically clean that bike after every ride.