41ants

I have a pista that I cheaped out on and went with a 42T rocket front chainring. The chain slack on the long rides is incredibly annoying!

I decided to try spending a bit more money on a nicer sugino messenger 46T chainring and added a new chain. Cranks on the bike are 130BCD that is why I went with the sugino messenger chainring. So its a 1/8 front and 3/32 rear cog, but I still have this annoying chain slack. Now I think the chainline is jacked!

What should be my next step? Should I try replacing the crankarms or just go with miche primato crankset and call it a day? Or is chainslack something that can never be completely removed.

time bandit

i thought you had a question about tight spots in your chain.

pull the wheel back to tension your chain. or remove some links.

Gyeswho

you want the chain to have a lil slack so that you don't wear out the BB and rings too quickly.

41ants

I have been pulling it back. Issue is the chain on my bike is loose in some spots and tight in others. I replaced the chain and still have the problem. Replaced the cheap rocket chainring with a nicer Sugino messenger chainring and still have the problem. So I guess my question is: Are the cheap crank arms that came with the pista cuasing the chain to be tight in some areas and loose in others?

Just trying to go through the process of elimination with this annoying problem on my bike.

operator

That happens on all bikes, "tight/loose" at some point. Be thankful you're not riding a BMX, some of the tight/loose spots on those are atrocious.

Gyeswho

yea find a spot where it is a loose as can be but is still the tightest spot on the chain position and leave it there since all the other spots will be loose

ken cummings

Hold the chain on both sides of the tight spot and twist it back and forth at right angles to the side plates of the chain. I get a tight spot each time I splice or replace a chain and twisting always fixes it well enough.

I_luv_hooters

the chain doesnt need to be super tight. i used to think it did, too until i learned here from an entire thread dedicated to this topic. a little slack in the chain is good for optimizing your pedal power. having a too tight chain robs you of speed/power.

akaio

Bingo. Thats how I adjust my bike now too.
The only slightly annoying thing is the slack/play in the pedals when track standing. But you get used to it and after awhile its not a problem.

So just find the tightest point and then loosen the chain till it has a bit of play in there and voila.

killsurfcity

i have heard about some cogs being slightly off center too. is there any merit to that? one dudezor said he had that issue and bought a new cog and the problem was solved. i personally have never had an issue with tight spots in my chain tension. i wonder if it has anything to do with running all 3/32 all the time.

41ants

Just an update. Like I mentioned above I upgraded the chainring to the Sugino Messenger, which also required me going to a 1/8 chain. After putting about 15 miles on the bike with new setup the chain feels much better. Yes there are a couple of spots that are slightly tighter, but is much better than before.

Now, I just need to up the rear cog 17T (knees) and 1/8"

I_luv_hooters

I'd go to bens cycles dot com and get an EAI 17T cog. 17 is good because u get 17 skid patches no matter what big ring u have. The EAI are really freaking good for the money. My bike is quieter since I got the EAI, no joke. Don't have your chain so tight that you can feel it get rigid in some spots. I used to ride like that and I was worried all the time about my chain needing to be taunt. It doesnt need to be like that. Chain rings are not perfectly round unless you buy a super expensive high-end one. Thats why a chain ring will cause you to have tighter spots in your chain. Don't do anymore chainring upgrading, you're fine.

Straws

Your chainring might not be on completely centered either. Sheldon's site has a method for doing it perfect but I'm not gonna dig through there to find the article.

trons

what about a 51 BOOYA

I_luv_hooters

51 what? BOOYA this.

darksiderising

51 teeth on the ring. That would give you only 1 skid patch.