Cassette spacer - advice sought

[G3CWI]

I have a Triban 3. It's an early one and I am pretty sure that there was a design problem with the frame. This manifests itself in the form of a chain line problem. A while back I bought a cassette spacer to see if this might help. I have fitted it today but discovered that now I can no longer fit the smallest cassette cog back on.

I have the bike on a stand and the gears index fine so it should be rideable (test in a short while). What problems might I encounter?

Cheers!

 

[cyberknight]

I would have thought chainline issues would have been BB axle width rather than needing a spacer , you should be able to run 7 speed with 8 speed sti with a null click as long as your h/l stops are right although i cant see whey you would want too?

 

[lpretro1]

Narrower spacer required

 

[Smurfy]

The cassette is designed to be the exact width to fit on and tighten the lockring, so adding spacers may well cause problems.

What is the nature of the chainline problem?

 

[Colin S]

Spacers are generally used to fit different cassettes to freehubs designed for a different number of gears.
If you can't fit the smallest cog back on I assume you cannot fit the locking ring so the cassette will be loose on the freehub.

I don't think this will fix the problem you think you might have with chainline. As suggested above chain line problems are more likely to be caused by a BB issue


C

 

[G3CWI]

Well it's done now and works perfectly as far as I can tell. I have lost one cog from the cassette of course but the overall line is much truer. Thanks for the tips and suggestions.

 

[uclown2002]

So you have fitted a spacer and removed the smallest cog?
Without the spacer does the full cassette fit properly with lockring tightened?

 

[TheDoctor]

I don't know what the problem was, but all you've done is create another one.
What made you think the chain line was out?

 

[mickle]

The solution that you think is the solution to the problem is not the solution.

 

[TheDoctor]

The solution that you think is the solution to the problem is not the solution.

This.
It's not even a solution...

 

[G3CWI]

...it feels like a solution. The lock ring engages properly. The gears change smoothly. By adjusting the stop screws the missing index position is effectively removed. Loss of the smallest cog is not a problem (to me). Decathlon solved it by changing the frame (I think) - that's not an option for me.

 

[G3CWI]

The initial problem was discussed here:

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/front-derailleur-woes.130835/#post-2615059

 

[Kbrook]

The cassette must be loose without a cog even with the spacer, is it not? There is no way a spacer is as wide as a cog.

 

[G3CWI]

The cassette must be loose without a cog even with the spacer, is it not? There is no way a spacer is as wide as a cog.

No. It's fine. The spacer slides down the freehub to the bottom and the cassette slides down the splines as normal. There is nothing there to move.

The spacer must be almost exactly as wide at the smallest cog.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

The initial problem was discussed here:

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/front-derailleur-woes.130835/#post-2615059

which says

Several little problem.

1. When I have the chain on the smallest chain cog and the largest cassette cog (ie closest to the frame) it just touches the inside edge of the front derailleur. The derailleur is correctly aligned but there is no way to stop this rubbing as the derailleur is hard against the frame - no more adjustment. Is this normal on a triple?

I would suggest you measure your chainline. If it is a double it is the distance between the centre of the frame and the middle of the two chainrings. If it is a triple to the middle ring is good enough. Then come back with the measurement. It should not be far from 45mm given it is a road bike. Also please provide the make and model code of the front mech (if it is a Shimano the code is something like FDxxxx)

You have either the wrong bottom bracket for your chainset (or wrong chainset for your bottom bracket) or the wrong front mech for a correct/compatible chainset/bb setup. That is not to say your freehub/cassette is perfect, but that is a separate issue that one would be mad to try to adjust to fix the chainset/front mech issue.