chain slipping

[Fog Beast]

I'm very new to cycling after a 20 odd year break but getting back into it slowly. Problem is after a 6 week hiatus while training for a new job my bike now slips gear whenever I put a large amount of pressure on the pedals. It's only a cheapo bike but I'm using it to prove to the wife that I can get to the point where I can do the 13 miles to work and justify a decent road bike.

Bearing in mind I'm a complete newbie at this can anyone give any advice on this?

 

[ColinJ]

It sounds like you might have left the chain on too long and worn your transmission out. How many miles have you done with that chain, chainrings, and cassette (rear cog cluster)?

If you replace chains before they get to that point, you can usually get away using a new chain with the old cassette and chainrings. If you let the chain get too worn however (such as when it slips under pressure), it wears the cassette and rings to the point that even a new chain will slip. That is a costly mistake because you then have to buy a new cassette and rings too. Better to spend a bit more on replacing the chain more often!

 

[Fog Beast]

I've done maybe 50 miles on it so I'm hoping I don't have to replace the chain.

 

[ColinJ]

I've done maybe 50 miles on it so I'm hoping I don't have to replace the chain.

Was it new when you bought it? If it was then wear will not be the problem. (I get a few thousand miles out of each chain but to do that you need to keep them clean and lube them when they need it.)

If it is a new bike then the problem is more likely to be a minor gear adjustment issue. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing you how to tweak your gears, for example - this one ...

 

[Gravity Aided]

Have you lubricated the chain recently, and looked for any links that are stuck?

 

[sgl5gjr]

We got a cheapie bike for our teen..... she rode about 50 miles on it and the dare it say it KMC marked chain was goosed and had so much play in it,no wonder it would not change properly and slip .... a fresh KMC chain and a tweak of the derailleur and all is well...... I guess, after checking both chains side by side....the original chain was not an Factory KMC chain..... Interestingly... Wilko now sell Cycle chains, cant vouch for them as I haven't tried one yet....

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@sgl5gjr I have only have had one KMC chain let me down and there was probably more due to my maintenance when I first started, and a chain cassette combo last nearly 8,000 miles before changing from 8 to 9sp (thats why I didn't change it earlier)

 

[sgl5gjr]

Thats is why I think the "KMC" which was on the bike was either sub quality or fake

 

[Ticktockmy]

Thats is why I think the "KMC" which was on the bike was either sub quality or fake

I have never had problems with KMC chains, most chain manufacturers make their chains to international standards. I would drop them a line at http://www.kmcchain.eu/Contact_Us and see what they say about it as you think its a fake or sub standard.
From my experiences with teens on bikes they have the abilities to destroy cycles in very short times, Bottom brackets, pedals and drive trains are their speciality, as they use the wrong gear and stand on the pedals because they are too lazy to change down to a lower gear. For an example a few years ago whilst bimbling along the South downs way, I come across a group of teens pushing their bikes, one had a broken chain and another had lost the retaining screw for one of his crank arms. Well the missing crank screw was easily fixed as I happened to have a spare on in my tool kit, the chain was knackered because it was stretched through abuse, but I managed to fix it them, so they could Ride on along with me, at the first steep hill the guy just stood on the pedals and tried to stomp up the hill in his bottom gear, the result was another link popped...Grrrrrrrr At this stage a lecture ensued about the use of gears. but if it did any good I never found out as i went on my way after fixing his cahin again.

 

[ColinJ]

Ride on along with me, at the first steep hill the guy just stood on the pedals and tried to stomp up the hill in his bottom gear, the result was another link popped.

Many years ago I got a colleague to come out with me for an evening ride. He was into body building so he had massive leg muscles, but he didn't have much of an idea of how to ride a bike ...

We came to a hill and he refused to change down, preferring to use brute strength to force the cranks round. The thing was, he was not doing it smoothly. Rather, he was stomping down hard with one pedal, lurching forward, freewheeling, then stomping down with the other pedal, and so on. I feared that he would damage his bike so I decided to have a word ...

"For goodness sake, don't pedal like that or you will ..."

BANG! (His chain had just exploded.)

" ... wreck your transmission - like that!"

 

[sgl5gjr]

I was not giving KMC a hard time....and the teen in question is a girl.... age 15... hence why I feel that it was a fake chain, she gave me a hard time because it wouldn't shift right.... and she hates things which do not work as they should
Needless to say with so little miles on it (she rides with me) then I was shocked to see KMC marked on the chain... I did dispose of the said chain sadly so can't send it to KMC..... my MTB is on an Sram chain & the Roadie on a Shimano...... my old commuter is on a KMC.

 

[Leaway2]

The split link snapped on my relatively new bike. Which then jammed in the Derailleur and snapped it ripped off. I don't use them now.