Chain that skips

[sebzzz]

Hi,

I recently bought a 2000 or 2001 Specialized Hard Rock MTB. When I bought it the guy told be to check and possibly change the chain since it skips a lot.

I went to the local bicycle shop to tune it up and they called me back a couple of days later to tell me that it really needs a new chain and cassette. I make them to the necessary to get a good ride.

Well, not I got it back and the bad news is it still skips. Not on all gears, but some do make the chain skip. I just had a couple of rides to date with it so can't tell exactly which gears cause a problem, will get you updated. For now, all gears in the back seem fine as long as I'm on the smallest one in the front. When I engage the second one in the front, it starts to skip.

Now, I bought a cheap MTB last summer that had this same problem and it bothered me a lot, went for a free tune up once but the problem reappeared as soon as I removed the back wheel the change tire and put it back on. It is one of the reasons why I sold it, I couldn't stand this skipping chain.

Should I run to the store to tell them something is still wrong or is there anything I should try before doing that? One thing is that I sold my car so now my bicycle is my only means of commuting.

Also, any good books that would help with all those small problems especially for someone like me who plans to use only his bike for all his everyday needs?

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Brock]

Hi sebzzz and welcome to the forum. I'm afraid if the chain is still skipping then it probably means the front sprockets (chainrings) are worn. The middle one is likely to be the most used so it makes sense that it skips in that gear.
Are you absolutely sure the chain is slipping over the teeth though? Could it just be that the gears need tweaking to stop the chain occasionally trying to climb onto the next gear?
There are a few bike maintenance books around, I haven't owned any so can't give an opinion on them, but Sheldon Brown's website is the place to go for detailed answers on bike problems, may he rest in peace.

Congratulations on selling your car though, life definitely gets better when you do that.

 

[spandex]

Hi mate and welcome to the mad house.

When I did not know a lot about bikes I would just take it back to the shop and tell them that you've just been in for ...... and its still doing it. Brock is right that it might be the front chain ring you can find out by having a look at them if they look like shark teeth it will need to be changed.

 

[sebzzz]

Thanks for your answers

In the case the problem is with the front gears, is this piece expensive usually?

 

[RedBike]

It all depends on which middle ring you want.

this one should do fine. Just double check that it will fit. I've no idea which cranks you have.

 

[roadiewill]

I had this on my hardrock but it stopped

 

[tredder]

I had the same problem around the highest gears on the back gear set, I cured it by making an adjustment to the gear cable. When you have indexing shifters (as supplied on most new bikes), and it is out of adjustment it is possible when shifting gears, for the chain to be moved to a position where it is still just touching the adjacent gear, this then causes the chain to hop between gears. It is not totally safe to assume one click up front on your shifter will mean one gear moved down below. With the 'improvement' in gear shifters, there comes a price in the criticality of adjustment....

As I say, I had the problem but it went away after some careful adjustment of the gear shift cable at the rear mech.

 

[giant man]

The LBS should have known that one of the chainrings was the reason the chain was skipping. Sounds like they just wanted a sale of a new chain and block ....

 

[Paulus]

Quite often a less experienced mechanic will just change the chain and block without checking the chainrings. A quick look at the rings should tell him/her that they need changing as well.

 

[mickle]

Quite often a less experienced mechanic will just change the chain and block without checking the chainrings. A quick look at the rings should tell him/her that they need changing as well.

Yup!