Chain to long, or derailleur to slack ?

[JohnnyReggae]

I have a Titan 29'er Comp, which has a Shimano Alivio-9 rear derailleur. At the moment I'm using it for a commute to work on the road with the occasional mount onto sidewalks to avoid traffic. Pedalling along it feel like it skips a tooth on the rear cog. The gear stays the same, but the chain skips.

 

This morning after I had to make a quick stop, I started again in the same high gear I had stopped in and had to really stand on the power to get going and the whole chain skipped off the front derailleur and the cable seemed to have stretched a little at the same time as I had to make an adjustment so that the front derailleur was not being caught by the chain.

 

So the question is .... is the chain to long and perhaps needs a small shortening, or is the rear derailleur not pulling the chain tight enough ?

Edited November 16, 2012 by JohnnyReggae

[MrJacques]

Pictures would help, but I would guess that the chain is too long, most new chains just get put on the bike without being measured to see how long it should be.

[JohnnyReggae]

Done some more Googling and the problem may be related to the derailleur that needs adjustment. Been riding the bike for 3 weeks solid now and haven't adjusted the rear derailleur cable since the initial setup. Will do that on my ride home this afternoon, to see if it makes any difference.

[Let's Ride]

Turn the adjusting barrel on the rear de-railer a few turns anti clockwise. Will increase the cable tension.

 

Look on park tools and they will give you some info.

[kosmonooit]

Turn the adjusting barrel on the rear de-railer a few turns anti clockwise. Will increase the cable tension.

 

huh? that will effect the indexing and slippery gears might result. You might be thinking of the "B" screw but that is not to be used for tension.

 

What they tell you in the instructions that come with chains is that you put it over the largest sprockets / rings front & back (bypassing the RD) respectively and add one complete link. Worked for me.

 

Otherwise there might be some other problem: wear / RD mismatch?

If thats

[Reg Lizard]

Stiff link maybe? That was the solution to my problem after experienced the same

[TiBones]

Turn your B screw out about 2 - 2½" turns