Bad chain setup by LBS destroys 947 ride

[Kevin Corfield]

I took my Trek Madone 4.7 to The Cycle Hub Rietvlei to have the rear cassette changed from a 11-25 to a 11-28 for the 947. Unfortunately the race was a disaster with the chain coming off eight times and really struggling to change between the gears on the crank - had to climb the Randburg hill on the big front gear because it simply would not change down no matter how many times I tried. The rear gears sounded as if they were between gears and kept jumping.

 

Needless to say this ruined the ride and all the months of training leading up to this event were fruitless. The sad part is that the bike was taken to a reputable LBS and the last thing I expected was mechanical issues.

 

Kevin Corfield

[NicoBoshoff]

Man, all that training and money spent and you couldn't be bothered to take the bike for a test ride to make sure everything was in working order post service...

[NotSoBigBen]

Man, all that training and money spent and you couldn't be bothered to take the bike for a test ride to make sure everything was in working order post service...

Was just going to ask exactly that .....

[Paul Ruinaard]

Hmm more details needed.

 

How worn was the chain?

 

Did you change cluster and chain or just cluster.

 

How worn was the cluster.

 

Can your rear derailleur handle a 28 cluster.

 

Did you ask them to just change the cluster and service it and check the shifting (which I think they should do), or what happened?

 

How did the front shifting (you mention the crank) get impacted by this? Did they change the front shifting as well. 3 teeth on the back is not massive but it will change the chain tension. 

 

Often changing just a cluster is not enough - you need to change the chain as well as the whole system is worn equally, so by changing a cluster you can upset what is effectively a worn but functional system.

 

But agreed a reputable shop should catch all of this and advise you accordingly. 

[Unknown MTBR]

Learn, ride the bike before to see if it works properly.

 

Never change something the day before a race, if you put the training in on a 11/25, you should be fine on the 11/25

[worriesnot]

#schoolfeesmustfall

 

But seriously, I feel for you. Not lekker to have that kind of thing happen - at least (hopefully) you won't repeat the mistake. Some good advice already above between the poking fun and sarcasm.

[raptor-22]

Sounds like the worn chain was too short

[Jakkals.]

yes, he shouldve checked, but....

 

for the guys who work on their own bikes, we know exactly what we are doing, we know what we want to achieve with a self-service, we know what we expect after a part replacement, we ride our bikes up and down the road(drive-way). 

 

taking your bike to a lbs, you would expect exactly the same, you are paying for good service!

[Wolfie1]

You never change anything on your bike before a race. If anything you keep what you have if you know it works. At least do changes 2 or 3 weeks before so that you can make sure it runs well.

The other thing is also that even though you use this LBS, slip ups do occur and murphy normally dictates that this happens a week before race weekend....

Bike shops come under fire a lot because of this but people also wait until last minute and the the bike shop gets it if it all falls apart on race day. Yes it should be right and thats what you paid for but you should have organised your life to if you spend hours and hours of training for a good time.....

 

So lesson learnt and hopefully it would not happen again!

[Pure Savage]

You were just lucky this did not happen at the funride world champs!

[GaryvdM]

Never, ever, ever change anything before a race without giving it a proper test.

[funjunkie]

Hi Kevin.

 

Sorry about your bad experience. I have always received decent service at the Cycle Hub in Rietvlei. what happened is water under the bridge and you should learn from your experience:

 

1. Don't ever service/adjust your bike just before a big event. Do it a week or two before so you have time to do a test ride and fix any problems.

2. Get the tools to change a cassette. Its an easy 5 min job and the tools are inexpensive.

3. Learn to adjust your gears yourself and learn how your equipment works. Perhaps a half a turn on the rear derailleur barrel adjuster may have fixed the problem at the rear.

[raptor-22]

I think Kevin was too cheap to replace the chain....

 

 

See it all the time at a lbs. Customer thinks he / she is being ripped off and declines a new chain. Then they back two days later irate and demanding immediate attention because the service didn't fix anything that wasn't broken in the first place.

 

 

Note to mods. Can we have a complaint box section. Just so I know where not to click

 

 

Just putting it out there

[eddy]

When did you have the cassette changed ?

Did you replace the chain as well ?

What group set is it?

What length rear derailleur?

How many Km did you do during" all the months of training leading up to this event"?

Was it all on the same drive chain?

 

Let us have some detail

[Mojoman]

I took my Trek Madone 4.7 to The Cycle Hub Rietvlei to have the rear cassette changed from a 11-25 to a 11-28 for the 947. Unfortunately the race was a disaster with the chain coming off eight times and really struggling to change between the gears on the crank - had to climb the Randburg hill on the big front gear because it simply would not change down no matter how many times I tried. The rear gears sounded as if they were between gears and kept jumping.

 

Needless to say this ruined the ride and all the months of training leading up to this event were fruitless. The sad part is that the bike was taken to a reputable LBS and the last thing I expected was mechanical issues.

 

Kevin Corfield

Did you finish though??!!

[Foxbat]

Rookie mistake....always have my bike serviced and/or parts replaced at least 2 weeks before an event.