Nederlands | English | Deutsch | Türkçe

Project Sports

Questions and answers about sports

Chain rings slip when crank is turned

6 min read

Asked by: Hassan Duncan

Why does my bike chain slip when I pedal?

These include worn out or misaligned derailleur pulleys, old or malfunctioning shifters throwing off the indexing in some gears, or broken/bent teeth on one or more cassette cogs. Build up of dirt and grime on drivetrain components will also cause shifting issues, including skipping chains.

Why does my chain keep slipping?

Most of the time, a skipping chain is caused by cable stretch. In the first half dozen rides on a new bike, your shift cables stretch the most. They can also stretch over time as you ride. Hippley explains, “It takes cable tension to open a derailleur, which shifts your chain between gears.

Why does my bike crank slip?

As the chainring teeth wear out, and you apply a certain level of torque on the cranks, it becomes possible to exceed the tension applied by the derailleur and the chain will simply ‘roll’ up and over the teeth on the chainring, effectively skipping a tooth. This usually happens very suddenly.

How do I keep my bike chain from slipping?

Adjusting your rear derailleur limit screws



If your chain is coming off at the rear, it’s often a simple matter of adjusting the limit screws on your rear derailleur. If the chain is coming off the inside of the cassette, put the chain onto the smaller chainring (at the front) and the largest sprocket (at the rear).

Why does my chain come off when I pedal hard?

If the crankset is loose, it can move sideways during pedaling, which can allow the chain to come off. So make sure the crankarms are securely attached and that there’s no side-to-side play in the crankarm or bottom bracket. Some bottom brackets can be tightened.

How tight should a bike chain be?

It should be tight enough that it only allows you to move it up and down about one inch. If it is sagging or much looser than that, you need to tighten that chain up.

What is chain skipping?

Why Do Bicycle Chains Skip? When your bike chain skips between gears while you’re riding, or shifts twice instead of once when you try to change gears, the most common culprit is a loose cable. Your bike cables naturally stretch over time.

Should you change gears while pedaling?

Pedaling should always accompany gear shifting. A cyclist who stops their bike when changing gears will not be able to engage the chain on the gears that they want to shift. Bikers also need to avoid backpedaling when moving the chain up or down the gears.

How do you know if your bike chain is too long?

Do a simple check on your bike by shifting the chain to the big chainring and the biggest cassette cog; then, push on the end of the derailleur cage (pushing forward) to see how much it will move forward. If it moves just a little, then you’re good. If it moves a lot, then you’ve got too much chain.

How do you put tension on a bike chain?


Quote from video: And your chain ring just gently pull on your rear axle. And to get some tension to it after you do that just tighten. The attract nuts.

How do you adjust a barrel adjuster?

Quote from video: So if you want to adjust your derailleur. To the left you type you turn the barrel adjuster to the left if you want it to go to the right. You turn the barrel adjuster to the right.

What should I look for in a crankset?

The two most important factors are axle diameter and crank length.

  • Axle diameter: The two common axle diameters are 19mm and 22mm, so check before you buy that your bottom bracket is compatible. …
  • Crank length: This is measured from the centre of the bottom bracket axle to the centre of the pedal axle.

Why does my chain keep popping off my chainsaw?

Chainsaw chains come off the bar due to worn-out bars, worn-out sprockets, and wrongly set tension. You should also note that with continued use, chains lose their tension and hence are more likely to come off the bar when you least expect it.

What is chain drop?

The term “dropped chain” most commonly used to describe the chain falling off the front chain rings (or crank set) on the frame (the inside) or off the big (outside chainring) ring. This leaves you helpless unable to pedal. In most cases this happens when a derailleur is out of adjustment.

How do you adjust the gears on a slipping bike?

Quote from video: Check the pulleys line up with the cog you're in if not turn the barrel adjuster like shame. In some circumstances. The part that attaches the derailleur to the frame called the derailleur hanger

Why does my bike chain slip when I change gear?

Most of the time, the slipping of a new bike chain is caused by loose cables. The new shifting cables stretch a lot during the first few rides. The cables stretch way too far with time, and that’s when the problem arises, and your chain starts to slip between gears.

How do you put tension on a bike chain?

Quote from video: And your chain ring just gently pull on your rear axle. And to get some tension to it after you do that just tighten. The attract nuts.

Why does my rear cassette slip?

These can occur simultaneously – a dirty chain causes rapid chain wear, a worn out chain causes the cassette to wear out. If you have been riding with a slipping chain for long, you are very likely to have worn out both the chain and the cassette and will have to replace both.

How do you tighten a shift cable on a bike?

Quote from video: The bolt that crimps your cable tight and pull that slack tight with your hand or with a pair of pliers not too tight you don't really need to wrench.

How do you tighten a cable tension?

Quote from video: And I'm going to turn that in clockwise. About a half turn I'm a big believer on bicycle steps with making small adjustments. So let's try that.

Which way do you turn a barrel adjuster to tighten?

To do this, turn the barrel adjuster (see below) counter clockwise. If the chain is not shifting well from the largest to the smallest chainring, then the inner wire tension needs to be lowered. To do this, turn the barrel adjuster clockwise.