Last weekend I ran 38/16 (my first SS ride) and decided to put the 18t on instead. Turning the 38 was brutal... but still enjoyable. See pics in my other thread.
So before my ride yesterday, I put on the 18 and resized the chain accordingly but had to move the tensioner into a push-down mode. Rode around the block and all seemed well.
At the trailhead, the trail immediately starts climbing and from my rear end comes... "pop... pop... pop..." as the chain keeps trying to jump. Back to the truck to make adjustments... back onto the trail... "pop......... pop" Turns out that the quicklink is slightly thicker than the other links, and is snagging on the tensioner cage when it flexes under uphill strain. So I take out the quicklink and realize that by doing so it makes the chain the PERFECT length to use without the tensioner.
I put it back together and ride quite a while through some pretty tough stuff. Then, on a particularly gnarly uphill rocky stretch I hear "PING!" and my knee slams into the handlebars. I look down to see my chain dragging behind me, snapped in half. It broke because I didn't feed the pin in fully the first time. I stop and pull out some extra links and get the chain back together.
Then, the rest of the 3-hour ride, no problems. Looks SO much better without the tensioner, too! And I actually loved the 38/18 combo. Was a bit tough on some climbs but really could spin well and fly on straights/downhills.
Though now I am a bit concerned about the chain breaking again. Is this gear combo just too much or do I need a stronger chain? Right now it's a SRAM PC-1 single-speed chain. Good enough or do you all recommend a different/better chain?
I've got another big ride coming up next weekend... a big group ride... and I don't want to hold up everyone with chain issues like yesterday.
So before my ride yesterday, I put on the 18 and resized the chain accordingly but had to move the tensioner into a push-down mode. Rode around the block and all seemed well.
At the trailhead, the trail immediately starts climbing and from my rear end comes... "pop... pop... pop..." as the chain keeps trying to jump. Back to the truck to make adjustments... back onto the trail... "pop......... pop" Turns out that the quicklink is slightly thicker than the other links, and is snagging on the tensioner cage when it flexes under uphill strain. So I take out the quicklink and realize that by doing so it makes the chain the PERFECT length to use without the tensioner.
I put it back together and ride quite a while through some pretty tough stuff. Then, on a particularly gnarly uphill rocky stretch I hear "PING!" and my knee slams into the handlebars. I look down to see my chain dragging behind me, snapped in half. It broke because I didn't feed the pin in fully the first time. I stop and pull out some extra links and get the chain back together.
Then, the rest of the 3-hour ride, no problems. Looks SO much better without the tensioner, too! And I actually loved the 38/18 combo. Was a bit tough on some climbs but really could spin well and fly on straights/downhills.
Though now I am a bit concerned about the chain breaking again. Is this gear combo just too much or do I need a stronger chain? Right now it's a SRAM PC-1 single-speed chain. Good enough or do you all recommend a different/better chain?
I've got another big ride coming up next weekend... a big group ride... and I don't want to hold up everyone with chain issues like yesterday.
