new chain issue

[SteveH]

Hey everyone:

Campy Record drivetrain, 53/39 up front and 12/25 cassette. Having trouble with a new chain I put on: light pedaling on 39 ring is fine/quiet, but if I put even moderate pressure on the pedals, in every gear, the chain starts to make a grinding noise (for lack of better description), and with enough pressure, the chain skips! It doesn't seem to have any problems on the 53 ring. It's not the chain itself, I don't think, because each link is non-binding (it's brand new KMC chain). It seems more like it's got issues in the rear der., but I can't recreate the problem on a stand, because it requires pressure on the pedal stroke.

I've had this problem before in the past, with other chains (including Campy), but I just kept trying other chains til it worked. But I want to try to fix the issue this time, as I just can't keep buying different chains.

FWIW, I've adjusted the rear der. til it's shifting great (except with noise), and I don't believe the cassette is worn out. Just can't think of anything else to try.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Steve

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

How old is that cassette in relation to your new chain?

Did measure out the correct length in the chain?

KMC sucks by the way, they should stick with single speed chains.

 

[SteveH]

The cassette's definitely older, but not a lot of miles, really. I did measure the chain, both against the previous one, and as instructed on the Park tools website (i.e on big ring and largest rear cog, etc.)

how many miles should a campy cassette last?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I get about 6,000 miles outta my Campy (all I've ever known) cassettes and chains, except for the occasional Wippermann chain, so I replace at the beginning of every 3rd season. Good lightweight race drivetrains in general should last about that long, whether it's Campy, Shimano, or SRAM. Did I mention KMC sucks?

If your cassette isn't that worn, which I truly believe is the culprit, the only other thing I can think of is that it's either your derailleur pulleys, or your 39t chainring, loose chainring bolts, lockring isn't tight enough, or you're somehow doing the chain length measurement wrong. You should always replace cassette and chain together, otherwise you run into problems exactly like this.

 

[fabramowski]

I would say it's the cassette or the quick link for the KMC chain. I had to replace the 11t of my campy after 1 year of riding which is 8000+ miles. Just remember that titamium (cassette) is softer then aluminum (chain). I think no other chain will replace a campy chain if you want a quit drive train. Make sure you rear derail. is set properly. high and low (4th gear from the bottom) as reqiured per campy instuctions. Remember, campy is very titchy, but once you have it set it's all good.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I would say it's the cassette or the quick link for the KMC chain. I had to replace the 11t of my campy after 1 year of riding which is 8000+ miles. Just remember that titamium (cassette) is softer then aluminum (chain). I think no other chain will replace a campy chain if you want a quit drive train. Make sure you rear derail. is set properly. high and low (4th gear from the bottom) as reqiured per campy instuctions. Remember, campy is very titchy, but once you have it set it's all good.

A couple things have really caught my eye from this post that I just have to ask a couple questions:

1. You had to replace an 11t cog, ...or pulley wheel?

2. Can you show show us an aluminum bicycle chain by Campy? I'm really intrigued. I've seen their aluminum freewheel from back in the 80's, but never a chain.

3. Titanium is softer than aluminum? Please post some reference material to back up this claim?

 

[tubularglue]

how old are your chainrings, miles ? lot of miles/trainer on small ring ?





from my experience, stay away from sram chains also. new,noisy and prestretched, they suck also.

 

[brianf7]

Campy like campy chains its that simple
KMC is cheap OK and will settle in soon but dont get another use a Campy chain on Campy drive train. Its worth the few extra $$$

 

[SteveH]

thanks for the responses. wow; clearly not fans of KMC! I've run a variety of chains on this drivetrain, from Campy, of course, to Wipperman to SRAM (and now the infamous KMC). I got the KMC because the SRAM was stretched after just one half-a** season of almost no riding (first-born child). Thing is, the SRAM (red) worked well and was quiet; just thought riding it too much longer as stretched as it was would screw up the cassette.

I have fairly new pulley wheels in the der, and they appear to be in good shape. The issue seems to be as though, when pedaling under pressure, the der seems "catch" slightly, as if the chain were somehow having trouble getting through the pulley assembly. Although it isn't visible, (at least while riding) it's as though the pulley assembly lurches forward from the bottom pulley wheel. Again, it's like something is catching. While just under moderate pedal pressure, this amounts to an annoying sound and a perceptible resistance you can feel in the pedals. However, standing on the pedals and applying greater pressure, as from a standing start, will sometimes cause a "slip", which of course is never good.

My cranks are fairly old (circa 2004) Record; all aluminum. I'll check the ring bolts, but I suspect something in the rear of the drivetrain, since I've had this issue in the past and got it resolved by trying different chains. As you all suggest, perhaps trying all these different chains was what led me down this rabbit hole in the first place!

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Hey everyone:

Campy Record drivetrain, 53/39 up front and 12/25 cassette. Having trouble with a new chain I put on: light pedaling on 39 ring is fine/quiet, but if I put even moderate pressure on the pedals, in every gear, the chain starts to make a grinding noise (for lack of better description), and with enough pressure, the chain skips! It doesn't seem to have any problems on the 53 ring. It's not the chain itself, I don't think, because each link is non-binding (it's brand new KMC chain). It seems more like it's got issues in the rear der., but I can't recreate the problem on a stand, because it requires pressure on the pedal stroke.

I've had this problem before in the past, with other chains (including Campy), but I just kept trying other chains til it worked. But I want to try to fix the issue this time, as I just can't keep buying different chains.

FWIW, I've adjusted the rear der. til it's shifting great (except with noise), and I don't believe the cassette is worn out. Just can't think of anything else to try.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Steve

Methinks your small ring is worn out. Replace.

"Having trouble with a new chain I put on: light pedaling on 39 ring is fine/quiet, but if I put even moderate pressure on the pedals, in every gear, the chain starts to make a grinding noise (for lack of better description), and with enough pressure, the chain skips!"

 

[SteveH]

update:

I tried a fairly new record chain (using a new master link from Wipperman), with the same issue. I then switched wheels/cassettes with the one from my back-up bike (was using the record chain on my back-up bike and everything worked fine on that bike). Same skipping issue under moderate pressure.

I then put the SRAM red chain (the one that I intended to replace with the KMC) back on and no problems. Problem, of course, is that the SRAM is more than 1% stretched per the Park go/no-go tool.

I guess I'll ride the SRAM til I decide to replace the cassette at the same time as a new chain...

 

[tubularglue]

how about that small chainring ?

 

[Bobby700c]

update:

I tried a fairly new record chain (using a new master link from Wipperman), with the same issue. I then switched wheels/cassettes with the one from my back-up bike (was using the record chain on my back-up bike and everything worked fine on that bike). Same skipping issue under moderate pressure.

I then put the SRAM red chain (the one that I intended to replace with the KMC) back on and no problems. Problem, of course, is that the SRAM is more than 1% stretched per the Park go/no-go tool.

I guess I'll ride the SRAM til I decide to replace the cassette at the same time as a new chain...

So you had a chain and cassette on your back-up bike which worked fine, then moved them over to your other bike, and had the skipping problem, which would back up Bustedknuckle's theory about the small chainring being the culprit, as that was the only difference between the two setups.

Something which people have hinted at on this thread, but haven't actually spelled out, is that the whole drivetrain wears together, so if the chain is worn and you replace it, then you'll be running a new chain with a worn cassette, and possibly chainrings, and that's when you get problems with skipping chains etc., as the distance between the teeth on your chainrings / sprockets no longer equals the distance between the links in your chain. Hence why when you put on your worn SRAM chain, the problem went away. The solution is to replace chain and cassette before the level of wear gets too bad.

 

[fabramowski]

1. the 11t cog.

2. My bad, I haven't had a campy drive train in a long time....

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength, it should have been steel not aluminum. (chain material vs cassette material)

Steel, prestressing strands - Ultimate strength - 1,860
Steel (AISI 1060 0.6% carbon) - Ultimate strength - 2,200-2,482
Titanium alloy (6% Al, 4% V) - Ultimate strength - 900

 

[Mondrian]

The problems seems to be old cassette / new chain mis-match so try to run it for a while till they get used to each other and the chain runs-in a bit. Also best to stick ti campy chains.