Hi,
Im a total noob in biking.
Is this normal that the chain and that thing on the middle of the rear wheel moves this much and hits the bikeframe?
Whenever I go on bad roads i hear the chain hit sound and its terrible.
I saw people tie polifoam or something like that under the chain so it doesnt hit the frame.
Could this work or what should I do? Thank you
by fadam78
9 Comments
This is normal for that rear derailleur. Higher end ones have a mechanism called a clutch that reduces this. Adding a chainstay protector is a good idea if you go over rough roads a lot.
neoprene chain protector or foam zip tied.
Yes it’s fairly normal to get chain slap when going over rough terrain or big impacts like that. They make special products to protect the bike frame but you can rig together whatever you have handy, like cutting up an old inner tube and using that for example
Oh man! This takes me back to 1997 and buying (my parents) a lizard skin😅
They do work though.
While everyone’s correct about ‘some’ chain slap being normal, it looks like you have way more than normal because there isn’t enough chain tension. I’d check your chain sizing in both small/small and big/big…it looks like your chain is way too long so there’s a lot of slack.
Also, no, I don’t think your derailleur is supposed to move that much, but since there already isn’t enough chain tension and it’s only a 12 second video, I wouldn’t try to diagnose further than that.
https://preview.redd.it/y5xktm9d58ld1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c55f89d344420d588cd5df3353050707e85a1b1a
Wrap an old inner tube around your chainstay buddy, hold it tight with electrical tape and zip ties.
I use [VHS Tape](https://vhsmtb.com/collections/frontpage/products/vhs-v-3-slapper-tape) to keep my bike quite. You can find it on Amazon also.
Chain slap does happen. And lots of people wrap the chainstay with an inner tube or neoprene or just tape it up to protect the paint.
But I want to see what it looks like when you have it on the smallest rear cog and smallest front chainring. It’s possible the chain is too long and/or the rear derailleur is oriented the wrong way.
That is a normal range of motion for a chain. That is why a chain tensioner or Front der is necessary. Your chain will fly off the front ring under normal riding with a rear der.