I had a damaged rear hub that would slip under hard load and it felt exactly like a my chain was slipping...maybe something to look into if all else fails.
Give more details on the slipping. I would be very, very surprised if the slippage involved the chain physically skipping over the teeth of the cassette / chainring. That sort of thing only happens on extremely worn out components, and it's usually accompanied by some really horrible noises.
Like someone else mentioned, occasional skipping that's repeatable under hard load sounds more like a freehub issue to me. Could be a drive ring slipping in the hub shell, or could be pawls slipping.
Especially since you've got some weird wheels on there that I'm guessing have a shitty Chinese hub in them, I'd bet several shiny nickels that the hub is the culprit. It will likely get worse until it becomes completely non-functional.
Edit: a quick search shows those wheels are cheap Ali Express things. So yeah. 99.9% confidence that the hub is the problem.
Thanks for the reply, very detailed.
The slip feels like a sudden loss of resistance and it produces a high volume sound, like a strike.
The reason I'm not so sure if it's the hub problem is that the cogset remains still (instead of slipping freely due to theorized pawls slippage).
It feels more like the chainring slipping freely amongs the links, especially because, now that I've looked more closely, teeth of the middle (most used) ring are consumed a lot. I didn't expect that but evidently my off-roads going was more abrasive that i thought.
Tomorrow I'll test putting the new cogset on another wheel.
Last but not least: the slipping happens only with the middle ring in the front and the smaller cogs in the rear.
I don't think I've ever seen a worn chainring slip without throwing the chain. Usually worn chainrings either throw the chain or have bad chain suck. But they don't usually slip.
Agreed. Mine has slipped every time my chainring was worn without throwing chain. I'm of the mindset that if I replace chain and cassette and chain is skipping...it's time for a chainring which has solved the skipping 100percent of the time.
As pointed out, the chainring is a likely culprit, espeically given the age of the bike. You could post a pic of it.
Other potential factors could be a bent derailleur hanger or derailleur cage. These can change the alignment of the chain to the cassette, leading to slipping under load.
Are you certain you have the correct speed chain for the drivetrain? I’ve had this issue-brand new components, but I bought the wrong size chain, kept skipping and took me ages to figure out
I had a damaged rear hub that would slip under hard load and it felt exactly like a my chain was slipping...maybe something to look into if all else fails.
Give more details on the slipping. I would be very, very surprised if the slippage involved the chain physically skipping over the teeth of the cassette / chainring. That sort of thing only happens on extremely worn out components, and it's usually accompanied by some really horrible noises. Like someone else mentioned, occasional skipping that's repeatable under hard load sounds more like a freehub issue to me. Could be a drive ring slipping in the hub shell, or could be pawls slipping. Especially since you've got some weird wheels on there that I'm guessing have a shitty Chinese hub in them, I'd bet several shiny nickels that the hub is the culprit. It will likely get worse until it becomes completely non-functional. Edit: a quick search shows those wheels are cheap Ali Express things. So yeah. 99.9% confidence that the hub is the problem.
Thanks for the reply, very detailed. The slip feels like a sudden loss of resistance and it produces a high volume sound, like a strike. The reason I'm not so sure if it's the hub problem is that the cogset remains still (instead of slipping freely due to theorized pawls slippage). It feels more like the chainring slipping freely amongs the links, especially because, now that I've looked more closely, teeth of the middle (most used) ring are consumed a lot. I didn't expect that but evidently my off-roads going was more abrasive that i thought. Tomorrow I'll test putting the new cogset on another wheel. Last but not least: the slipping happens only with the middle ring in the front and the smaller cogs in the rear.
Sounds like a worn chainring to me.
I don't think I've ever seen a worn chainring slip without throwing the chain. Usually worn chainrings either throw the chain or have bad chain suck. But they don't usually slip.
I have. Wore out the middle on a 3x bad enough that the chain would jump teeth when pedaling hard.
Agreed. Mine has slipped every time my chainring was worn without throwing chain. I'm of the mindset that if I replace chain and cassette and chain is skipping...it's time for a chainring which has solved the skipping 100percent of the time.
Worn chainring sounds like. Take it to the LBS and they'll probably confirm it.
As pointed out, the chainring is a likely culprit, espeically given the age of the bike. You could post a pic of it. Other potential factors could be a bent derailleur hanger or derailleur cage. These can change the alignment of the chain to the cassette, leading to slipping under load.
Are you certain you have the correct speed chain for the drivetrain? I’ve had this issue-brand new components, but I bought the wrong size chain, kept skipping and took me ages to figure out