Decided to try a new Shimano chain and the issue disappeared. I kept my old chain for any emergencies since it was still within 50% wear.
BHPian narayanang76 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Last Saturday was dedicated to a quick service of my Bicycle, Van Rysel Ultra CF.
From the last few rides, I started observing a clicking sound along with a jump near the RD bottom pulley, could clearly feel that jerks during my rides. Also during one of my indoor trainer rides, the chain had slipped on the FD side. I was doubting the KMC chain. Even though the chain wear is negligible with 1500 km usage (checked with my chain wear tool), and with my visual inspection I couldn’t find anything noticeable except marking the chain link where the jump was always happening.
Since I ride with cleats, a chain slip during the outdoor ride will be detrimental for further damage or a fall, I took it for a quick service at Cycle Station near my place. My bike was attended by Naveen who is a National level rider himself.
Naveen inspected it closely for chain wear, RD alignment, angles etc and even he couldn’t find any noticeable issue, even lubed my chain to check, he decided to try a new KMC chain, and the jump increased substantially. He then replaced the RD pulleys one by one and it couldn’t do much help. Decided to try a new Shimano chain and voila, the issue disappeared.
According to him, these chains are sensitive and with the slightest misalignment or angle difference such issues can happen. So the issue was fixed with the new chain, and I decided to keep my old chain for any emergencies since it was still within 50% wear. Naveen said the bike didn’t need any other service and everything else was good!
I then decided to replace my handlebar tapes, as the old ones had started wearing off. I also got a new Shimano clipless pedal, since I thought of upgrading from my Decathlon entry-level pedals for a long time. These days I am running more than cycling, and I wanted to increase my rides a bit more with some motivation.
With all these, my bicycle service has become a more expensive affair than my car service these days.
BTW, was very happy with the attention and support my bike received from the Cycle station guys, and happy with the way they analyzed and fixed the issue with a detailed time-taking process.
Sharing an older pic of my bike.
Keyword: My Van Rysel Ultra CF bicycle service: Costlier than my car service