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That moment I realized my chain was installed backward on a customer's bike
I've been working on bikes for about 4 years now, mostly at a co-op in Portland. Last month a guy brings in this vintage Schwinn and asks me to put on a new chain. I do it quick, 5 minutes tops, everything looks fine. He picks it up that afternoon and calls me the next day saying the chain keeps skipping on the smallest cog. I tell him to bring it back. So I flip the bike over and start spinning the pedals, and I notice the chain is rubbing funny against the derailleur cage. That's when my coworker Sarah walks by and goes 'hey, your chain is facing the wrong way, all the printing is upside down.' I had no idea chain direction even mattered on most bikes. Turns out some chains have an inner/outer side and I just slapped it on however. Felt like such an idiot. Has anyone else missed something that obvious and felt dumb about it later?
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betty_park626d ago
Lol zarap14 nailed it, we all have those moments. I actually read somewhere that some chain manufacturers make the outer plate slightly wider on one side to help with shifting, and if you put it on backward it can mess with the derailleur alignment. I never knew that until I saw a post about it on a bike forum, but it makes sense now why your chain was rubbing. Sounds like you were just doing a quick job and didn't realize there was a right way to orient it, happens to the best of us.
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