Help with noisy chain guide

[Seat Sniffer]

I put on of these joints on my bike tonight.

Its for the 2 chainring setup. Thing is damn noisy cuz it tweaks the chain line by pushing the drive side crank arm out 1/8" (thickness of the bracket). It mounts between BB cup and frame. I have it setup to where on the smallest ring and biggest cog it applies a 1/2 chain's height of tension. so any other gear combo would be more. Anyone know if theres a way to shut it up a bit? Or if there are any other options to getting my chain to stay on over rough terrain?

[Rob]

On some chainguides you can flip over the roller for different chainline's. MRP does it this way, not sure about blackspire.

[Seat Sniffer]

Originally Posted by Rob

On some chainguides you can flip over the roller for different chainline's. MRP does it this way, not sure about blackspire.

I checked the install pdf, the roller is beveled on the outer portion, and flat on the 2 inner 3rds. It looks like if i flipped it the small chainring would not track correctly.

[2wheel_lee]

I assume when you mounted it between the cup and the frame that you removed one of the 2.5 mm spacers (if it's a 68 mm bottom bracket, there may have been two, and if it is a 73 mm bottom bracket, there may have been one).

Ok, so beyond chainline, that type of tensioner does typically add a fair bit of driveline noise. The type of material the wheel is made of will also depend on how much noise is there. I don't know that particular one, so I can't comment on it.

As mentioned, check the alignment and pulley wheel orientation. Also, depending on how high you're running the tensioner, you may need to add one or more chainlinks. Will the chain still shift into the big ring and the big cog on the cassette? Will it do it with the suspension fully compressed? (it may help to remove the shock to test this)

[dstepper]

I had one that I gave to Dell because I did not like what it did to my chain line. If it is the roller making noise you can fix that by buying a MRP roller, they used to be listed on Jenson's site for $9.

I have found that with a SramX derailuer, shortening the chain for a 2 ring setup, and using a frame gard and a bash...no dropped chains.

[silverspot]

If by 'noise' you are talking about the chain slapping/rubbing on the bracket (which mostly happens in granny ring) a small piece of velcro (the loop side) works wonders in quieting it down. Just stick a small square on the bracket where the chain is hitting/rubbing. Problem solved.

[Lor]

A different roller (softer) might lessen the noise. I remember back to my mx days with Yamaha's and their loud chain rollers and how I took a skateboard wheel and used that as it had the same general size and eventually had a groove in it. If you use the skateboard wheel you could put a groove in it to help keep it in line. Just a thought. Skate wheels come in a variety of hard to soft compounds. The softer ones would eliminate noise. Just a thought. Good luck.

[soul rider]

it the plate only the "E" type or is it installed with the ICGS adaptor?
note: if you are in the middle ring and largest cog the chain may be sliding against the guide plate (noisey).
check if you have the 2.5mm spacer in there as 2wheel lee stated
dimensions of your BB will help and pics
sound like you have a Blackspire (?)

[Seat Sniffer]

Thanks for all the info guys. I think the culprit may be the BB. its one of these.

when I removed it, the center portion was flopping around between the 2 sealed bearings because they got pulled further apart on the spindle sleeve. Then when I fixed that It appeared the spindel went off center so when I tightened my drive side crank arm on it was pushing against the cup and not turning. I've only worked on cartridge types in the past. Is it common for these things to act like this? Also, no cup spacers were anywhere. I guess rechecking the chainline would be the first place I should look.

Also, the manual calls for the same tightening torque on both cups, left and right side, but when I tighten the non drive side cup anything more than hand tight, it binds against the sealed bearing...

[soul rider]

frame?
bb?
guide?
cranks?
TRY A 68/73 X 118 BB

[TCB]

Don’t know if this helps but here are some photos to show how I set it up, no noise and improved shifting after I installed the chainguide.

GLP1841.jpg

GLP1844.jpg

[Seat Sniffer]

I disassembled and reassembled everythig to spec torque. Chainline is about 50mm which is within spec. The noise is coming from the chain rubbing on the bracket a bit when its on the smallest chainring and largest cog. The roller gets noisier too when there's more tension on it. Maybe it will quiet down when it wears in a bit. I guess I'm a bit hyper conscious of new unfamiliar sounds. Maybe it comes from driving a jeep

Originally Posted by TCB

Don’t know if this helps but here are some photos to show how I set it up, no noise and improved shifting after I installed the chainguide.

thanks for the pics. looks like you have an x type BB with the external bearing on the non drive side. How did you decide where to position the bracket for tension? Did you just keep it within 7 and 8 o'clock as spec'd?

[TCB]

Originally Posted by Seat Sniffer

I disassembled and reassembled everythig to spec torque. Chainline is about 50mm which is within spec. The noise is coming from the chain rubbing on the bracket a bit when its on the smallest chainring and largest cog. The roller gets noisier too when there's more tension on it. Maybe it will quiet down when it wears in a bit. I guess I'm a bit hyper conscious of new unfamiliar sounds. Maybe it comes from driving a jeep



thanks for the pics. looks like you have an x type BB with the external bearing on the non drive side. How did you decide where to position the bracket for tension? Did you just keep it within 7 and 8 o'clock as spec'd?

I positioned the rollers about one inch from the frame; you might have the rollers to far up, try lowering the bracket.

This may be a dumb question, did you test ride the bike or just turn the cranks with the bike mounted on a bike stand, I get the same noise when my bike is mounted on a bike stand, the noise goes away when I ride the bike and or tension is added to the chain.

[Seat Sniffer]

Originally Posted by TCB

I positioned the rollers about one inch from the frame; you might have the rollers to far up, try lowering the bracket.

This may be a dumb question, did you test ride the bike or just turn the cranks with the bike mounted on a bike stand, I get the same noise when my bike is mounted on a bike stand, the noise goes away when I ride the bike and or tension is added to the chain.

I did ride the bike set up as is and I can still hear it a bit in that one gearing. I know what you mean about things being totally different from stand to trail. Took me a few tries to get the derailleur set up right. After my next ride I'll know if I need to change something again.

[Sprockethead]

One piece of advice, make sure you use loctite on the roller bolt. The factory loctite worked for 10 miles then the roller fell off. Luckily, I heard it fall off and was able to retrieve the roller.

[TCB]

Originally Posted by Seat Sniffer

I did ride the bike set up as is and I can still hear it a bit in that one gearing. I know what you mean about things being totally different from stand to trail. Took me a few tries to get the derailleur set up right. After my next ride I'll know if I need to change something again.

One more thing to try, get your iPod and turn the volume to 11 and play Master of puppets, this should eliminate all noise

[Seat Sniffer]

Originally Posted by TCB

One more thing to try, get your iPod and turn the volume to 11 and play Master of puppets, this should eliminate all noise

haha that should do the job. I fiddled with the derailleur a bit more and that got rid of most of it. Rode hodges today. Delibirately rode on the chattery stuff on some downhill sections. didn't pop on me, so I'm sold