Big gear wheel wear

[Bruno28]

My biggest front gear wheel is painted black and there are, what look like, signs of wear on it as the paint has chipped off one of the 'teeth'.

My question is - is this just normal wear and tear, is it because I'm still quite new at this game and do on occasions crunch my gear by trying to changing up instead of down when going uphill, or is it a problem I should take to my LBS????

The bike's just short of two month's old.

[KnottedYet]

Mine is like that. (well, also with a big bit of paint missing where I kinda smacked the chainring into a curb but don't tell) I figured it was just normal. (except the aformentioned curb-related incident)

[DebW]

My biggest front gear wheel is painted black and there are, what look like, signs of wear on it as the paint has chipped off one of the 'teeth'.

My question is - is this just normal wear and tear, is it because I'm still quite new at this game and do on occasions crunch my gear by trying to changing up instead of down when going uphill, or is it a problem I should take to my LBS????

Chainrings aren't painted, they are anodized (at least the better ones are). Anodizing can't chip off, but you can wear through it or scrape through it. Wearing through should take years. So you must have scraped it or gouged it. Removing the anodizing by itself has no functional effect. But it would be possible to scrape, scratch, gouge, or bend a tooth enough to matter. This could effect your shifting or make your drivetrain noisy in the large chainring. With the chain not on the chainrings (drop it to the inside), inspect it for changes in tooth shape or metal burrs. A burr could be removed with a small file. Then spin the crank rapidly while you watch from above, keeping your eye on one tangent point as the teeth whiz rapidly by. If you see a glitch or sudden irregularity every time that tooth spins by, then the tooth is bent and needs to be straightened. You could take it to your LBS or try bending it gently with a crescent wrench snugged up on the tooth. This is fairly unlikely. Chances are all is fine and the damage is just cosmetic.

Do practice shifting at a fairly high cadence and without excess pressure on the drivetrain. Slow your pedal speed for one or 2 revolutions as you shift on an uphill so that the chain can make the shift smoothly and without pressure.

[ridebikeme]

I agree with Deb on the painting/anodizing of your crank... chainrings. The one thing that I would mention though is that if you look carefully at your chainrings, quite often it will look as though you may have bent a tooth. That is NOT the case! If you look opposite of that particular tooth, you will find another tooth that looks the same.... many companies use this pattern as an aid to help in the shifting process. If you should have any questions, simply consult your LBS.

Enjoy the fall riding season!

[Bruno28]

Thanks for the replies. I've had another look and it does look just cosmetic. spun the pedals looked at the big gear wheel - everything looked smooth.


BTW Deb - 'slow your pedal speed for one or two revolutions as you shift on an uphill'

....see that was where I was going wrong initially - I was changing when I had reached a standstill and was just about to fall over