Cross Chaining

[kajero]

Seeing as I have been riding my carbon bike for a year and a half, I should probably understand this.

I don't understand cross-chaining. I read a bunch of stuff on the internet before I posted here. I only got more confused.

What exactly am I doing if I am cross chaining? If I am doing this, how do I avoid it? Is it something to worry about?

Thanks

[Irulan]

You are going from the biggest on the front to the biggest on the back, or the smallest on the front to the smallest on the back. This puts the chain on a diagonal running through the derailleurs. which is very stressful to your whole drivetrain. To avoid doing it, pay attention to where you chain is. If you are on the smallest in the front, when the chain on the back gets towards the middle of the cassette, move it to a bigger ring in the front to keep the chain as straight as possible. If you are using the gears on the smaller part of the cassette[IMG], keep the chain on the middle or biggest in the front.

Image of the diagonal

[thekarens]

I'm also famous for cross chaining. As long as it's flat, no problem....give me a hill and I always or almost cross chain. It's something I've got to work on.

[Owlie]

Irulan has a good explanation. The way I remember it is "don't match sizes"--Big-Big and small-small are bad. The good news is that most of those gear combinations are covered by other ones.

Pay attention to where your chain is, especially when you're climbing--that's where I usually end up with it, at any rate. Of course, I usually find out where my chain is when I hear it scraping my front derailleur.

If you find yourself there for a little bit, it's not a huge deal, but don't make a habit of it. It's bad for your drivetrain. If you find yourself crosschaining, shift in front.

[OakLeaf]

It's mostly a matter of getting in the habit of shifting your FD more. If I've shifted my 10 speed rear four gears in the same direction, it's time to shift the front (then go back one in the opposite direction rear, for a smoother jump). Three, on my 8 speed hybrid.

Personally, my drivetrain is pretty noisy (not FD scrape, the chain against the cog teeth) when I'm cross-chained, but that's not necessarily true for everyone's.