Chain coming off

Marvin

Marvin

New Member
Hi,

I have the radrover fat wheel bike and find that the chain keeps coming off at the front sprocket every time I'm in 1st or 2nd gear and under power. Anyone else have this issue? What did you do? Customer service just told me to tighten the rear wheel and front sprocket allen bolts, which hasn't helped.
 
Hey, I am currently having similar issue, when I go up or down large curbs the chain falls off the front sprocket. I took it into a local bike shop for a derailleur adjustment cost me $90 and it is the exact same. Quite a PITA when your chain falls off multiple times in one trip. It has fell off on me a couple times in the middle of an intersection and at that point I am thankful for the hand throttle because it saved my butt from getting run over.
 
Isaakmc said:
Hey, I am currently having similar issue, when I go up or down large curbs the chain falls off the front sprocket. I took it into a local bike shop for a derailleur adjustment cost me $90 and it is the exact same. Quite a PITA when your chain falls off multiple times in one trip. It has fell off on me a couple times in the middle of an intersection and at that point I am thankful for the hand throttle because it saved my butt from getting run over.
Click to expand...
90 dollars seems excessive. In Seattle I am commonly quoted 20 dollars each for front or rear derailleur adjustments, same for breaks.
 
Highly likely it's a chain line issue.

One way to help this can be to buy a narrow wide chainring to replace the one you have (I'm assuming there's not one fitted already but it's difficult to say from reading the rad rover site.

A narrow wide won't reduce a bad chain line but it will help keep the chain in place.

You may also look for a chain guide that would fit.

Other than that, I'm not sure if it would be possible to adjust the chain line with cassette spacers at the rear - take it to a local bike shop and ask them to take a look.
 
@Marvin @Isaakmc I had the same issue. My chain would get thrown all the time. I had to upgrade the derailer on mine to a Shimano Claris (which works great!). The stock one is cheap and flimsy and sucks. It even broke the hanger in the beginning. Make sure the alignment is good as well and the chain has no excess slack in it. $90 is way too excessive as well. My local shop charged me $20 for the hanger (super excessive for a 50 cents piece of metal I know...), $20 for a derailer adjustment (which didn't help), and nothing for the new derailer or labor to install it. So I figure everything was a wash. $40 and my time/energy for the bike to shift properly and work when pedaling was worth it to me. 100_3706.JPG
 
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Also, what's funny is that our stock derailer and the upgraded Claris (which are both Shimano products) are less than $3.00 apart on eBay. But the difference is huge guys. Trust me.
 
If they are shipping bikes with such crappy derailleur hangers and poorly sized chains as you describe, someone should shout at them.
Loudly. These are such basic things and not difficult or expensive to get right.

And yes, there things could also cause chain drop issues. So first step should be to check the chain sizing - it's free to remove a couple of links if the chain is oversized. I kind of expect a company to ship bikes with this correctly sized though.
 
@Adrian Oh, I agree completely. I sent them several emails detailing all my issues and why I was upset. As well as talking with them over the phone.
 
I'm wondering if it's this particular batch of bikes that weren't assembled well at the factory or have a defective part. We have a late 2015 RR and an early 2016 RR with combined use of over 1000 miles. We've never had a problem with chains or done anything other than small adjustments to the derailleur knob.
 
Chain popped off on my commute home tonight.
Easy enough to get back on but sucks in traffic
 
Marvin said:
Hi,

I have the radrover fat wheel bike and find that the chain keeps coming off at the front sprocket every time I'm in 1st or 2nd gear and under power. Anyone else have this issue? What did you do? Customer service just told me to tighten the rear wheel and front sprocket allen bolts, which hasn't helped.
Click to expand...
this is a design flaw on RR. The chain is simply out of alignment. if you have it in first the angle to the crank is just too severe...put it in first and look straight down at the chain line from above... the best fix is a 3mm spacer at the chain wheel
 
I noticed in a review that the earlier bikes have a chainguard on both the inside and the outside of the chainring. My mid-June shipment RR only has the guard on the outside. That might be why some are falling off easier.

Plus they are now using 104mm 4 bolt chainrings instead of the 5 bolt rings from earlier also.
 
Can anyone tell me what model number Shimano Acera derailleur is currently shipping on the 2016 RAD Rover?

I have to replace the one on my new bike and RPB is slow in shipping me a replacement. I am just going to purchase one from somewhere. Any suggestions where to get one?

Thanks
 
@MarkP Go with the Shimano Claris. It is night and day better than the stock one. The one that ships on the bike is flimsy and causes problems. Check at your LBS or on eBay. I found one for under $25 on eBay. Mine was 100% free from my LBS just because I had a horrible experience the first time out with my stock derailer breaking the hanger, being out of adjustment, and throwing the chain even once adjusted. They even installed and adjusted my new one for free too!
 
@MarkP It works fine for 7 speeds on mine. Just get it adjusted right before you ride out for the first time. A bike stand helps with this. The stock Acera derailer works for 8 speeds as well, not just 7.
 
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I bought the RadRover on Wednesday (July 13) and in the first two days the chain jumped off the chain ring five times when in 1st gear. The angle between the chain ring and 1st gear is severe. Customer support said to tighten up the right crank bolt and the axle nuts. They were already tight. It seems like the new design of the front chain ring from the previous iterations is going to present a problem.

Edited for additional information.

With my measurements, 6th gear gives the straightest line to the chain ring. If I were to put in spacers to move the chain ring inboard so that 4th gear is centered to the chain ring, it would take spacers of about 1 cm to center the chain ring to the cassette. But then the square tabs on the chain ring wouldn't fit on the square shoulders on the spider causing all the torque to be in the four chain ring bolts. Probably not a good idea.
 
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