Bash Plate??

[noelmg]

Well I think it's called a bash ring. It's the plastic ring on the front gears on the extreme outer of the gears, near the pedals. It has 4 philips head screws into lugs holding it on. The plastic on 3 of these has broken off so it is only being held on by one.

Can I just remove this or does it need replacing? Hopefully the derailleur will keep the chain from coming off if it is adjusted properly, and I only ride in shorts so won't have to worry about trousers getting dirty. Is there a more critical function to this?

Cheers
Noel

 

[tyred]

AFAIK, the only purpose is to protect your trousers. None of my derailleur bikes have them and it works fine.

 

[andrew_s]

They serve 3 purposes
a) keep your trousers clean
b) stop the chain dropping off the outside
c) protect the large chainring teeth in the event that you get your wheels either side of a sufficiently large rock.

Ones for (a) and (b) are usually flimsy and can be discarded if you like.
Ones for (c) are pretty substantial, usually found on proper off road bikes, and are what is normally meant by a bash ring

 

[noelmg]

I don't think this one is designed for protecting the chainring teeth by how flimsy it is, it is only clear plastic. My only concern is that if my chain comes off at the front on the outside it will be more difficult to pop it on than just changing down a cog at the front (but then I should adjust the derailleur properly ).

I've stuck it back together with a bit of superglue for my ride home tonight, don't see it sticking for my ride home though, will probably just take it off over the weekend.

 

[Dan B]

I don't think this one is designed for protecting the chainring teeth by how flimsy it is, it is only clear plastic. My only concern is that if my chain comes off at the front on the outside it will be more difficult to pop it on than just changing down a cog at the front (but then I should adjust the derailleur properly ).

You should. But I usually find that if I change down to the inner ring and keep pedalling, the chain will grab back onto the chainring at some point and you'll be back in business


Check behind you if this happens, though - Contador may be waiting to attack