Worn chain or cassette? Any advice?

[Tim330]

I've got a 6-7 year old MTB ex Halfords Voodoo with light to medium use and well maintained, used on flat trails. I'm now losing the chain on every ride.
I don't know if its down to a worn cassette or chain or both. I've cleaned it up and lubed it with silicone lube, and adjusted the derailleur and it works fine for a short ride, almost silent. But as soon as it gets a bit muddy or a bit more everyday dirt gets on the rear mech the chain slides down and skips a cog.

Now it come off the other way, rides straight up and off into the spokes. The last one was so violent it jammed in the plastic wheel guard which I had to cut off. So before the thing kills me, what do members suggest? Its running on the original chain and cassette which is all Shimano.

Plenty to time to get it fixed but I'd like to get some use out of it while the weather lasts!

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Sounds like the adjustment screws on the mech need tweaking. Have a good look at the mech and hanger from behind as well. It might have had a knock and gone out of alignment.
I have taken stuff way beyond the wear on those and the chain never went over the top.

 

[buzzy-beans]

The cassette looks OK to me however your chain looks like it has seen better days.

 

[Sharky]

Is the freehub sticking? Does it continue to rotate when you freewheel?

 

[Cycleops]

An adjustment problem for sure, sounds like the high/low adjustment is out causing the derailleur to overshift. You H screw is adjusting the large cog and the L is for the small one. If you turn them and hold the mech you will feel it moving. Make sure you align the jockey wheel with small/big cogs. Best done with the cable unclamped, push it across by hand to check, you will then have to adjust the barrel on the cable.
Plenty of vids on YouTube.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

A worn cassette or chain never causes chain derailments. The cause for that is always adjustment and/or alignment.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

The cassette looks OK to me however your chain looks like it has seen better days.

How can you tell?

 

[I like Skol]

That cassette has got some serious wear, on at least two of the gears that I can see. The chain will also be in a matching state. If the indexing, stop screws and cables are in a similarly poor condition then your gears just aren't going to run nicely.
Maybe it is time for a bit of TLC?

 

[Tim330]

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies. I have had another go at it and the chain won't drop down to the smallest cog on the cassette, from above the hanger looks a little off. When I move up and down, it simply goes into the wheel at the top so everything has shifted left.

Happy to give it a lot of TLC - nothing else to do with my days now.

The barrel adjuster on the hanger moves in and out freely, but the one on the handlebar shifter doesn't move.

 

[Cycleops]

Look at it from the rear, does the hanger still look bent? Maybe time for a new one.
You only need one barrel adjuster to work.

 

[Tim330]

Thanks, all fixed! Lower part of the hanger was bent outwards enough to stop things running true and both screws H and L well out. Now changes reasonably between all gears, but a little noisy in a couple which I can't eradicate and put down to wear.

Conflicting advice on the Tube - when setting H and L some have the front cog in and others outwards. I guess it didn't make too much difference and it seem to work ok now. The barrel adjuster didn't seem to have much effect so left it screwed in to give me max adjustment if needed.

Investing in a new cassette, chain and hanger might be next. The spec says it is an 11-32T cog so I presume a matching Shimano one should be fine?

Off to tweak the other bikes now!

 

[buzzy-beans]

Investing in a new cassette, chain and hanger might be next. The spec says it is an 11-32T cog so I presume a matching Shimano one should be fine?

I bought a cheap hanger and chain from Decathlon for my knock about bike and 6 years later they are both still doing well.

As for the Shimano cassette, there is an absolute world of a difference between the quality of the products marketed by this company, so don't get confused when you are looking on eBay or similar.

 

[Ajax Bay]

both screws H and L well out.

I know this was referring to your RD, but looking at the image of your FD, you may wish to check that the limit screws are actually engaging. I would not expect to see so much thread exposed.

 

[Tim330]

Thanks. Both are quite high, so I’ll investigate.

Any suggestions for a cassette replacement then? What sort of price for reasonable one?

 

[vickster]

SRAM make good chains and cassettes too 👍