New crank and chainrings, chain too tight?

Just starting to wrench my and my wife’s bikes - so forgive the ignorance.

She was on a compact 172.5 crankset and I got a semi-compact 165mm crankset. A couple of years back I also put on a 11-28 cassette from an 11-25. So I went from 50&25 to 52&28. Is the chain too tight now and I need to replace/find a smaller big ring?

Pic below is max stretch, not that she would be in this gear too often/ever.

PS - the FeltDA brakes are the absolute worst

image1.jpeg

No, that’s fine. As long as there is a slight s-bend and the chain isn’t straight when going thru the jockey wheels ur good

Ditto, but I would add that the length is on the bubble. If I were putting on a new chain, I would add 2 links (because you cannot add just one) to compensate for the additional half-circumferences of the chainring (1 link) and cassette (1.5 links).

I would replace the chain anyway. New crankshaft, perfect teeth, and that chain may still have life left but it is stretched. It will accelerate the wear on the cassette and crank. Chains are cheap verses wearing out out the whole drive train prematurely. I have 15,000 miles on a Sram Red cassette and change my chain every 2,000 miles. Still shifts great!

Ditto, but I would add that the length is on the bubble. If I were putting on a new chain, I would add 2 links (because you cannot add just one) to compensate for the additional half-circumferences of the chainring (1 link) and cassette (1.5 links).

Same

There are ways to make those brakes better.

I would add a double link.
I used to run my chain this lenght, but now I added a double link and it’s a lot better now, for many reasons.Took this tip from a pro conti team mechanic.
It makes for a lot better shifts and runs better on “big-big” combos, wich is often needed to get up those hills fast.
It will be too long on “small-small” but anyways you should never run small-small.

Louis :slight_smile:

If you put new chainrings and a new cassette on the bike, get a new chain also. Like someone else said, add a couple links to the new chain.

I would add a double link.
I used to run my chain this lenght, but now I added a double link and it’s a lot better now, for many reasons.Took this tip from a pro conti team mechanic.
It makes for a lot better shifts and runs better on “big-big” combos, wich is often needed to get up those hills fast.
It will be too long on “small-small” but anyways you should never run small-small.

Louis :slight_smile:
You should never be aiming to ride “big-big” either. Why would you want that to climb fast?
“Big-big” on the 11-25 and 34/50 combo gives a gear ration of 2:1
You can do the same with the small chainring and a 17 tooth sprocket which will be mid cassette giveing a much better chain line and scope to move up or down a gear without a chainring change.
“Big-big” on the 11-28 and 36/52 combo gives a gear ration of 1.85:1
You can do much the same with the small chainring and a 19 tooth sprocket which will once again be mid cassette giving a much better chain line and scope to move up or down a gear without a chainring change.

As long as “big-big” is possible without damage or dropping a chain, all is well. It should typically never be used except by accident.

You should never be aiming to ride “big-big” either. Why would you want that to climb fast?Since I upgraded my road bike to electronic shifting, I end up in the big-big combination often enough by accident that it is worth making it perform well. It usually happens when a climb keeps progressing and I am out of gears on the big chainring unexpectedly without a great opportunity to correct it.

With mechanical, I could hear the FD chain noise when I got to the penultimate gear. With electronic shifting’s auto trim, I never know until I run out of gears.