On last night’s very wet and muddy ride I had the misfortune to experience the misery of chain suck. It mainly happened when I was in the middle ring and larger sprockets at the back and only lasted for about 20 minutes for some reason, but it really pi**ed me off and made me head for home sooner than I’d planned.

I’ve since had the bike on the stand & can’t see the shark tooth shaped chain ring teeth as Is expected (I’m running an XT chainset with the steel, tougher middle ring which I hope will have helped). The strange thing is that when the cranks are turned slowly the chain tries to jump off the middle ring onto the inner on one particular tooth. That tooth doesn’t look bent or misshapen either.

Question is, how do I fix this???
A) New chain.
B) New chain rings.
C) New chain, rings and cassette
D) Other…

It’s been a costly Christmas, so I’ve got fingers and toes crossed that there is a cheap plan D out there so top tips would be appreciated 😉

Only 1 thing for it new bike.

Is the f mech libel up right? A good clean and see if you can replicate it. If not carry on might just have been mud induced.

It’s just that time of year and it is stupid muddy, even managed to bugger up my hammerschmidt into giving me chain suck sensation, it’s the chain itself, the links stop rotating the way they should because of the damned mud.

If chainring is old or has lots of miles on it probably time for a new one (and any other knackered drive chain bits, chain?) if its newish probably just a slightly bent/chewed up tooth or two, bit of work with pliers and a file and it’ll be reet. In proper muddy weather I take a small pice of rag and a little bottle of lube, if chainsuck starts due to mud i give the chain a wipe down and relube, better than finishing a ride earlier or carrying on and trashing your chain or rings

You’re already making me feel better about this, thanks guys :). Hopefully it was just the mud as the conditions were pretty horrific. Think I’ll try giving the chain a thorough clean & lube first.

If that doesn’t do the trick guess I’ll have to bite the bullet & buy new bits, ……. Or a new bike (there’s a lovely Pivot Mach 5.7 frame in my lbs that’s just begging me to buy it 😉 )

I eliminated chain suck by going 1 x 10. That probably doesn’t help you though. Sorry 😳

Think I’d have to upgrade my thighs as well if I went 1 x 10. Bit steep around here 😉

I eliminated chain suck by going 1 x 10. That probably doesn’t help you though. Sorry

Replacing the whole drive chain and going 1×9 would probably have also worked.

I went singlespeed…

Give it a good clean and lube, pay attention to the rear mech. I had problems when it was damaged and not tensioning the chain properly. If you go down the replacement route then I’d advise doing the whole lot. IT will at least sort your problem. I did “most” then the next grimy ride it game back anyway.

On last night’s very wet and muddy ride

this, and possibly a new middle ring.

If you haven’t already got one then get a quick link for your chain as it makes taking the chain off so much easier and taking it off the bike is the best way to get it properly cleaned up.A build up of old chain lubes can sometimes be the cause of chainsuck so getting it off the bike for a proper clean up is a good idea.

Almost forgot.Use a proper chain cleaning spray not just some Muc off and a quick wash out.

If it only lasted 20 minutes then it might just be grit and dirt. Clean it all up and try again if you’re not looking to send too much. Try it on the steepest climb you can find to put it under maximum load. If it still does it, replace the ring.