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So, I have a Superstarcomponents Plasma chain device waiting at the post depot for me.
The cranks are off.
If I pick the device up at 8.00am when the depot opens tomorrow, will I be ready to ride by 9?
Or are there any quirks of fitting and set up that might delay things? (it looks straight forward)??
what frame, what cranks etc?
I'd guess there's a chance you might need a dremel, file, grinder or similar
It's a chain device. It could take 5 minutes, or it could take hours. Everytime I've had to fit a new chainguide I've wanted to kill myself. When they work, they're great though. My advice would be go for your ride first, enjoy yourself, then do it in the evening and take your time.
If fitted mine in about an hour. This included removing the cranks, hand-sawing a few mm off one of the screws and a bit of faffing getting the chainline nice and two tea/smoke breaks.
I have the same device and had to hacksaw off part of the upper guide, the reason is that I have low chain stays so couldn't get the clockwise rotation for the chain to clear the upper guide.
Other than that it was a 5 min job. Bolt it on, fit the cranks, set the rotation & guide positions, ride.
Anywhere between 15 mins & 4 hours in my regrettable experience
Its a Lapierre Zesty.
No option to ride prior to fitting, cos I'm selling the cranks that came with it and fitting a single ring to some other cranks.
Either that or lug the 35lb'er out on an xc loop....
Cranks will be XT with a 34T chainring
Either that or lug the 35lb'er out on an xc loop....
MTFU as they say.Not sure any of my bikes creep under that weight.....
Better to take your time and get it right without a tight deadline IMHO.
Chain devices are the biggest "how long is a piece of string" affair going when it comes to fitting time. It depends on way too many factors to know whether or not it will be a quick fit.
I have several times spent longer fitting a chain device to a bike and getting it working, than building the whole of the rest of the bike up from components. I've also had one or 2 chain devices in the past that were a 5 minute job.
If you're only allowing yourself an hour, it's almost guaranteed that it will take 2 hours to fit!
You still have to remove the l/h shifter,loosen the guides on the downtube and the chainstay,remove the outer,remove the front mech?
I would also remove the bb unit and clean the threads up tonight. Also look out some spacers to save hunting for them tomorrow. You could save half an hour by doing other faffing.. tonight!
Edit: have you got the right length chainring bolts ready to fit?
Chainset is ready to go - single ring'd. Left hand shifter, cable and mech are off.
All I need to do is bolt the guide on to the mount tabs and post the crank through surely....
Fingers crossed...
Not sure if its an issue with plasma's but I seem to think I've read some guides require filing off the granny ring tab off the crankarm
Also, chopping sections out the backplate to fit around the frame chainstays, bolts and other protrusions?
Of course it might just go straight on
Good luck!
can be a hassle to get the spacing right to prevent chain rub. If its the first time Id be surprised if it was less than a couple of hours.
It went straight on, no hacking required! Sub one hour whilst stuffing down breakfast and getting bike kit on. Just needs a little tweaking on chain line,.but it was passable for a first ride 🙂
That's very good news - usually the law of sod intervenes when you're up against a deadline and throws a massive spanner in the works.
I've been ruing the fact that my AM bike has no ISCG mounts until I started to read stories like this. I slapped a Blackspire BB guide on recently and it all went suspiciously smoothly.