Narrow / Wide chain ring position?

[mak]

Dumb question time but if I don't ask the knowledge of this forum then I'm even dumber.
I've done some googling but not much is coming up, to be honest I would of thought a lot of people might have this wrong so more information would be available .

My new bike has shimano xt set up with narrow wide chain, I guess this has to be mated correctly with the rear cassette and front sprocket?

There seems to be several different teeth shape on the rear cassette, all seem to be the same thickness but different shapes, some even seem to be the same shape next to each other
I am hoping someone can give me an idea of where to start, my jockey wheel teeth look identical, I guess some timing marks would be good .

After all that typing is it even relevant ?

 

[Jamze]

Shimano calls it DCE I think. It's not only narrow/wide but the teeth on the chainring are shaped to hold the chain on. AFAIK only the chainring has it. It should be obvious looking at it which teeth are for the wide (outer) links of the chain.

 

[Voluptua]

The different tooth shapes on the rear end are to allow the chain to crossover during gear changes. They're not part of the wide/narrow thing, as there's no telling which way the chain will sit after you've swapped cogs a few times. And some of the rings have an odd number of teeth, so will alternate the chain orientation on each turn.

 

[Zimmerframe]

what he said

 

[Zimmerframe]

For the jockey wheels .. some are narrow wide, others not .. these are SRAM ones (or SRAM replacement ones) but they show the different teeth quite clearly.

 

[mak]

Thanks guys , my head was going nuts looking for a match with the chain and rear cassette and trying to work out any timing .

 

[Mikerb]

narrow wide chainrings and ( sometimes) jockey wheels....( sometimes only the lower jockey wheel) are designed to ensure the chain stays on. The chain will only mesh correctly ( ie narrow gap to narrow tooth) so you cannot get it wrong. As above cassette teeth are designed to allow transfer of the chain between cogs and are not narrow wide.

 

[jimbob]

I think the question was around matching the timing of the chainring to the cassette? If so, you don't need to. Even if you did, it would go out of time the first time you changed gear!

As others say, the different teeth on the cassette are to support changing gear and are nothing to do with the narrow / wide aspect.

 

[TrailBoB]

Dumb question time but if I don't ask the knowledge of this forum then I'm even dumber.
I've done some googling but not much is coming up, to be honest I would of thought a lot of people might have this wrong so more information would be available .

My new bike has shimano xt set up with narrow wide chain, I guess this has to be mated correctly with the rear cassette and front sprocket?

There seems to be several different teeth shape on the rear cassette, all seem to be the same thickness but different shapes, some even seem to be the same shape next to each other
I am hoping someone can give me an idea of where to start, my jockey wheel teeth look identical, I guess some timing marks would be good .

After all that typing is it even relevant ?

Don’t guess it’s been mated correctly by the manufacturer. Focus supplied some of there range with incompatible chain rings, that cause chain suck & premature chain wear. See attached info. I’m waiting on a replacement chain ring from FSA.

 

[mak]

Ok so after my 2nd ride on the bike I decided to venture off and see what the local trails were like I wont bother now until spring, absolute mud fest, hear is where I had a problem. The drive train had a fair amount of mud stuck to it and this mud would not allow the chain to mate into the chain ring, the chain was riding out the sprocket teeth.

Nothing more drastic than what I achieved on my sram bike with a normal chain and I've never had that happed before. the new bike also has a front chain guard which jammed as the chain rode over the front chain ring.

I've removed that guard now, my old bike never had one and ran faultlessly. Is this wide narrow chain ring set up susceptible to clogging up with crap and not allowing it to mate with the front sprocket ?

 

[jimbob]

Ok so after my 2nd ride on the bike I decided to venture off and see what the local trails were like I wont bother now until spring, absolute mud fest, hear is where I had a problem. The drive train had a fair amount of mud stuck to it and this mud would not allow the chain to mate into the chain ring, the chain was riding out the sprocket teeth.

Nothing more drastic than what I achieved on my sram bike with a normal chain and I've never had that happed before. the new bike also has a front chain guard which jammed as the chain rode over the front chain ring.

I've removed that guard now, my old bike never had one and ran faultlessly. Is this wide narrow chain ring set up susceptible to clogging up with crap and not allowing it to mate with the front sprocket ?

I've only got experience of shimano drive trains, but I spent a while washing the patio down today after I'd washed the bike on it, it was that muddy! And never had any issues with it jumping out.

I dont have a chain guide on either BTW.

 

[Mikerb]

Ok so after my 2nd ride on the bike I decided to venture off and see what the local trails were like I wont bother now until spring, absolute mud fest, hear is where I had a problem. The drive train had a fair amount of mud stuck to it and this mud would not allow the chain to mate into the chain ring, the chain was riding out the sprocket teeth.

Nothing more drastic than what I achieved on my sram bike with a normal chain and I've never had that happed before. the new bike also has a front chain guard which jammed as the chain rode over the front chain ring.

I've removed that guard now, my old bike never had one and ran faultlessly. Is this wide narrow chain ring set up susceptible to clogging up with crap and not allowing it to mate with the front sprocket ?

No. If anything it helps to keep the chain on. Maybe your did not clean all the wax off your new chain??

 

[mak]

No. If anything it helps to keep the chain on. Maybe your did not clean all the wax off your new chain??

That's interesting, as in it allowed the crud to stick? . The drive train is totally clean now and re oiled, I've removed the front chain guide so will keep my eye on things. It was really odd, I had to wash the front ring and chain down with my water bottle before it would re engage and mate properly.

 

[Mikerb]

Yes the wax on the chain when new is sticky! I always strip a new chain and then lube it. In the winter I lube with wet lube first giving it time to soak in, then wipe clean. Then dry lube. In the summer, just dry lube.

 

[Flupke]

The chain will only mesh correctly ( ie narrow gap to narrow tooth) so you cannot get it wrong.

I experienced after some use of the chainring, the chain (even a brand new one) can actually be wrongly positionned! One may then suspect it is about time to replace the chainring while it suffices to ensure wide teeth are positioned properly on the outer spots of the chain. I only understood this last week while I owe the bike for nearly a year and have ride 3000km…. Not obvious for a newbie bike techie like me. And I am very surprised to see that many friend bikers are not aware.