Hello all! I'm hoping that one of you faithful and helpful BITOG cyclists can give me some good advice.
My wife and I are planning to leave tomorrow for our annual Minnesota cycling trip. I have a happy dilemma in that both my '02 Rocky Mountain and '04 Giant Iguana mountain bikes are in good shape now, and I'd be happy to take either on this trip.
However, as part of the pre-trip inspection yesterday, I checked my wife's Giant Iguana (c. '07) and found the chain to be really stretched - way beyond 1%. I picked up a new 8-speed chain yesterday, and installed it this afternoon. We went for a short ride to test our bikes, and the new chain was skipping badly. I figured it was 'new wine in old wineskins' and that I should have changed at least the cassette (rear sprocket) and possibly the front drive. To my surprise, when I went to remove the cassette I found that her bike has a 9-speed cassette, not an 8-speed like my bikes.
This makes me wonder whether the problem is in my using a wider (8-speed) chain on a 9-speed cassette, rather than wear to the cassette gears and/or chain rings. I'll definitely change the chain to a 9-speed, but wonder whether it would be prudent to change at least the cassette too.
Hoping to hear back ASAP from anyone who knows more about such things than I do! Thanks in advance!
My wife and I are planning to leave tomorrow for our annual Minnesota cycling trip. I have a happy dilemma in that both my '02 Rocky Mountain and '04 Giant Iguana mountain bikes are in good shape now, and I'd be happy to take either on this trip.
However, as part of the pre-trip inspection yesterday, I checked my wife's Giant Iguana (c. '07) and found the chain to be really stretched - way beyond 1%. I picked up a new 8-speed chain yesterday, and installed it this afternoon. We went for a short ride to test our bikes, and the new chain was skipping badly. I figured it was 'new wine in old wineskins' and that I should have changed at least the cassette (rear sprocket) and possibly the front drive. To my surprise, when I went to remove the cassette I found that her bike has a 9-speed cassette, not an 8-speed like my bikes.
This makes me wonder whether the problem is in my using a wider (8-speed) chain on a 9-speed cassette, rather than wear to the cassette gears and/or chain rings. I'll definitely change the chain to a 9-speed, but wonder whether it would be prudent to change at least the cassette too.
Hoping to hear back ASAP from anyone who knows more about such things than I do! Thanks in advance!