[Dean Palmer]

Posting this to the general forum to get a wide response. My GF HiFi Pro 29'er seems to have this issue where the chain bangs against the bottom of the frame just behind the front chainwheel, and I assume this is happening when the smallest chainwheel is being used and the terrain is rough. I hear the banging of the chain, but that sound seems to be normal on all the bikes around me. This has torn off the paint and scuffed the metal.

Is this normal? Should we expect that after the first few rides we are down to bare damaged metal in this area?

My chain is tensioned properly as it has been checked by the LBS and me as well. I'm not looking for responses that tell me to use the bigger gear, I'm looking to know if this is just life with the bike, or if this is a bad design issue that Gary Fisher should stand up to. I'd expect the bike to work in all the gears provided, but am I crazy for common sense???

I can't see if this happens how they could have the same thing on a carbon frame, so why here?

Frustrating when this is a new bike being used for what it was meant for!

 

[ettore]

Yep, sadly. The damage is already done, but a stick-on chainstay protector would have saved you from this damage (tho, not so much the noise); a velcro-on chainstay protector would have saved you from more of the noise, but if you tried to get it close to the chainring, you might get interference issues (unlikely).

 

[Dean Palmer]

The good news I guess is that the velcro and neoprene chainstay protector came with the bike and works for the more rearward parts.

Too bad Gary Fisher's folks couldn't take 3 seconds to address this issue at the front area in the first place.

 

[firebike7]

I can't tell for sure if your problem is the as mine was, but I had alot of problems with my sugar with ghost shifting, chain drop/suck. Mine tended to eat up around the bottom bracket shell more than the chain stay. I replaced the drivetrain parts one at a time e with little help. I had my chain break three times in a row and as a result I had taken about eight links of the chain out and it alleviated the problem. The chain is darn tight and will just barely shift to the extremes but it works like a champ now.

 

[f3rg]

It's all just part of riding off-road. My '00 Fisher SuperCaliber frame has had chain scratches on the chainstay yoke as far back as the year I built it (spring of 2000). It happens, and it's usually not the end of the world.

Post some pics so we know just how bad of shape your frame is in.

 

[Ken in KC]

It's not a Fisher Issue...

The good news I guess is that the velcro and neoprene chainstay protector came with the bike and works for the more rearward parts.

Too bad Gary Fisher's folks couldn't take 3 seconds to address this issue at the front area in the first place.

All bikes do this.

 

[rmccully]

All bikes do this.

Except for bikes with elevated chainstays. Less noise and damage.