[happless]

i recently purchased my first hardtail. a ironhorse chimpira. it took me few rides to adjust to the change from a k2 attack 2.0. man i love the hardtail, but there are a few things that or bothering me.

one, i noticed that the right crank arm is rubbing the frame. a guy i ride with says this is normal with hardtails, especially if you ride them hard. so is this normal?

second, the chain slaps around like crazy. i plan on buying the evil 13 double ring chain guide, but until then...

thanks

 

[EricTheRed]

is the crank touching because of crank flex?
If no: I'd get a longer spindle BB (assuming it doesn't mess up your chain line too much)
If yes: get some stonger cranks that don't flex.

had several hardtails and never had that problem.

lots of options for quite chains, i use and old tube or or tire and wrap that with some zip ties, cheap and easy. Or get a neoprene chainstay protector from whoever makes them now a days.

 

[happless]

cool thinks for the info. the crank is flexing just enough to make contact with the frame. i have a husselfel crank set that i may but on.

i thought maybe the crank bolts were lose, but they are tight. i can move flex the crank by hand enough to make contact with the bottom bracket.

 

[EricTheRed]

confused, or a terminology errors going on but how does you crank flex to hit your bottom bracket?

If anything your cranks would be hitting your chainstay (the tube that goes from your bb to the dropout).

Movement of the cranks can also be caused by worn out BB. A good way to test this is to hold the seat-tube with one hand hold the cranks with the other point the crank you are holding up and in line with the seatube and feel for any rocking/slop.

 

[happless]

you are correct the right crank is rubbing the chainstay. i tried what you said, but i get no slop when i try to move the crank side to side. its got just enough flex to rub the chainstay.

 

[Uncle Jimmi]

How much clearance isf between the other side?
NO not normal

 

[happless]

i am at work now, but i believe the left side has a 1/4" of clearance or so. I email the company i bought the bike from so see what they think, but who knows when i will hear anything.

 

[tomk96]

i think you bottom bracket just needs to be screwed in/out more. don't remember which side is which. your LBS should take care of it in 20 mins

 

[happless]

cool, i will look at the bottom bracket and see.

 

[happless]

problem solved

i removed the crank and bottom bracket tonight, everything with the bottom bracket seem to be in good shape. so i replaced the alpha drive crank set with a hussefel crank set. there is little to no flex in the crank arm now, i think i just needed a stronger crank set. i also checked for any cracks in the weilds, did not find anything there(which is good the bike is only a week old, and i only have 15 hours of riding in on it)

thanks to everyone who helped

later