Why does bike chain skip

Remove the wheel from the bike. Take the skewer out the screw that holds the tire to the bike frame. Use the lockring removal tool to unscrew the lock ring. Pull the old cassette off, place each sprocket of the new cassette on individually matching the grooves up properly. Place the tire back on the bike tighten it down and place the chain on the new cassette.

Here is a video showing the cassette replacement. Some bikes have a freewheel assembly instead of the cassette. The process is much the same except that the freewheel actually screws onto the wheel itself instead of slides onto the bearing assembly.

All of these things can and do cause the chain to slip and skip gears. They are all fairly easy fixes. I hope that these tips will help you fix any issue like this on your bike. There are times that your bike derailleur is damaged, which prevents the bike gears from shifting. Bike derailleurs are responsible for shifting the bike gear and keeping the bike chain in place. Identify the cables that lead to the derailleurs and look for the adjusters.

Rotate the cable adjuster anticlockwise if you observe that shifting is difficult while lowering the gear, keep the adjuster tight. Ensure that the derailleur shifts successfully in every turn of the gear wheel. If you are a human, do not fill in this field. Why does the chain keep slipping? There are many things it could be, and some of them are simple adjustments. Dirty Sprockets and Chain A common reason the chain slips is too much build up on the sprockets.

Worn Chain A worn-down chain is the third cause of slipping. Worn cassette The final cause is a worn cassette. How do I stop my chain from slipping? Cleaning the sprockets Perhaps one of the easiest solutions would be to clean the sprockets on your bike. Derailleur out of alignment If the derailleur pulleys are out of alignment, there is a nut that connects the shifter cable to the derailleur. Bent Derailleur A bent derailleur will have most likely happened on the trail. Worn out cassette The only way to fix a worn out cassette is to replace it.

Take the wheel off Remove the chain from the sprocket Remove the skewer Use a lock ring removal tool that will match up with the grooves on the freewheel to unscrew the freewheel. Chain skipping can be caused by a lot of things related to the drivetrain system, Most of the time a worn or not compatible chain, To fix this issue, it requires you to do a deep inspection for multiple parts, in order to know what exactly is the source of the problem. In this guide, we will talk about the inspection guide for all the reasons that can cause the chain to slip, skip, and jump from the gears.

Most of the time, skipping or slipping bike chain can be caused by a very stretched chain or worn cogs teeth, after good riding mileage, the chain will get stretched, and start causing damage for both cassette and chainrings teeth, at a certain point the chain will lose its good mechanical contact causing the chain to slip or skip over the gears.

The most common reason for chain slipping on the cassette, or falling off from the front chainrings when pedaling hard is a worn chain. After a long time of riding under high-intensity pedaling, the chain will get damaged and stretched, the rollers will lose their normal shape rounded and plates get stretched.

For this, the chain will lose good mechanical contact with sprocket teeth and start causing slipping under hard pedaling. Advice: replacing the chain as soon as possible will prevent damaging both of your cassette and chainrings.

This problem can appear after changing to a new chain or a new cassette without following manufacture references. Picking new drivetrain parts without thinking about the compatibility will cause multiple problems like chain slipping or jumping. When you are looking to replace a worn chain with a new one, make sure to use the product reference code to find a similar one.

The problem appears when people start mixing different speed chains than how many gears their cassette has. Now, you may ask why anyone would even do something like that.

However, there are some occasions where you can get away with this and benefit. For example, by changing the whole drivetrain to a different number of cassette gears, you might save some money by reusing the old chain.

In some other cases, there is a durability issue. There are technologies on some chains that allow them to shift better or be stretch proof for very long mileage.

The thing is, there are different widths of chain rollers those metal circles around pins that connect the links. Since they have a bit of movement to turn freely, the exact measurement is made between two inner plates.

From this, you might assume that and speed chains are interchangeable. However, they have very different widths of outer plates. Luckily though, they can still sometimes be used for a different number of cassette sprockets with some restrictions.

The beauty of this is that since the inner width is the same, you can effectively use any gear setup with single front chainrings made for speed drivetrains. That allows you to combine the best one by front chainrings, which are the key for these drivetrains to work well, with cheaper components for the rest of the drivetrain. Allowing for some really affordable one-by-drivetrain conversions. In some rare cases, freehub might start skipping.

Freehubs have these pawls that allow it to turn in one, but they block the movement in the opposite direction. They are constantly retracting during rotation. In older freehub bodies, the grease gets dry, and sometimes some rust appears on pawls.

However, in most cases, this happens from time to time, and the result is the same as chain skipping. If you know how to take the freehub off the wheel, you can easily do this by yourself every so often to keep it working.

In some cases, freehub pawls are on the outside, so when you take them off, you can actually service them completely. Bicycle Chain Skips Gears Chain skipping gears is the more common of the two situations. Stuck Cables Sometimes, adjusting the tension on the cable makes no difference. Bent Derailleur Another of these problems on the list would be a bent derailleur or derailleur hanger.

Improper Chainline With the introduction of boost components, some problems appeared for the chainline. Chainline specifications: Non-boost chainline — mm Boost chainline — mm Downhill and some other wider chainline types — mm Bicycle Chain Skips Over Teeth The bigger problem is when a chain starts to skip over teeth.

Check the next subtitle You can mitigate this process of chain wearing out by regularly cleaning and lubricating it.

Worn Out Cogs Cogs wear out much slower than the chain does. Chain Is Too Long Derailleur tension plays a huge role in holding the chain properly on the bigger cassette chainrings.

Wrong Chain Link Width The problem appears when people start mixing different speed chains than how many gears their cassette has. Freehub Skipping In some rare cases, freehub might start skipping. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Necessary.