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Chain whip sizes - 8,9,10 speed ...

(14 posts)
  • Started 9 years ago by dougal
  • Latest reply from dougal
  • This topic is resolved

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  1. dougal
    Member

    Right so I'm trying to install a new cog on a track bike. On shopkeeper's recommendation I ordered a combined chain whip/lockring tool. I picked it up today and after an evening fiddling came to the conclusion that it's the wrong tool for the job at hand.

    It claims 8/9/10 speed compatibility and I'm not 100% sure what that means. I don't think it's relevant in my case though. It's obviously not got a 1/8" chain attached however, which means the chain doesn't get proper purchase on the cog.

    Have I been sold a lemon? Can a 3/32" chain whip be used on a 1/8" cog or is that a fruitless task? Should I be very disappointed with the shopkeeper who sold me the cog and ordered the tool to install it while we both looked at the bike in question?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. Baldcyclist
    Member

    I have an 8 speed chain whip and a 10 speed cog. The whip chain doesn't fit the cog properly so I just kind of wrap it diagonally round 2 or 3 of the smaller cogs. Always managed to get the cassette off that way.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. dougal
    Member

    Diagonally across a single cog seems a non-starter! :-)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. stiltskin
    Member

    I would always say that the answer to this problem is Pedros chain vice. Like a pair of molgrips to grip the cassette. Far easier to use than any chain whip.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. Cyclops
    Member

    A chain whip that has 8/9/10 speed compatibility will have a 3/32" chain on it and as you've found out won't really fit your 1/8" cog.

    What you need is a 1/8" chain whip which used to be quite difficult to find but now everyone's making them.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. dougal
    Member

    That's pretty much what I thought Cyclops but it's good to hear it from another person!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Rotafix, every time, just need some old chain. Worked for me time and again when I rode fixed.

    http://www.urbanvelo.org/issue11/urbanvelo11_p76-77.html

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. dougal
    Member

    "some old chain"

    The instruction just uses the installed chain - is that what you meant?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Aye, sorry, when I replaced the cog I tended to replace the chain as well otherwise it all went rattly, so as soon as I'd got the cog off the chain went too, and for putting the cog back on I just rode it up and down the street a couple of times with the front brake on....

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. Broony84
    Member

    I had a chain whip which didn't grip very well as it was too wide for my cassette. Luckily I had an old 10speed chain which I was able to fix onto the tool and it works a treat now. Maybe you can just 'whip' the original chain off and fit a better sized chain onto the handle?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  11. steveo
    Member

    Timing tool for my old Sierra, enormous teeth to grip the single cog. Hopeless for modern multi-speeds though.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  12. dougal
    Member

    @Broony84 That would be the logical choice if I hadn't spent good money on a tool that was supposed to be "the tool for the job".

    Posted 9 years ago #

  13. MediumDave
    Member

    The Bicycle Works have the right tool (1/8" chain whip) and kindly removed a very stuck fixed cog for me a while back at no charge. I liked the tool (Shimano-branded) so much I got them to order me one. It is great, if pricy. Seems to work OK on 3/32" as well as 1/8". Dunno about closely spaced cassettes as firstly I don't have any above 8 speed and secondly never had much bother getting the lockrings off even without a chainwhip.

    The Rotafix technique does work but I worry (perhaps needlessly) about misaligning the frame. Never had the bottle to use it on my "nice" Roadrat frame.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  14. dougal
    Member

    Shopkeeper was suitably apologetic about the mix-up. As I had gathered from the internet the tool I bought used to come in 1/8" size but the "new and improved" model doesn't.

    We did a swap. I've got the workshop's chain whip to do my work and he's got mine to replace the chain with something usable for me in the future.

    For the record all this took place at The Bike Smith on Haymarket Terrace.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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