Author Topic: Nomad drivetrain alignment  (Read 5607 times)

OJEditor

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Nomad drivetrain alignment
« on: August 27, 2009, 05:44:16 PM »
Hello everyone,

I'm just finishing building up a Nomad frame for a magazine project. I've installed a Shimano XT Hollowtech crankset, a SRAM cassette and chain, and an XTR rear derailleur (no front derailleur yet).



I'm a  bit worried about the chain alignment. With the chain on the middle chainwheel, the alignment does not appear to be perfect until the chain is all the way down on the 7th cog. When I shift to the largest cog, the alignment seems quite a bit off.


I always assumed that with the chain on the middle chainweel the alignment should be at the proper compromise when the chain is also in the middle cog. Am I worrying needlessly, or is this crankset too wide?

Thanks for any help . . .

Jonathan



rualexander

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2009, 05:51:16 PM »
Check that your bottom bracket axle length is the same as that recommended for use with that chainset. You may be better with a shorter BB axle if you are fussy about having a perfect chainline.

OJEditor

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2009, 07:56:12 PM »
Thank you for the reply.

It appears there is no room for a shorter (narrower) BB axle with this crankset; the inner chainring turns within a millimeter or two of the bearing cap, although there is a centimeter or so of clearance between the teeth of that chainring and the chainstay. That's what got me wondering if I needed a standard-style BB/crankset with internal bearings.

I'm not fussy about chain alignment in terms of appearance; I just want to be sure it's functionally okay.

blair

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2009, 03:48:26 AM »
Did you install the bottom bracket yourself? (I've had the LBS do this because of the need to face the BB shell)

How many spacers are installed between the BB and the shell on the drive side?
The "standard" install says to put 5mm of spacers (A+B+C) on the drive side and 2.5mm on the other.
(See http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/SI_1J10A_002/SI-1J10A-002-ENG_v1_m56577569830680226.pdf )

Might be worth playing around with this to reduce the chain line offset.
The Shimano spec says the chain line is 50mm, and this is fixed regardless, assuming the spacers are correct.
The road chainsets have a chainline of 45mm, and the 3-piece MTB cranksets can have 47.5 or 50mm depending on what spindle you put in.
47.5mm on MTB is equivalent to 45mm on road, because the hub is 5MM wider on the MTB, hence moving the cluster 2.5mm to the right.
You can offset this by moving 2.5mm of spacers from the right to the left of the BB.

The chain line on MTBs has been increased because of the prevalence of oversize seat tubes, which moves the front derailleur to the right, and makes it harder to set them up to shift well to the granny ring.
Also, the granny ring gets used a lot on MTBs, and needs to cover a much wider range of the cassette gears than on a road bike, so it makes sense to move the chainset to right to reduce cross-chaining.

Have you contacted Thorn themselves? The derailleur Nomad was a bit before the time of Hollowtech II cranksets.
A nice TA crankset with a tapered square BB might be just the thing...

OJEditor

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2009, 04:56:03 AM »
Blair, thank you for all that information.

I did install the crankset myself; it's been long enough that I don't remember what shims I used. I guess I'll remove it and see. I'm not familiar with the term chain line; can you explain? Distance from the center of the BB?

I have not contacted Thorn yet. And I've actually been considering that TA (or a Sugino SD600?) and Phil Wood if the Hollowtech proves incompatible with the Nomad frame.

blair

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2009, 12:38:02 PM »
Yes, chain line is the distance form the centre of the BB to the middle ring of a triple, or midway between the rings on a double.

OJEditor

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2009, 02:38:32 PM »
Thanks, Blair.

OJEditor

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Re: Nomad drivetrain alignment
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2009, 04:15:34 PM »
I measured my chain line at 49 mm - close enough to what Blair said the Shimano spec is. So perhaps I'm worrying needlessly. But the middle chain ring and the largest cog is a combination I use frequently, and the alignment sure looks way off there. Yet I'm not sure switching BBs and cranksets in an effort to move the chain line in by five millimeters would do all that much. I will check the shims on the existing crank, though.

I suspect I'll then just start riding the bike, and see if any issues crop up.

Thanks for all the input.