My rear sprocket (and wheel) sorta self-destructed - How do I fix this for <$100?

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fishyfish777

New Member
Sep 2, 2010
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Ann Arbor, MI
I dunno if the chain wasn't aligned properly or something, but my chain jumped off on the second voyage of this bike and destroyed the mounting bolts of the sprocket and slightly bent a few spokes on the way.




What can I do to fix this with less than $100, new chain included? I think I can salvage the old wheel by bending the spokes slightly back because it isn't damaged too much, but the sprocket and chain are completely toast.

My bike, for reference: Schwinn Gateway

(Also, the rag joints were like that because otherwise either the mounting bolts hit my frame or the drive sprocket hit my frame. It worked fine for around two miles before this happened)
 
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GreedyRogue

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Feb 15, 2011
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No longer a member. So **** Off Goat And Jburr
I recently had to replace my rear wheel as well. The rag joint came loose which I noticed but thought it would be ok for the day. Ended up breaking 4 spokes and had to haul my bike home on my wife's car

LBS wanted $90 for a new rear wheel not including the cassette. Came with 10 guage spokes but I'm not too worried about spoke size.

I ended up buying a new bike from the DI for $15 and swapped the rear wheels out. Ended up a good deal because I broke the deraullier 2 weeks later when the wind pushed my bike over and I took off with the deraullier caught in the spokes.

I would say look for a cheap parts bike and if needed buy a new sprocket online and the chain locally. That should keep you under $100. Definitly turn the bolts around though. Little harder to set up if you have large hands, but well worth this not happening again.

Also, if those 2 bolts were as tight as the rest of them were, you really need to tighten the while thing down more. Not sure if you were able to loosen the bolts or not with that bend you have in them. The rag joint should be sandwiched together pretty dang tight.
 
2door

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Venice Motor Bikes said:
You really need to bolt that on correctly first!!
You can turn the bolts so that they face in & not hit the frame.
Click to expand...
In addition you have the rubber donuts in the wrong place. They are supposed to sandwich the spokes between the sprocket and the three half moon metal plates.
The sequence from the outside in: Sprocket, rubber, spokes, rubber, metal half moon plates.
The sprocket must be centered on the hub, no wobbles.

You chain tensioner wheel is also way out of alignment. The bracket needs to be twisted so the wheel aligns with the chain path. From your photo it appears to be off by quite a bit.
Tom
 
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fishyfish777

New Member
Sep 2, 2010
42
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0
Ann Arbor, MI
2door said:
In addition you have the rubber donuts in the wrong place. They are supposed to sandwich the spokes between the sprocket and the three half moon metal plates.
The sequence from the outside in: Sprocket, rubber, spokes, rubber, metal half moon plates.
The sprocket must be centered on the hub, no wobbles.

You chain tensioner wheel is also way out of alignment. The bracket needs to be twisted so the wheel aligns with the chain path. From your photo it appears to be off by quite a bit.
Tom
Click to expand...
Venice Motor Bikes said:
You really need to bolt that on correctly first!!
You can turn the bolts so that they face in & not hit the frame.
Click to expand...

Oh, that makes much more sense. I thought the bolts only went that way because all I own to tighten them is a huge adjustable wrench so I guess I'll be stopping by ACE and picking up a set of new mounting hardware as well as a little 6mm wrench of some sort.

Thanks!

(My previous bike, with a similar hodge-podged setup, worked perfectly fine due to the fact that the sprocket was installed correctly because there was enough clearance for the bolts and the sprocket. Sorry for asking such an obvious question.)
 
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