Firrst serious ride out with a mate on his new Rail 7 - and what a complete shambles. M7100 (SLX) chain snapped *twice* and derailed *4 times*. Bike is new - like less than 100km new. On the last run (when we gave up) the E13 chainguide snapped off along with the chain breaking - plastic junk.
I'd straightened teeth on the *steel* E13 ring twice too, so they were perfectly-aligned. They still are, after the last failure.
Chain is correct length for full travel, leaving some mech play.
I'm a Bosch-certified mechanic and have about 3000km of pretty harsh Highlands riding (mostly Dunkeld) on my own eMTB (Decathlon Stilus 85Nm CX, SLX chain, SRAM cassette) - and have never snapped a chain despite innumerable Hail Mary faffed shifts under full load with accompanying cracking out the back.
I'm suspecting here, given the chain is a new SLX, correct length and everything else is sorted:
1. the E13 plastic guide is rubbish, and is allowing the chain to move too much, thereby ramping up over the teeth
2. The steel ring itself is too pliant, and when the guide fails to align the chain, the teeth then bend under the load.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of failure? any suggestions that will work - ie different steel ring / metal chainguide? Having paid £5500 for this bike my mate is not a happy Trek customer...especially when I'm cracking on trouble-free with a £2700 Stilus
Found a thread pointing to this E13 bulletin: https://support.ethirteen.com/hc/en-us/sections/4408352455067-Technical-Service-Bulletins-TSB- - so E13 are blaming 'chainline inconsistencies, and suggest a 1mm spacer to shift the ring outboard will fix things - anyone tried this?
I'd straightened teeth on the *steel* E13 ring twice too, so they were perfectly-aligned. They still are, after the last failure.
Chain is correct length for full travel, leaving some mech play.
I'm a Bosch-certified mechanic and have about 3000km of pretty harsh Highlands riding (mostly Dunkeld) on my own eMTB (Decathlon Stilus 85Nm CX, SLX chain, SRAM cassette) - and have never snapped a chain despite innumerable Hail Mary faffed shifts under full load with accompanying cracking out the back.
I'm suspecting here, given the chain is a new SLX, correct length and everything else is sorted:
1. the E13 plastic guide is rubbish, and is allowing the chain to move too much, thereby ramping up over the teeth
2. The steel ring itself is too pliant, and when the guide fails to align the chain, the teeth then bend under the load.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of failure? any suggestions that will work - ie different steel ring / metal chainguide? Having paid £5500 for this bike my mate is not a happy Trek customer...especially when I'm cracking on trouble-free with a £2700 Stilus
Found a thread pointing to this E13 bulletin: https://support.ethirteen.com/hc/en-us/sections/4408352455067-Technical-Service-Bulletins-TSB- - so E13 are blaming 'chainline inconsistencies, and suggest a 1mm spacer to shift the ring outboard will fix things - anyone tried this?
Last edited:
