Trek rail 9.7 has been nothing but broken chains/cassettes for duration of ownership

Skoogydoo

New Member
May 28, 2023
5
0
Klamath Falls, Oregon
I bought my Rail 9.7 as a combination commuter for work(short distance, paved road) and a way to explore our rapidly expanding trails. The first time the chain started slipping/breaking the shop said “you’re using turbo too much, too much torque.” I felt annoyed that this expensive bike I’d bought was incapable of utilizing its full range of features, and grudgingly tried to limit my use of turbo. Problem persisted even when not in turbo, and in the 2 years I’ve owned this bike I believe we are on chain 8 and lost count of chain rings/cassettes. Just so disappointed in what was supposed to be a fun addition to my bike arsenal.
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,463
9,932
UK
How many miles is that and what is your chain cleaning and lubing regimen?
 

Hardtail

Active member
Mar 8, 2021
211
129
Uk
I feel your pain! But it is how you ride it.
Even in the lower assist settings, you need to be in the right gear for starts and hills, don't just just stand up and peddle hard in the 11 or 10t.
Linkglide is crazy cheap at the moment as is as durable as it gets, well worth the upgrade.
 

MickS

Member
Sep 10, 2020
37
19
Poland
Well, no offence, but blaming Trek sounds little bit odd to me, I don't know which generation of Trek Rail 9.7 you have, but as far as I know, 9.7 specs are equipped with Shimano drivetrain (XT / SLX combo), so you should rather blame them. The shop was probably right, it seems like you are trying to put much torque thru the drivetrain. In all fairness, 8 chains in 2 years is not very high number, although you did not provide us with any mileage info. There are couple of reasons that the lifetime of your drivetrain can be short:
  • the conditions you ride in and chain maintenance routine (how often do you clean your chain)
  • the riding style (do you use the gears properly)
On which cassette cogs the chain starts to slip first? Are you using the full range of gears?
If Shimano SLX is not strong enough for you, think about switching to LinkGlide.
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
894
1,264
New Zealand
It sounds like you are simply wearing out gear. Nothing to do with the bike brand. Its wear and tear. Get used to it.

Mentally prepare yourself to replace stuff as it wears. Then you won't be annoyed when it wears out.

Also look at your shifting techniques. Are you shifting under power? Or do you back off the power to shift? There maybe room for improvement.

Are you using the easiest gears regularly? Maybe your commuting in the hardest gear, bearing out the small cogs on your cassette regularly. Perhaps look at a bigger front chainring to move the high load up a few gears at the back.

Have you tried different chains, cassettes? Keep experimenting until you find s combo that works.

Side note, a rail is not designed as a commuter bike. Perhaps you could look at a commuter bike with bigger gearing for that application and use the rail for its intended purpose of mountain biking.
 

Skoogydoo

New Member
May 28, 2023
5
0
Klamath Falls, Oregon
It sounds like you are simply wearing out gear. Nothing to do with the bike brand. Its wear and tear. Get used to it.

Mentally prepare yourself to replace stuff as it wears. Then you won't be annoyed when it wears out.

Also look at your shifting techniques. Are you shifting under power? Or do you back off the power to shift? There maybe room for improvement.

Are you using the easiest gears regularly? Maybe your commuting in the hardest gear, bearing out the small cogs on your cassette regularly. Perhaps look at a bigger front chainring to move the high load up a few gears at the back.

Have you tried different chains, cassettes? Keep experimenting until you find s combo that works.

Side note, a rail is not designed as a commuter bike. Perhaps you could look at a commuter bike with bigger gearing for that application and use the rail for its intended purpose of mountain biking.
It was only occasional commuter for first 6 months, primarily used on trails. Yes, definitely back off when shifting, chain breaks/slipping occur almost exclusively on flats/downhill so it’s clearly not torque related.
 

Stihldog

Handheld Power Tool
Subscriber
Jun 10, 2020
2,894
4,084
Coquitlam, BC
It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the amount of drivetrain components you’re going through.
I also have the Rail 9.7 2020 with 15K+ kms on it. I rarely go into turbo and only twice in 4 years have I rode in traffic (6kms maybe). There’s some good advice given here and from your LBS.
I think I’ve used;
7 HG Shimano chains.
3 eThirteen chainrings.
4 Shimano XT cassettes.
1 Derailer.
Proper shifting is key.
Regular maintenance is key.
Realizing I’m gonna wear out the consumables because of my riding style …..it happens.
 

Stoffel

Active member
Jun 16, 2021
103
179
Cotswolds UK
I find it hard to understand these excessive drivetrain wear threads.

I ride almost exclusively off road and I’m almost always in emtb mode with a bit of turbo for the really steep stuff and I get 600 miles per chain at about £25 each and three chains to a cassette for about £60.

I never shift under power and I keep everything clean and lubed so maybe a bit of mechanical sympathy would help? 🤷🏻‍♂️
.
 

Ark

Active member
Mar 8, 2023
384
321
Newcastle Upon Tyne
I find it hard to understand these excessive drivetrain wear threads.

I ride almost exclusively off road and I’m almost always in emtb mode with a bit of turbo for the really steep stuff and I get 600 miles per chain at about £25 each and three chains to a cassette for about £60.

I never shift under power and I keep everything clean and lubed so maybe a bit of mechanical sympathy would help? 🤷🏻‍♂️
.
Ride it like you stole it, change chains everyy 200miles 🤯
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
894
1,264
New Zealand
I find it hard to understand these excessive drivetrain wear threads.

I ride almost exclusively off road and I’m almost always in emtb mode with a bit of turbo for the really steep stuff and I get 600 miles per chain at about £25 each and three chains to a cassette for about £60.

I never shift under power and I keep everything clean and lubed so maybe a bit of mechanical sympathy would help? 🤷🏻‍♂️
.
I'm 95% sure this is a operator/set up/maintenance/location issue.

There's something in the way op rides or sets up his drivetain or maintains or perhaps something location specific that is leading to this increased wear rate. Probably a combo of all of the above.

I have 2 mates that are at each end of the drive train spectrum.

One meticulously maintenains and cleans his gear. He uses a chain stretch tool and swaps the chain aut when it has a wiff of wear. He doesnt shift under load and spins at a higher cadence rather then grinding big gears. His drive train lasts a looooong time.

Guy number two doesnt do any of his own maintenance at all. He takes it into the shop every now and then.... usually when something is broken. He shifts under load, (even tho he tells you he doesn't) you can hear the gears crunching regularly. He's always in a gear thats about 3 gears to big pounding slow cadence high load on the small sprockets. Then he breaks his chain often and murders the cassettes and chainrings quickly. Amusingly he is always surprised when he breaks his chain or when something where's out.

I'm not surprised at all.
 

Paulquattro

E*POWAH Master
May 7, 2020
1,780
959
The Darkside
Hi
i ride a trek rail 7 60/40 on off road and have a chain every 1000 miles or so
still on original cassette and chain ring and ride mainly bike parks and don't use the uplifts so pedal every where
A bit of mechanical sympathy goes a long way when shifting and end of a dirty ride
(y)
 

Expidia

Well-known member
Subscriber
Jun 27, 2022
547
435
Capital Region, New York
Just my opinion, but the OP's post sounds fishy. He has only 4 total posts and 3 are from this thread. 8 chains breaking in 2 years! It just smacks to me of a planted post from another Ebike brand.

Correct me if I'm wrong . . . Please post a pic of you and your ride together and a broken chain 🤔. And a photo of a work order.
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,463
9,932
UK
It just smacks to me of a planted post from another Ebike brand.
young-man-tin-foil-hat-260nw-566207815.jpeg
 

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,494
6,103
UK
Who on earth uses turbo whilst commuting especially with a 15mph limit! All my on road riding is done in Eco even with our higher 20mph limit
That guy does.

Any shop who told me I was misusing a bike by using it as presented to me by the manufacturer would be on the end of some frank advice. in short order
 

Hardtail

Active member
Mar 8, 2021
211
129
Uk
I commute a lot of road miles derestricted as well as mountain trails and the road miles definitely reek more havoc on the drivetrain. Particularly when starting off in the wrong gear or standing up to power past traffic or up a hill in the 11t when you should be shifting instead.
 

seamarsh

Active member
May 7, 2019
350
174
usa
I bought my Rail 9.7 as a combination commuter for work(short distance, paved road) and a way to explore our rapidly expanding trails. The first time the chain started slipping/breaking the shop said “you’re using turbo too much, too much torque.” I felt annoyed that this expensive bike I’d bought was incapable of utilizing its full range of features, and grudgingly tried to limit my use of turbo. Problem persisted even when not in turbo, and in the 2 years I’ve owned this bike I believe we are on chain 8 and lost count of chain rings/cassettes. Just so disappointed in what was supposed to be a fun addition to my bike arsenal.
replace hanger and buy a GX derailleur and shifter pod.... that what i would do. maybe some misalignment thing happening.
 

John Beedham

Member
Apr 5, 2019
52
39
Lochiel, NSW, Australia
If your description of the problems you are having is accurate I respectfully suggest that the problem is your riding technique, more specifically your use of raw motor power versus gears and cadence .... spinners are winners .... (higher) cadence matched to the motors optimal torque output as opposed to grinning at low cadence and compensating through upping the torque output from the motor will break chains every time and it's no good for your motor or battery range.
 

peterk

Member
Jan 11, 2020
76
27
Canada
Broken chains = shifting under too much pressure (e-bike or regular), possibly way out of chain alignment.

Premature worn out chain = poor maintenance, bad conditions (gritty soil on a wet chain, or mud)
 

High Rock Ruti

Active member
May 13, 2019
398
317
Massachusetts
I bought my Rail 9.7 as a combination commuter for work(short distance, paved road) and a way to explore our rapidly expanding trails. The first time the chain started slipping/breaking the shop said “you’re using turbo too much, too much torque.” I felt annoyed that this expensive bike I’d bought was incapable of utilizing its full range of features, and grudgingly tried to limit my use of turbo. Problem persisted even when not in turbo, and in the 2 years I’ve owned this bike I believe we are on chain 8 and lost count of chain rings/cassettes. Just so disappointed in what was supposed to be a fun addition to my bike arsenal.
High Rock Ruti

Linkglide and don't look back, the only thing that has ever stopped cog jumping is a new cassette, for me around 5 to 8 hundred miles, worse when riding sandy trails

Warm Regards Ruti
 

jonmat

Member
Feb 22, 2020
99
71
Sheffield
I have snapped 3 chains in 3700 miles. All of these snaps were caused by a botched gear change uphill in Turbo mode. Strangely they all happened in the same place, going up a steep hill in the woods back to my home. I consider my maintenance to be good without being obsessive. 500 miles per chain, 1500 miles per cassette, the steel chainring was still good at 3500 miles with no hooks or chain suck. I only changed it a couple of weeks ago as I had a steel Burgtec replacement sitting on the shelf for 2 years.
 

Sophie777

Active member
Jul 3, 2018
213
105
Canada
I have snapped 3 chains in 3700 miles. All of these snaps were caused by a botched gear change uphill in Turbo mode. Strangely they all happened in the same place, going up a steep hill in the woods back to my home. I consider my maintenance to be good without being obsessive. 500 miles per chain, 1500 miles per cassette, the steel chainring was still good at 3500 miles with no hooks or chain suck. I only changed it a couple of weeks ago as I had a steel Burgtec replacement sitting on the shelf for 2 years.
Sorry for deviating a little from the subject of this thread, but can I ask what happens when the chain snaps? Did you get injured?
 

bsquared

Active member
Feb 17, 2021
42
48
Schaumburg, IL
Ebikes want to spin... not power... I broke a chain early on when, in the way wrong gear, I tried to power up the hill. Gotta spin! Echoing what John said a few posts ago. Cadence vs. Power. I had to change the way I ride.
 

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