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

[Skoogydoo]

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]

How many miles is that and what is your chain cleaning and lubing regimen?

 

[Hardtail]

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]

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]

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]

How many miles is that and what is your chain cleaning and lubing regimen?

Problems began 3 months (100 miles) into ownership. It just hit the 900 mile mark, regular tuneups /maintenance in addition to the constant chain/chainring replacements.

 

[Skoogydoo]

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]

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.

 

[Doomanic]

My Rail 7 with Shimano did over 2700 miles on the original drive train. Ridden hard all year round in all weather.

 

[Stihldog]

My Rail 7 with Shimano did over 2700 miles on the original drive train. Ridden hard all year round in all weather.

Monster Miles. …yikes!

 

[Stoffel]

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]

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]

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.

 

[JP-NZ]

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

 

[Plummet]

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

I do. I slap it in turbo then bounce off the rev limiter at 32kph to see how much faster I can go....
When commuting I want to get from a to b asafp.

 

[Paulquattro]

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

 

[maynard]

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

Umm de restricted turbo all the way commute rocks .

 

[Expidia]

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]

It just smacks to me of a planted post from another Ebike brand.

 

[Expidia]

View attachment 116082

I didn't ask for a pic of you Doom, I asked for a pic of him, his ride, a broken chain and a work order . I have 1500 miles on my OEM Trek chain. I guess I just know how to shift!

How do you fit that cone in your helmet without crushing it???

 

[RustyMTB]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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?

 

[peterk]

Depends if you are sitting or standing on the pedals, and the proximity of the top tube.

 

[bsquared]

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.