Chain keeps falling off on Gary Fisher Cake 2 DLX

Hi all.

I got GaryFisher Cake 2dlx like 3 months ago. Well, I did not have a
chance to ride it much for the 1st month, but by now I am having all
sorts of problems with shifting and chain falling off.
The chain usually falls off when climbing and when I hit some kind of
little bump... Oh, and I have to be on the mid or smallest ring in the
front - which of course is always the case while climbing.
Sometimes the chain falls off (always towards the frame - left, which
I am sure everybody guessed) when I am going down hill - usually when
I am not pedaling, but just going down and hit a bump.
I am pretty sure it's the full suspension that's doing it.

At this point the place I got the bike at worked with me a lot, but
without actually one of them taking the bike on the trail I doubt if
they figure it out. We just replaced front derailleur with XT (used to
be LX) - that certainly improved shifting (had problems shifting to
the bigger ring on the front) and adjusting tension of the chain (by
shortening it and adjusting the spring) helped a lot.. but.. still I
loose the chain, useally when it's really very inconvenient.

I do realize that my skill is maybe not that great, but if I pay that
kind of $ for a bike, it certainly should not have issues that my old
(8+ yrs) Novara did not have.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestion? Could there be an actual issue
with this specific GF bike? I did not talk to GF people yet.. I think
I might have to as well, but I think you pple may have a lot of good
input too.

Any ideas will be very much appreciated.

Thx.

Greg T.

Greg Tokarski wrote:
Hi all.

I got GaryFisher Cake 2dlx like 3 months ago. Well, I did not have a
chance to ride it much for the 1st month, but by now I am having all
sorts of problems with shifting and chain falling off.
The chain usually falls off when climbing and when I hit some kind of
little bump... Oh, and I have to be on the mid or smallest ring in the
front - which of course is always the case while climbing.
Sometimes the chain falls off (always towards the frame - left, which
I am sure everybody guessed) when I am going down hill - usually when
I am not pedaling, but just going down and hit a bump.
I am pretty sure it's the full suspension that's doing it.

look up "chain suck" and GF bikes. I think the fix is replacing the drive
train but I'm not sure. One of the reasons I did not buy a GF is that if
you do a little research, they are known for chain suck issues and there are
various fixes out there.

penny

Greg Tokarski wrote:
Hi all.

I got GaryFisher Cake 2dlx like 3 months ago. Well, I did not have a
chance to ride it much for the 1st month, but by now I am having all
sorts of problems with shifting and chain falling off.
The chain usually falls off when climbing and when I hit some kind of
little bump... Oh, and I have to be on the mid or smallest ring in the
front - which of course is always the case while climbing.
Sometimes the chain falls off (always towards the frame - left, which
I am sure everybody guessed) when I am going down hill - usually when
I am not pedaling, but just going down and hit a bump.
I am pretty sure it's the full suspension that's doing it.

look up "chain suck" and GF bikes. I think the fix is replacing the drive
train but I'm not sure. One of the reasons I did not buy a GF is that if
you do a little research, they are known for chain suck issues and there are
various fixes out there.

penny

"Greg Tokarski" wrote in message
om...
Hi all.

I got GaryFisher Cake 2dlx like 3 months ago. Well, I did not have a
chance to ride it much for the 1st month, but by now I am having all
sorts of problems with shifting and chain falling off.
The chain usually falls off when climbing and when I hit some kind of
little bump... Oh, and I have to be on the mid or smallest ring in the
front - which of course is always the case while climbing.
Sometimes the chain falls off (always towards the frame - left, which
I am sure everybody guessed) when I am going down hill - usually when
I am not pedaling, but just going down and hit a bump.
I am pretty sure it's the full suspension that's doing it.

At this point the place I got the bike at worked with me a lot, but
without actually one of them taking the bike on the trail I doubt if
they figure it out. We just replaced front derailleur with XT (used to
be LX) - that certainly improved shifting (had problems shifting to
the bigger ring on the front) and adjusting tension of the chain (by
shortening it and adjusting the spring) helped a lot.. but.. still I
loose the chain, useally when it's really very inconvenient.

I do realize that my skill is maybe not that great, but if I pay that
kind of $ for a bike, it certainly should not have issues that my old
(8+ yrs) Novara did not have.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestion? Could there be an actual issue
with this specific GF bike? I did not talk to GF people yet.. I think
I might have to as well, but I think you pple may have a lot of good
input too.

Any ideas will be very much appreciated.

Thx.

Greg T.



Rip the Bontrager crankset off (chainrings and all), and throw it as far as
you can. Get a new crankset (even the cheap $50 jobs from JensonUSA are an
improvement). If you help your LBS figure out the chainrings are the issue,
some will even swap it out for you for nothing.

-Chuck W
(fellow Fisher owner, former Bontrager crankset owner)

"Greg Tokarski" wrote in message
om...
Hi all.

I got GaryFisher Cake 2dlx like 3 months ago. Well, I did not have a
chance to ride it much for the 1st month, but by now I am having all
sorts of problems with shifting and chain falling off.
The chain usually falls off when climbing and when I hit some kind of
little bump... Oh, and I have to be on the mid or smallest ring in the
front - which of course is always the case while climbing.
Sometimes the chain falls off (always towards the frame - left, which
I am sure everybody guessed) when I am going down hill - usually when
I am not pedaling, but just going down and hit a bump.
I am pretty sure it's the full suspension that's doing it.

At this point the place I got the bike at worked with me a lot, but
without actually one of them taking the bike on the trail I doubt if
they figure it out. We just replaced front derailleur with XT (used to
be LX) - that certainly improved shifting (had problems shifting to
the bigger ring on the front) and adjusting tension of the chain (by
shortening it and adjusting the spring) helped a lot.. but.. still I
loose the chain, useally when it's really very inconvenient.

I do realize that my skill is maybe not that great, but if I pay that
kind of $ for a bike, it certainly should not have issues that my old
(8+ yrs) Novara did not have.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestion? Could there be an actual issue
with this specific GF bike? I did not talk to GF people yet.. I think
I might have to as well, but I think you pple may have a lot of good
input too.

Any ideas will be very much appreciated.

Thx.

Greg T.



Rip the Bontrager crankset off (chainrings and all), and throw it as far as
you can. Get a new crankset (even the cheap $50 jobs from JensonUSA are an
improvement). If you help your LBS figure out the chainrings are the issue,
some will even swap it out for you for nothing.

-Chuck W
(fellow Fisher owner, former Bontrager crankset owner)

Hi

I actually did upgrade to Shimano XT crankset and all.. The local
store sold it to me for "internet price" so I think it's OK....

Anyhow, it does feel very nice now, but.. just as I finished some
relatively advanced trails in my area last night, and was ready to
declare the bike healthy, I got a typical chain suck on a straigh
paved trail! Imagine how that made me feel! I think I shifted in the
front from the highest to the middle gear if I remember right...
Anyhow, so the original chain drop issue does seem to be resolved or
at least a lot better.. but now I am noticing the chainsuck - since
the other problem went away (and yes, I did have chain suck always,
but not quite as noticable as the other problem).
GF's suggestion is to make sure the frame pivots have no issues - it
seems that on accasion they do not have enough of some compound in the
pivots so the barings may be sligtly loose, which coses the frame to
move side to side slightly...
GF support guy told me that if nothing else did it, this certainly
would... well, what else would he say.. right?
Anyhow, if this will do the trick, I will keep my XT (I did like the
way it feels to have it all XT grade).. if not, well.... we'll see....
I think the chain is as short as it should be, but I will doeble check
at the shop if they think it could be made a bit shorter still...

Well, thx again for all the ideas and help; and I just hope that I
will not become anti-GF person.. I have to say I still like the way
this bike feels, when it works.. it's just so dissapointing to pay 2k
for a bike and have such issues, but it's nice to see that people like
you all are actually sympathetic and trying to helo out.

Thx.

GregT