Pinion und schlamm

[NielsVV]

Hello,
I've just build up a new Nicolai Helius Tb with pinion. A was sick of all the times I had chainsuck or broken derailleurs, that I decided to give pinion a try for my new bike.
It is the first time that I have spent so much money on one bike, and hope it will last forever.
Now, the bike is (almost) finished and winter is coming (I ride the whole year round), the bike is still shining as new and I was wondering how the pinion drive train will hold up against mud and water. With my other bike, I had to change the bottom bracket twice a year. But what with the bearings of pinion? The manual only says, changing the oil once a year for maintenance.
what are your experiences with muddy rides and river crossings?

Sorry that this thread is in English, but I am from Belgium and can't speak german. I do read quit a lot on this forum (thanks to google translate).
Small movie about a muddy ride here in the neighborhood (movie is from a friend of mine).

 

[Holland]

I use my Argon AM Pinion for the second season now. It is my dedicated geared non-summer bike. Never had any trouble in wet, muddy, cold conditions. The bike is made for this. Maintenance indeed is only needed on chain/sprockets and the annual change of oil.

But I really recommend to avoid washes with a strong jet of water. So, no Kärcher. I usually do a full service in October and clean the bike when Paris-Roubaix runs on TV again.

regards
Holland.

 

[NielsVV]

Thanks Holland! That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
I never wash my bike with high pressure, just wash it with my garden hose. My bike is anodized, and it's almost impossible to make it shine again, you see everything on it.

I use kmc x1 chain, test drove it yesterday in the mud (see photo) and sometimes my chain skipped a tooth. I just shortened it with one link, hope its better now.

 

[Jack22001]

Hi Niels,

this is because your chain is to long. See my Pics in the gallery. I drive also the kmc x1 and the Pinion. At the beginning I had the same problems with the chain, but after I shortened it it was fixed.

On this Pic:

my chain was too long. At this setup I shortened it one or two links.

By the way: You have nice muddy conditions in Belgium.

cheers Stefan

 

[wowbagger]

Thats my opinion,too : shorten your chain. Another nice thing to use is the stronger tension spring for the chain tensioner. The spring itself needs some drops oft chain oil, too otherwise it begins to make some noise.
http://www.pinion-bikes.com/Pinion-...High-Spring-Strength-1-2::16.html?language=en

My tensioner looks like this:

 

[Jack22001]

my chain looks like wowbagger now...

 

[NielsVV]

Shortened my chain with 1 link. It is better now, but it still happens because a lot of leaves gets between the chain and the sprocket. Going to shorten it with 1 more link, so it looks like wowbaggers bike.

I am just a little afraid to shorten it to much and putting to much tension on the pinion chain/bearings.

 

[Jack22001]

don't worry about that
if it's like the pic above, it's ok