Help put my chain guard on?

November 7, 2009 12:00 PM

How do I install the chain guard on my bike?

I bought and assembled my bike a few months ago. Things are fine but now I want to get around to installing the chain guard. The original instructions don't say anything about it, but I can't seem to figure out how it's supposed to go on. Googling hasn't revealed anything -- my guess is that it's just too simple, and I'm just being dense.

Here's my bike.

Here is the chain guard and the pieces that came with it.

I thought the little bracket would go in back, by the rear gear, and the big bracket would go on the vertical tube by the front gear, but I can't seem to make it fit; the plastic guard itself seems to be like an inch or two short. (I also don't know where the washer is supposed to go, since the nuts fit snugly inside the brackets.)

I thought maybe the big bracket was meant to go on the other tube, but that tube is too fat, and the bracket doesn't fit around it.

Any help?

posted by crickets to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Your essentially correct. The large bracket goes where you think it does. The small bracket goes on the tube between the front and rear gears. It's OK that it's a little short, your pants won't be back there anyway.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 12:17 PM on November 7, 2009

Response by poster: Sorry -- when I said the guard was too short, I meant it doesn't reach the bracket.
posted by crickets at 12:20 PM on November 7, 2009

If I'm reading this correctly, you are trying to attach the rear bracket to the seat stay (the small tube beside the wheel, leading from the rear axle to the seat post, at a 45 deg angle to the ground). Instead, attach the rear bracket to the chain stay (the small tube leading from the rear axle to the pedals, parallel to the ground). You can adjust the position of the bracket forward and backwards on the chain stay to make it fit the guard.
posted by ssg at 12:28 PM on November 7, 2009

Response by poster: ssg -- that makes sense.

However, I still can't get the hole in the front to line up with the bracket, at least not without twisting the guard in such a way that it touches the chain.

Ah well. Maybe I should just go buy a better guard.
posted by crickets at 12:46 PM on November 7, 2009

I'd take the bike back to where you purchased it and ask them about it. They might have one already made up with the chain guard on it to go by. I think the washer fits over the head of the screw before you insert it through the holes. I don't think it rubs against anything but the washer as it turns. You never know, you may even have a defective chain guard. Something slightly out of wack.

Don't feel dense, sometimes the obvious, isn't so obvious.
posted by Taurid at 10:09 PM on November 7, 2009