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Hey All,

Does the impression on the back of this chain guide look normal? Thanks!

Is it hard as a rock?
Steve

Like Steve said...except I would suggest brittle.
I had one fall on the concrete floor next to my workbench once, and it shattered into more pieces than I cared to count.

The impression looks typical for a piece of plastic that may be twenty two years old. I've seen worse, but as long as it is out, you may as well put an new one back in, if you can. Or drop it on the sidewalk from waist height and watch closely what happens when it hits the pavement. Wear safety glasses as a precaution.

Yeah, hard as a rock. Also, it had seemed like the spring chain tensioner was at it's outer limits and I was worried that it wasn't providing enough tension on the cam chain. This deformation might explain why (not to mention general wear on all guides and possible chain stretch). Too cheap to replace all the guides on a $1,000 bike, but this one for sure, thanks guys!

Keep in mind that the other guides will be just as hard and brittle as that one. Not changing them may prove to be false economy, as a failure of one can lead to catastrophic results.