I changed the chain & cassette on my commuter the other day and got vicious chainsuck in the small chainring. Professor Chainsuck (aka Jonathan Levy) tells me it's all about the teeth wearing down to a slight sharkfin shape so that they hook over the new chain at the bottom of the chainring, and won't let go of it. Which looked about right:
This chainring is not a common size, google didn't find any available locally, and it was going to be NZD $50 to import one. But J Levy's site also mentions flipping chainrings over the other way around so that the shark-fins are pointing in the other direction. You can then use them for twice as long, perfect for a cheap bastard like me. Unfortunately, after flipping my granny I still had chainsuck, but it turned out it wasn't caused by the shark-fins any more, it was caused by the splayed-out widened bits on the worn side of the teeth getting wedged in between the inner side plates of the chain. I filed those bits down, and then it worked like a dream.
Apparently middle and outer chainrings are not flippable because after flipping the ramps and pins would be facing the wrong side, so that you can't shift up to them.
Yea, you have to watch out
Yea, you have to watch out for those splayed-out widened bits.
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