Broken chain

[Chris Armstrong]

I am a bit of a machanical numpty. I was out yesterday and my chain snapped. I got it fixed with a multi-tool, and cycled 15 miles on the repiared chain with no problems. The chain seems ok as a fit as I get all gears ok and it doesn't appear too tight even though it's shortened. My question is, do I have to now put a new chain on or will the repair be ok as a permanent measure? Any advice appreciated.
As a another point, the chain snapped on the Selby/York cycleway. I know there are arguments for and against "apartheid" cycle paths, but I thought this route was great for my 5 year old. The planet stuff on route kept him interested along the way and it is as a flat route so I would recommend it for kids of a similar age and ability - off stabilisers, keen but not capable of long distances.
Cheers.

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Chris
Armstrong ('[email protected]')
wrote:

> I am a bit of a machanical numpty. I was out yesterday and my chain
> snapped. I got it fixed with a multi-tool, and cycled 15 miles on the
> repiared chain with no problems. The chain seems ok as a fit as I get
> all gears ok and it doesn't appear too tight even though it's
> shortened. My question is, do I have to now put a new chain on or will
> the repair be ok as a permanent measure? Any advice appreciated.

The interesting question is why it snapped. But if it is not excessively
worn I would advise putting a few spare links in with your multitool and
carrying on. Best of all, get a proper SRAM magic link and put that in
the toolkit. Not only does it make it easier to fix the chain in an
emergency, once it's in it makes it far easier to get the chain off for
cleaning, which is one thing which /will/ extend its life.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

There are no messages. The above is just a random stream of
bytes. Any opinion or meaning you find in it is your own creation.

 

[Pete Biggs]

Chris Armstrong wrote:
> I am a bit of a machanical numpty. I was out yesterday and my chain
> snapped. I got it fixed with a multi-tool, and cycled 15 miles on the
> repiared chain with no problems. The chain seems ok as a fit as I get
> all gears ok and it doesn't appear too tight even though it's
> shortened.

Including largest chainring with largest rear sprocket? No need for a
longer chain if so.

> My question is, do I have to now put a new chain on or will
> the repair be ok as a permanent measure?

There's the worry about the quality and condition of the chain (why did it
snap in the first place?) and the quality of the repair. A new chain
would be sensible if any doubts remain, but bear in mind that a new
cassette may then be needed too if the chain was much worn.

~PB

 

[elyob]

"Simon Brooke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> in message <[email protected]>, Chris
> Armstrong ('[email protected]')
> wrote:
>
>> I am a bit of a machanical numpty. I was out yesterday and my chain
>> snapped. I got it fixed with a multi-tool, and cycled 15 miles on the
>> repiared chain with no problems. The chain seems ok as a fit as I get
>> all gears ok and it doesn't appear too tight even though it's
>> shortened. My question is, do I have to now put a new chain on or will
>> the repair be ok as a permanent measure? Any advice appreciated.
>
> The interesting question is why it snapped. But if it is not excessively
> worn I would advise putting a few spare links in with your multitool and
> carrying on. Best of all, get a proper SRAM magic link and put that in
> the toolkit. Not only does it make it easier to fix the chain in an
> emergency, once it's in it makes it far easier to get the chain off for
> cleaning, which is one thing which /will/ extend its life.

Someone asked me why I had a chain tool yesterday. I had a hard time coming
up with a reasonable reason why I had that and no spare links/pins/etc ...

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, elyob
('[email protected]') wrote:

>
> "Simon Brooke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> in message <[email protected]>,
>> Chris Armstrong
>> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>>
>>> I am a bit of a machanical numpty. I was out yesterday and my chain
>>> snapped. I got it fixed with a multi-tool, and cycled 15 miles on the
>>> repiared chain with no problems. The chain seems ok as a fit as I get
>>> all gears ok and it doesn't appear too tight even though it's
>>> shortened. My question is, do I have to now put a new chain on or
>>> will the repair be ok as a permanent measure? Any advice appreciated.
>>
>> The interesting question is why it snapped. But if it is not
>> excessively worn I would advise putting a few spare links in with your
>> multitool and carrying on. Best of all, get a proper SRAM magic link
>> and put that in the toolkit. Not only does it make it easier to fix
>> the chain in an emergency, once it's in it makes it far easier to get
>> the chain off for cleaning, which is one thing which /will/ extend its
>> life.
>
> Someone asked me why I had a chain tool yesterday. I had a hard time
> coming up with a reasonable reason why I had that and no spare
> links/pins/etc ...

If you have a 9/10 speed chain then a pocket or multitool chain tool is
going to have a hard job putting a new link /in/, but it should be
adequate for getting the remains of the old link /out/. You then need a
magic link to join the ends.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they
;; do it from  religious conviction."          -- Pascal