Good News, Bad News??

[Tom Blum]

And may I add," Damn Computers!!" I had this written once and while trying to touch type, hit some
combination of keys that erased everything. Sheesh.

To continue, or begin again:

5 miles into my ride this morning, I put full torque to the pedals to get across an intersection,
rather than waiting a long time for the next opportunity. On the second pedal stroke "POW" the chain
snapped!!!

As always, there are several explanations:

First: All the riding is paying off and my legs of steel are now capable of snapping steel chains.A
good thing!!

Second: Maybe I screwed up adding links and didn't get the pin centered. A bad thing!!

In any event, I'm five miles from home, with no socks on, with a low racer. Not an
enviable position.

Putting on my best McGyver face, I inventory the situation: I am prepared to fix a flat.And I have a
fishbone wrench and a pair of cheap pliers. Things look grim!!

I search the intersection, thinking a master link has come off. I feel like a vulture eating road
kill, running from oncoming cars at the last second. No Luck. There is no link to be found. Neither
is there a spare in the tool bag. (Note to self: Get spare master link.)

Then, I look at the chain for the first time.AHA!!!! A link has simply pulled apart. This is where
the legs of steel hypotheses come up. Then I notice a master link two links away. That's how I
adjust chain length; two links at a time. Dang!! Second theory wins. But the situation is repairable
with supplies on hand.

Using my cheap pliers and a sharp corner of the fishbone, I finally manage to pop the master (why do
they call them whatever the name is. they lie, It's a ***** getting a master link apart.}. The
missing two inches of chain is no biggie. Soon, like Willie Nelson, I'm singing "On the Road Again".
Nothing worse than filthy hands to show for the experience.

The wind is really blowing, at about 15 miles, I turn downwind. I'm able to spin out in 46/ 13.
Estimate 26 mph.(Spin out is probably 95 or 100 rpm for
me).That's a first for me on the flat.

Got home safely. The ham in the oven is okay. A happy end to another ride.

--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum

 

[Mikael Seierup]

"Tom Blum" skrev...
> Using my cheap pliers and a sharp corner of the fishbone, I finally manage to pop the master (why
> do they call them whatever the name is. they lie, It's a ***** getting a master link apart.}. The
> missing two inches of chain is no biggie. Soon, like Willie Nelson, I'm singing "On the Road
> Again". Nothing worse than filthy hands to show for the experience.

Aw boo. I thought we were going to get a real MacGuyver tale about how you fixed it with 3
grassstraws, a bottlecap and 2 dead mice and then you just use the masterlink.

I always ride with a chaintool. Saved me some walking on one occasion.

Mikael

 

[Ben Fox]

Don't know what brand of chain you're using,but SRAM masterlinks are very easy to remove ,no tools
needed,I always carry a couple extras,just in case. Ben fox "Tom Blum" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> And may I add," Damn Computers!!" I had this written once and while trying to touch type, hit some
> combination of keys that erased everything.
Sheesh.
>
> To continue, or begin again:
>
> 5 miles into my ride this morning, I put full torque to the pedals to get across an intersection,
> rather than waiting a long time for the next opportunity. On the second pedal stroke "POW" the
> chain snapped!!!
>
> As always, there are several explanations:
>
> First: All the riding is paying off and my legs of steel are now capable
of
> snapping steel chains.A good thing!!
>
> Second: Maybe I screwed up adding links and didn't get the pin centered. A bad thing!!
>
> In any event, I'm five miles from home, with no socks on, with a low
racer.
> Not an enviable position.
>
> Putting on my best McGyver face, I inventory the situation: I am prepared
to
> fix a flat.And I have a fishbone wrench and a pair of cheap pliers. Things look grim!!
>
> I search the intersection, thinking a master link has come off. I feel
like
> a vulture eating road kill, running from oncoming cars at the last second. No Luck. There is no
> link to be found. Neither is there a spare in the
tool
> bag. (Note to self: Get spare master link.)
>
> Then, I look at the chain for the first time.AHA!!!! A link has simply pulled apart. This is where
> the legs of steel hypotheses come up. Then I notice a master link two links away. That's how I
> adjust chain length;
two
> links at a time. Dang!! Second theory wins. But the situation is
repairable
> with supplies on hand.
>
> Using my cheap pliers and a sharp corner of the fishbone, I finally manage to pop the master (why
> do they call them whatever the name is. they lie, It's a ***** getting a master link apart.}. The
> missing two inches of
chain
> is no biggie. Soon, like Willie Nelson, I'm singing "On the Road Again". Nothing worse than filthy
> hands to show for the experience.
>
> The wind is really blowing, at about 15 miles, I turn downwind. I'm able
to
> spin out in 46/ 13. Estimate 26 mph.(Spin out is probably 95 or 100 rpm
for
> me).That's a first for me on the flat.
>
> Got home safely. The ham in the oven is okay. A happy end to another ride.
>
>
> --
> Miles of Smiles,
>
> Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed Machine Clone
>
> www.gate.net/~teblum
>

 

[Shwackman]

Right on Tom, it's always satisfying to handle a tough situation "on your own", and make it home.
Just last weekend when I was coming home from riding with you guys, I had a flat tire on the truck,
and the spare was flat. I wound up rolling the spare into a dive shop 2 miles away, and then walking
it back, but I didn't have to call anybody. By the way, was it a 9 speed chain that broke?? your
pal,Mark C.

 

[Chere]

LOL!!! "I feel like a vulture eating road kill" ........ or the character "Skink" in a Carl
Hiaasen novel.

Nothing worse than blowing the opportunity to flaunt those "bands of steel" in the middle of an
intersection. Good work on the eventual fix!

By the way, an accidental deletion of an email composition can sometimes be cured with "edit" -
"undo"; it will (sometimes) bring back the text if you do it immediately (before typing again).

That was a fun post to read Tom. Add "good writing skills" to your list of "things in
which I excel".
--
Chere ~ GRR Sanibel, FL / Cumberland, MD

 

[Tom Blum]

Me with 9 speed parts???

I'm a budget biker. I crept into the 7 speed era a few years ago. Three chains at $20 would break
my spirit.

It was a WalMart chain at $8 ea. ,prox. But, it wasn't really the chain's fault, since it came apart
at a link I had added. I've never peened over the outside of the pin on a splice. Maybe I didn't get
the pin centered?? Who knows.

A spare link or two and a small chain tool are being added to the tool bag
mix.

Tom

 

[Jude T. McGloin]

Mark, For what its worth I have not changed a flat tire on my truck in years. I carry a good 12 volt
powered pump and a plug kit. 10 minutes and I'm rolling again. As for the bike. My last flat was not
really a flat but a blowout caused by my own dumbass. The tire should have been replaced before the
ride but I said to myself...Its ok it will make another century. Sorta the "Cobbler has holes in his
shoes" I have had a Shimano chain part on me at the solid replacement pin. Today I shy away from the
Shimano chain and use only the mid to top grade SRAM and the top of the line KMC with quicklinks.
The QLs work well with any 9 speed chain. Like another poster, I carry one or two with me. They are
also available for the wider chains.

Jude....///Bacchetta AERO St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland Wheel Doctor Cycle and Sports,
Inc 1-800-586-6645 "Shwackman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Right on Tom, it's always satisfying to handle a tough situation "on your
own",
> and make it home. Just last weekend when I was coming home from riding
with you
> guys, I had a flat tire on the truck, and the spare was flat. I wound up rolling the spare into a
> dive shop 2 miles away, and then walking it back,
but
> I didn't have to call anybody. By the way, was it a 9 speed chain that
broke??
> your pal,Mark C.