JacquesT Posted May 16, 2011 Share Did the Houw Hoek tour this weekend. Broke a chain on Sat and then fitted a new chain on Sat after the ride. Sunday, broken chain again. Could this just be bad luck or is there possibly something else that could be causing the chain to break? I have only broken 1 chain in the past 4 years besides this so confused. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted May 16, 2011 Share In my experience chains only break: 1. Soon after being installed, usually due to installation error - i.e. pin not pushed through far enough or to far. 2. Bad gear changes - i.e. changing to a too higher gear and pedalling hard at the same time before the chain has had time to engage the front chain ring properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timM Posted May 16, 2011 Share What were you doing when they broke? changing up?, down? just riding along? This should not happen under normal conditions - Perhaps incorrectly fitted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAD4 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Eat less Jungle Oats in the morning.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquesT Posted May 16, 2011 Share Would love to blame this on having too much power in the sticks, but alas, not the case. On both occassion i was not changing gears and certainly not putting down the power too hard, although the damage may have been done prior to the actual chain coming off i guess. Unlikely that the first chain broke due to incorrect fitment as i have ridden with it for about 3 months already. Second break was on a brand new chain and we had only done about 10km when it broke, so could have been bad fitment i guess. But now def not too confident about it lasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Brunsdon Posted May 16, 2011 Share What chain brand/model? I use (cheap) KMC chains as it comes with its own reusable link and eliminates the problem of bad connection pins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquesT Posted May 16, 2011 Share Shimano XT chain i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted May 18, 2011 Share Would love to blame this on having too much power in the sticks, but alas, not the case. On both occassion i was not changing gears and certainly not putting down the power too hard, although the damage may have been done prior to the actual chain coming off i guess. Unlikely that the first chain broke due to incorrect fitment as i have ridden with it for about 3 months already. Second break was on a brand new chain and we had only done about 10km when it broke, so could have been bad fitment i guess. But now def not too confident about it lasting.Swissvan is spot-on. And so are you. IN the first case, tyhe damage was caused earlier with a bad shift and only surfaced after a while. In the second case, it was a poor fitment. Your first 10ks are always the riskiest ones and that's why I cringe at the guys on the Epic who fit a new chain each day. They introduce a fresh risk each time and waste money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willehond Posted May 18, 2011 Share In my experience chains only break: 1. Soon after being installed, usually due to installation error - i.e. pin not pushed through far enough or to far. 2. Bad gear changes - i.e. changing to a too higher gear and pedalling hard at the same time before the chain has had time to engage the front chain ring properly. Wow, do people actually still use pins to link chains?! I'm way too impatient/unhandy for that. Been using SRAM's different links for ages and never had a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Brunsdon Posted May 18, 2011 Share Wow, do people actually still use pins to link chains?! I'm way too impatient/unhandy for that. Been using SRAM's different links for ages and never had a problem. agree 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eraser Posted May 19, 2011 Share agree 100% +2 and another benefit is that it's really easy to clean the chain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossW Posted May 19, 2011 Share In my experience chains only break: 1. Soon after being installed, usually due to installation error - i.e. pin not pushed through far enough or to far. 2. Bad gear changes - i.e. changing to a too higher gear and pedalling hard at the same time before the chain has had time to engage the front chain ring properly. This happened to a friend on a ride yesterday .... Denies it of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted May 19, 2011 Share +2 and another benefit is that it's really easy to clean the chain... +3 I reckon 95% of chain problem are caused by people fitting the pin incorrectly with a chain tool. Even the Shimano XT with the "break off" guide piece is tricky. Best thing to do is to push until it clicks then push another 1/4 turn - then turn the chain tool around and push 1/4 turn back. Grab the chain and give it a lateral flew once or twice then test to see if the new fitted link is loose and smooth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquesT Posted May 19, 2011 Share Well, will find out soon enough i guess. So now i have a new chain, with a sram 9 spd master link that has done about 40km, so i presume if it breaks again soon then it must be my shifty gear changes. Thanks for the replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted May 19, 2011 Share Well, will find out soon enough i guess. So now i have a new chain, with a sram 9 spd master link that has done about 40km, so i presume if it breaks again soon then it must be my shifty gear changes. Thanks for the replies All the old rules apply: Don't shift whilst putting excessive force on the pedals - shift before you get to the hill - lift off sightly as you change gears... Don't cross the chain too much (avoid riding with the chain in the big-big or small-small position). Keep it clean and lubed. Use a wet lube in wet conditions. Thats all for now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted May 19, 2011 Share Wow, do people actually still use pins to link chains?! I'm way too impatient/unhandy for that. Been using SRAM's different links for ages and never had a problem. It came with a pin as it was a new chain installed by my LBS when I had the bike serviced a few weeks before epic. I prefer the pins as I believe they are fractionaly more reliable (if installed properly) than a quick link. Normaly I just leave the pin installed and ride forever..... dont believe in installing a quick link unless really required. I never take my chain off unless it breaks, so personaly I dont have a need for quick links. But i do carry quick links (KMC) with me when riding and installed one when I broke the chain during epic. So currently I still have a quick link installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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