Broken chain

[Slowbee]

tell me guys when the chain is on the smallest gear both front and back will it touch the chain stay.it seems as if my chain sags a lot and rest's on the chain stay when stationary.

 

 

 

Many people don't realise that just because the salesman told you it has 18/20/24/27 gears doesn't mean they're all usable.

 

On a 27spd MTB you probably only have in the region of 12-14 usable gears since their is plenty of overlapping gears(similar ratios on different combinations of the cogs and rings)

 

a hard learnt lesson on my bike (old one)

[Johan Bornman]

tell me guys when the chain is on the smallest gear both front and back will it touch the chain stay.it seems as if my chain sags a lot and rest's on the chain stay when stationary.

 

If your chain rests on the chainstay when stationary you don't have enough pressure on the pedal. A too long chain will sag at the bottom, not the top.

 

If you are on the two smallest sprockets, your chain is too long if the jockey applies no tension to the return run on the chain. Some jockeys will also scrape on the chain. Remove two links in this case.

[Old school]

Also interesting about a worn chain is that it doesn't affect shifting either. Theoretically a very, very worn chain (so worn that it will only engage on your most favourite sprocket and skip on all others) combined with an RD that's set with the top idler pulle far away from the sprockets, may not shift into gear, but that's not a likely scenario. Therefore I feel safe to say a worn chain does not affect shifting.

 

Take a worn chain and test it in shifting. Compare it to a new chain. Big difference.

[Johan Bornman]

JB' date=' just a guess from you then why the dust covered one went? I mean it was a clean bike, well serviced, went in trailer on a lengthy piece of dirt road, then taken out for a ride, 120km in, chain go poof. [/quote']

 

Poor installation, poor shifting, poor quality control at the factory or a faulty component.

 

If you had been riding with the chain for ages before it broke, eliminate poor installation. Statistically, the deeper into its life it breaks, the higher the chance that you made a shifting error.

 

A poorly installed chain will break quickly after installation, as will a chain with a manufacturing or material fault.

 

I find it very useful if people keep their failed components so I can do a post mortem on those nights that TV is bad...Monday, T'uesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and most weekends.

 

[Johan Bornman]

Also interesting about a worn chain is that it doesn't affect shifting either. Theoretically a very' date=' very worn chain (so worn that it will only engage on your most favourite sprocket and skip on all others) combined with an RD that's set with the top idler pulle far away from the sprockets, may not shift into gear, but that's not a likely scenario. Therefore I feel safe to say a worn chain does not affect shifting.

 

Take a worn chain and test it in shifting. Compare it to a new chain. Big difference.

[/quote']

 

Would you care to explain how the difference presents?

[bob_the_builder]

 

JB' date=' just a guess from you then why the dust covered one went? I mean it was a clean bike, well serviced, went in trailer on a lengthy piece of dirt road, then taken out for a ride, 120km in, chain go poof. [/quote']

 

Poor installation, poor shifting, poor quality control at the factory or a faulty component.

 

If you had been riding with the chain for ages before it broke, eliminate poor installation. Statistically, the deeper into its life it breaks, the higher the chance that you made a shifting error.

 

A poorly installed chain will break quickly after installation, as will a chain with a manufacturing or material fault.

 

I find it very useful if people keep their failed components so I can do a post mortem on those nights that TV is bad...Monday, T'uesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and most weekends.

 

 

Heh heh... Cool, would love to help you with a post mortem, but this was about 15 years ago... broken bits long gone... What you say makes sense. Thanks.

 

[Johan Bornman]

 

I was once foolish enough to get suckered into buying a Wipperman stainless steel chain . Never again.

 

I'd be interested to know why you didn't like this chain. I've never used a Wipperman but I find the notion of a stainless steel chain so silly.

 

Whenever someone brings a new product to market, always ask them "what problem does it solve?" No doubt the answer in this case would have been rust. However, rust is not a problem on chains. The oil we put on there keeps them just about rust-free and they eventually fail from wear, not corrosion.

 

If the answer was "it looks great", I would go with that.

 

 

[bob_the_builder]

I reckon the stainless chain would look pretty cool.

[Slowbee]

can you fix a chain with a hammer?

[bob_the_builder]

If not, use duct tape

[Speed Devil]

JB, I have been riding DA for most of my life. I heard that Ultegra chains and clusters are harder wearing and therefore last longer than DA. So when I bought my Racing wheels last year I put the DA cluster on my racing wheels and an Ultegra on the training set seeing as I do way more kms on the traingwheels and when the time came for replacing the chain I put an Ultegra on.

 

Price is usually not an issue when replacing components (Ultegra vs DA) by me, I'm just looking for something that will give me good service for the money. What is your opinion on this?

[Iven]

 

My bike came specced with a Dura Ace chain and when the time came to replace it I started using Ultegra chains. I simply cannot justify the increased cost of the DA chain. Since then I've used a ton of Ultegra chains and can't say that I agree with you.

 

I was once foolish enough to get suckered into buying a Wipperman stainless steel chain . Never again.

Save even more money by going even lower down the food chain.

 

Shimano's cheapest chain is exactly the same insofar your sprockets care about chains. Only the shiny coating is different.

 

As I was typing the above post I thought that you may say that and I must agree with you. However, I like the shiny stuff and I am happy to pay for it to a degree

 

[Slowbee]

i just discovered quick links ..they are awesome. On my bike the part where the pin goes into is curved, as opposed to being straight like on the old bike.

[Iven]

 

I was once foolish enough to get suckered into buying a Wipperman stainless steel chain . Never again.

 

I'd be interested to know why you didn't like this chain. I've never used a Wipperman but I find the notion of a stainless steel chain so silly.

 

Whenever someone brings a new product to market' date=' always ask them "what problem does it solve?" No doubt the answer in this case would have been rust. However, rust is not a problem on chains. The oil we put on there keeps them just about rust-free and they eventually fail from wear, not corrosion.

 

If the answer was "it looks great", I would go with that.

 

 

[/quote']

 

I did like the look of the chain - I like shiny looking chains - it makes them appear cleaner.

 

I didn't like the chain because it cost so much more than an expensive DA chain but did not last any longer than an Ultegra or DA chain.

 

[TheLegend]

 

 

The peened head does not wear and the sideplate's hole elongates but doesn'tg enlarge its diameter' date=' therefore won't slip over the mushroomed end of the pin.

 

A worn chain is therefore not more prone to breaking than a new one. Also interesting about a worn chain is that it doesn't affect shifting either. Theoretically a very, very worn chain (so worn that it will only engage on your most favourite sprocket and skip on all others) combined with an RD that's set with the top idler pulle far away from the sprockets, may not shift into gear, but that's not a likely scenario. Therefore I feel safe to say a worn chain does not affect shifting.

 

[/quote']

 

the sideplate's holw elongates but doesn't change it's diameter!?!?!??? there's a pin in that hole, so when the hole elongates it changes it's form from "perfectly" round to a bit strechted round. since the pin is in there the horizontal hole sides can't just be pulled down and up respectively (unless they deform or cut into the pin). so the inner circumfences of that whole must increase and therefore more play and proneness to brake result.

doesn't it?

 

(don't jump on me and beat me to death with a not-understanable answer. just questioning your statement and asking for an aswer - sincerely yours!)

 

[Old school]

A chain when worn also wears side to side when viewing a chain from the top on drivetrain. Therefore means play on chain when shifting from one gear to another. The top pulley's distance from gear is never just 1 pin usually 2-3 pins which means the deviasion from side to side becomes greater and the chain does not engage correctly.