My Chain BROKE tonight!

[Mr. Bloom]

On a pleasant ride tonight down on the Ohio River, my chain actually broke!

So, the question is: Was it chain disfunction or other mechanical disfunction?

This was my third ride in 24 hours. Each ride, whenever I was climbing, I noticed a loud clicking coming from the derailleur area.

So, the question is whether the derailleur was maladjusted and caused the chain to break or whether the chain was causing the clicking when under stress.

Any thoughts?

[Veronica]

Was it a constant clicking or only at a certain spot in your pedal stroke?

V.

[SouthernBelle]

My inexpert first thought was that a link was locked up, and eventually gave way.

ETA: Went to Maggie Moo's and had good ice cream.

[Mr. Bloom]

Was it a constant clicking or only at a certain spot in your pedal stroke?

V.

In climbing, it was constant. In flats, I could gear up to make it go away.

[Veronica]

Maybe you have a damaged tooth in the gear you were climbing in.

V.

[DebW]

I would assume that your chain was starting to fail and that was the cause of the clicking. A derailleur wouldn't make a chain fail. How many miles were on this chain? Had it ever been split and removed from the bike? I'm told that today's 10-speed chains are good for only 1500 miles and that they are so narrow that breaking a link and putting it back together is likely to leave that link vulnerable. Best insurance is to just replace the chain every 1000-1500 miles. Or you may want to invest in a chaintool and carry a couple of spare links. Inspect your chain for links that may be stiff or for bends or slight kinks or twists.

My new bike has a Shimano 9-speed chain. Despite the fact that I've been drilling chain rivets for 30 years on 5-, 6-, and 8-speed chains, I was told to clean this chain on the bike and avoid breaking it. I asked for a bag of new chain pins, and he refused to give me more than 2 so I wouldn't be tempted to break the chain when it wasn't absolutely necessary.

[Mr. Bloom]

Wow. First I've heard of such a short life for chains!

This bike is three months old and has 1,200 miles on it...right in that mileage range.

I'm going to check the cogs on the gears to make sure one is damaged. I'll have it at LBS by noon.

[Veronica]

My new bike has a Shimano 9-speed chain. Despite the fact that I've been drilling chain rivets for 30 years on 5-, 6-, and 8-speed chains, I was told to clean this chain on the bike and avoid breaking it. I asked for a bag of new chain pins, and he refused to give me more than 2 so I wouldn't be tempted to break the chain when it wasn't absolutely necessary.

I'd much rather clean my chain by soaking it in orange stuff.

SRAM chains with a power link are my friend.

V.

[DebW]

SRAM chains with a power link are my friend.

V.

As soon as I wear out this Shimano chain, I'll be putting SRAM chains on my new bike.