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.

[Running Mommy]

I just love you!! You are such a wealth of knowledge!
The exact same clicking thing happened to me when I was IM training last spring. I took the bike in and the shop guy said my chain was bad.
I knew that they needed to be changed regularly, but I didn't know THAT regularly! OY! For a girl who put's at least 400 miles in a month, that's every three months (see I'm good at math too! )
Hmm... Now I'll have to start keeping track.
Good to know tho!

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, I took the bike to LBS today and Fred, the manager - (yep...FRED is his real name ) - said that it was the "master link" which is the weakest point on the chain. He repaired it as a warranty claim....

Anyway, he repaired it with a Quick Link, which he said was stronger and made removing the chain easier...unfortunately, I don't plan on removing the chain much.

Took it out for a hilly 20 mile ride tonight and the clicking is still there under stress, but it's not bothering me that much and everything seems to be shifting responsively.

[SouthernBelle]

Glad it was an easy fix. I know a mechanic named Fred too. He's at our REI.

[li10up]

Took it out for a hilly 20 mile ride tonight and the clicking is still there under stress, but it's not bothering me that much and everything seems to be shifting responsively.

When you say under stress do you mean when you are in your lowest gear? If so, maybe the chain is rubbing against the dérailleur. If you go into a higher gear does the clicking go away. If so, that is my guess. You may just need to adjust your low limit screw.

[Mr. Bloom]

I honestly don't recall...I still get confused with whether "low" is easy or hard...but last night, even on the hills, I stayed in the 10 hardest gears most of the ride.

Tonight, I had a much tougher ride and had no clicking...go figure.