Touring - Do you take extra chain on long dist. tour?

what would you take on a 500-1000 mile loaded tour in case of a chain break, take a full spare chain or just few links (how many is optimum)
Thanks.

I always carry a chain tool and some Shimano pins anyway. I might throw in three or four extra links for a tour, but that's it. I suppose if you use SRAM chains with the powerlink, and have them pre-cut for your bike's chain length, you could save yourself some time and work replacing a broken chain, but that seems excessive to me, especially for the relatively short tour you're describing.

RichC

Someone on this forum suggested taking about five links, an extra connecting link and a chainbraker along on tour. He reasoned that if you had a chain problem, a few links would support you until you could find a bike shop and purchase a new chain. A few links weigh a couple of grams compared to about 300 for a whole chain.

With the Shimano 8-speed and 9-speed chains, I have had great success by riveting (?) the chain with the chain tool instead of using their special pin. On a long tour, it could be advisable to bring 2-3 links, but I don't see why you should bring an entire chain unless you plan a long ride to Siberia.

Chain wear is predictable, so in a really long tour, it's possible to replace the chain in a shop along the road. Chain break is not predictable, however, so you should be prepared.

BTW, if you don't have any spare link, simply shorten the chain by 1-3 links (depending on what's necessary). However, make sure you avoid the large-large combination! It might be safer to put either the large ring or the large cog off limits (re-setting the limit screw) according to terrain.

Regards,

If I might be forgiven some stridency, you must bring a chain tool if you're going more than two days away from home. Waiting all day for someone to drive out to help you, or walking to the bike shop, or hitchhiking, or whatever, are huge drags. A broken chain will ruin one day, and maybe more, if you can't repair it yourself. Chains break often enough to prepare for it, especially given that the necessary equipment is neither heavy nor large.

I bring a chain tool, and six to ten extra links. You always have to replace two links, and the additional links give me room for error. Sometimes one can create a frozen link in pushing the rivet back in with the chain tool, so it's good to have some backup links. I don't think more than ten links is necessary, and less will do nearly all of the time.

Another thing you will find very useful: a thick wire, bent at both ends. With this, you can hold the chain together on the bike while keeping your hands free. Make the wire long enough so that you can add slack to the section of the chain where you work on the rivets at the broken ends.

Take along one powerlink - weighs about 1 gram and will keep you going for several hundred miles if needed until the next bike shop

Chain tool, a few links and a power link. We ride a recumbent tandem on tour and with all that chain.... :) If you use Shimano chain a few spare pins may come in handy. I don't like Shimano chains because of the spare pins, small black parts get lost in my bags, never to be found when needed.

Originally posted by bentbaggerlen
...small black parts get lost in my bags, never to be found when needed.

Film canisters! I use them to carry all sorts of small parts. They work great!

Originally posted by mgagnonlv
On a long tour, it could be advisable to bring 2-3 links, but I don't see why you should bring an entire chain unless you plan a long ride to Siberia....

Regards,


Tsk tsk tsk!! everybody dumps on siberia. I lived there for two years, and there was a bike shop every couple thousand miles....

roughstuff

I have nothing against Siberia. I could have used Africa, Viet Nam, India... There are many bike shops in these places, but they are likely to sell parts that work on local (utility) bikes, rather than the narrow 9-speed chain you might need.

But then, riding to Alaska gives you, in one place, about 1000 km between bike shops and almost 3000 km between "serious" bike shops.

Regards,