UnfilteredDregs

Grrrr....

bbeasley

Dropped the hammer, with massive quads rippling, as your lead out launched you toward the finish line?

Seriously, that sucks did you have to walk home?

jsigone

looks like one of those KMC superlite chains. I just run their normal X10 chains for all my bikes except for the singlespeed, that gets a SRAM 8spd. Their regular chains last a LONG time before having shifting issues and never broke one.

You can carry a sram 10speed power link if you want to keep running the light weight stuff but I'm sure you busted a nut or knee on your stem when it broke

UnfilteredDregs

lmao... Actually, I really hit it hard the day before yesterday. I was going to do a cruiser from my house to Brooklyn, where the shop is, and back... 50 miles give or take... So, I was actually taking it easy and I was at about mile 8.5 I had just topped a 2 mile 2.5% hill we have here in the Bronx leading over to the Henry Hudson Bridge. I was frankly marveling at how easy it is to climb on a road bike versus the mountain bike I've road for the last 1500 miles...

I got to the bridge and the bikepath was closed due to construction. So I turned around and was going to head down to Marble Hill and cross over onto Broadway then just shoot over to the West side bike path to continue my trek to Gowanus... I was stopped at an intersection, I got the green, got on it pretty gently, on the inner ring and all that, and my crank just spun out underneath me and I thought I dropped the chain...I looked again and realized...I have no chain! I looked behind me and it was lying in the road so I fetched it.

I coasted down the 2 mile hill I just climbed, a good small LBS at the base, and they weren't open, even though it was noon and the sign said they open at 1130am.

I called my shop in BK, told them what happened, and I just hopped on the Subway (Station was right there...) and did the walk of shame. Of course I didn't roll my steed along, but hefted it upon my shoulder as manly vanity and pride demand...

Seemed to be a perfect storm combination having to do with apparently I'd stretched the FD cable and a possible manufacturer's defect with the chain. No cracks on the outside, etc... It just popped open. Ultegra 10 spd.

Then I hauled ass back from Brooklyn to duh Bronx and made it just before sundown, so I didn't have to kill any zombies.

donalson

... I've had a few of those... I always carry a sram quick link for this reason... it at least lets you get home without walking...

bbeasley

On the road, how do you knock the pin out of the side of the broken link that is still attached?

jimc101

You really need a chain breaker, like a Park CT=5 https://www.parktool.com/product/mini...hain-tool-ct-5 plenty of other makes also available. You would need to remove the rivets & outer plates so you have both ends which terminate with inner plate, then you can then join them with a masterlink. SRAM, KMC & Connex make these, make sure you use the correct one for your chain speed.

donalson

I'm a MTBer at heart... I carry a small pedros multi tool that has a chain tool on it.

Cychologist

Yes, it was certainly a defective chain. New chains don't break from hard riding. In my many years of riding (over 40) and usually doing more than 3,000 miles a year, I have only needed a chain tool out on a ride once. I don't even carry one with me any longer. (I do regularily check my chain for wear and it is almost always properly lined.)

bigfred 

I used to carry a multi-tool that included a chain tool. But, I've down sized to a Lezyne RAp-6 which does not. However, I still carry a spare quick link. Enough wiggling and bending will see a determined cyclist get the other end of the outer plate off the other pin. Then it's a matter of getting the pin through the inner half link. Between rocks and fences and the occassional leatherman or pliers from a passing motorist or farm, I will find a way to get the pin extracted from the remaining inner half link. I have little doubt. My will to ride home instead of walk is that strong.

bbeasley

Well done, you sir are a Velominati

brons2

Yes, the Park CT-5 is a fantastic tool, very lightweight and works great! Should keep one in your bags on long rides.

chriskmurray

This is filled with win.

chaadster

The singular form should be 'velominato', not that I endorse all that silliness.

chaadster

I'm only 25 years in, but yeah, I haven't had a chain break since the '80s, and I too, have given up on carrying a tool or repair bits. Apparently it does happen, obviously, but I'm still not worried about it.

jsigone

how do you like the warbird? I was heavily considering building up the alum version of it

genejockey 

I never broke a chain, but I once broke a rear derailleur cable 8 miles from home in the pre-cell phone era. Luckily the multitool I had included a chain tool, so I opened the chain, pulled it off the rear der, and rewrapped it onto the small ring and the largest cog I thought I could push on the hills I needed to climb,removed the necessary links and road home as a single speed. Now I always carry a chain tool in my bag.

But now I also always carry a cell phone, too.

chaadster

You broke the cable? How'd that occur?

bigfred 

Just for future reference, you can usually get the deraileur up a few cogs by screwing the limit screw all the way in. Leaving you with a 2 speed.

donalson

or remove the cable and slip it though the rear der without the housing so the cable end/stop that would be in the shifter is in the barrel adjuster, lock the cable in the tension bolt as normal and then you can adjust the barrel till the chain sits in the gear you want it to be in... very crude way of a SS... or at least a VERY wide 2 speed/3 speed if you've got front gears... I imagine you could also use a string in a real bind

genejockey 

The way you'd expect - lack of preventive maintenance! I'd ridden that bike through a wet winter and not redone the cables since it was new.

genejockey 

The possible routes home from that point all feature 5 minute climbs in the 7-9% range, so I needed to be in a lower gear than 39 x 15, but if I lived somewhere flatter, that would also have been an option. I'm pretty impressed with myself for having thought to shorten and reroute the chain, and not just sit down and cry!

volosong

Man! You're tough on chains! There are so many little nicks in that chain that it is hard to believe that it only has 100 miles on it. It looks well and long used.

---

Another recommendation for the Park CT-5 and a SRAM quick link. Keep in mind about big-big until you can verify the chain length.

UnfilteredDregs

Thanks for this, I'll add it to the onboard kit...

I figure the KMC "Missing Link" will do the trick?:

UnfilteredDregs

I tried to find a farm in the South Bronx but no luck; the passing motorists were strangely uncooperative.