Today I learned that I was riding on a broken master link. I was 9 miles into my 35 mile ride and I was going up a steep, but short hill when I heard a pop. I kept hearing a nasty noise every 3 to 10 pedal strokes, but it did not get worse. I stopped and looked at the wheel, cranks, bottom bracket and front chain ring and saw nothing wrong. The chain moves as expected so I kept on riding. Today I did my commute and the noise was still there. Tonight in the comfort of my garage I had a good look at the chain and saw 1/2 of the master link was broken :-0. The crazy thing is I rode 26 more miles with 1000+ feet of climbing. I hit 30 mph in places spinning 150 rpm. In addition I commuted 19 miles today with a couple of hills and it held with just one side.

Looking at the fracture surface it was a fatigue failure. I have 30k miles on the bike and I have gone through a couple of chains, but I may have put on an old master link with a new chain. Who knows. I am glad it held.


Broken Master Link


Broken Master link


I was 9 miles into my ride when I heard a snap.