cyqlist

Here is what it looks like:

landstander

Not anymore... but a hammer could probably be made to work!

Raiyn

Let's be orderly about this. Form a single line, one whack per turn

old_alfie

Well I'll be dipped in sheep _ _ _ _!
It _does_ look like a fine-tooth saw blade.

So if the guy was right about the quarter inch pitch he must be right about the hammer/pliers/screwdriver method too. Heck, I'll let him have his way.
alf

splytz1

Funny thread. This is my favorite. Apparently there's only one mechanic in Baltimore, and he's not very good...

oilman_15106

I worked at a plant back when and the maintenance guy had only 2 tools. A hammer(big one) and a screwdiriver. Could fix almost anything. So the OP does have a future.

Could replace ebay as the best free entertainemnt on the net.

Mr. Underbridge

While it lasts...this is a guy who will try to rewire his house without turning off the power because he doesn't want to buy a flashlight. Hilarious consequences will ensue.

onbike 1939

Following your description of me as I "Dickhead" I've had a change of heart. Pay no attention to these know-alls who are sneering at your efforts to fix your chain, albeit by unconventional means.

Your problem is that you lack a proper sense of scale. Forget pliers and even hammers. Let me ask you just one question.
Do you own, or can you borrow welding equipment? Better still...do you have access to explosives?

Just think of it. No more fumbling around with inadequate tools, just spark up and you can burn or blow through that chain in no time at all.
Go for it. You are an example to us all.

zac

Oh, I smell a Darwin Award!

DMF 

Is it a bicycle chain? Yes or no.

• oxy-acetylene torch
• giant bolt-cutters
• cut-off tool
• hacksaw
• explosives.

What? You want to re-use it? Well then, let's start over.

• ram press
• press pin sized to the rivet
• through-anvil sized to the rivet.

In other words, a chain tool.

Now, maybe with your weird chain the rivet is a different size - or maybe not. But if that's an issue, we rely on you to tell us.

makeinu

While what lasts? The group of posts before this one were funny and semi serious (You actually can fix quite a bit with just a hammer and a screwdriver), but now you're just starting another round of insults....because you're a jerk.

Yeah, what was Sheldon thinking when he suggested using a hammer to remove cottered cranks instead of buying a cotter pin press?! Doesn't he know that cranks are critical to bicycle operation and that only a fool would use anything but a cycling specific cotter pin press?

And this is supposed to convince people that you're not a dickhead?

You know, I was just thinking that the one thing this thread needed was another ******* to make snide comments. There just doesn't seem to be enough of them around here!

It's sold in the bicycle chain product lineup of a bicycle chain manufacturer and came on my bicycle. I would call that a bicycle chain, but some people reserve the term "cycle" for only those things sold aside spandex shorts.

Thank you. I don't want to re-use it (at least not the link which I'm replacing), but this is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for from the start. Although I still think the QR skewer method is the best suggestion yet.

Also, my weird chain wasn't the one I needed to break. I just mentioned it because it was one of the things preventing me from buying any old chain tool. Buying a different chain tool for every bike is a waste of money in my opinion and, unfortunately, the bike shops aren't very accommodating (they just try to sell you anything that says "bicycle" on the package, without regard for what you actually need), so it will take a little research for me to find out which chain tools will work with all my chains.

DMF 

Some tools have replaceable pins available in different sizes, but those tend to be of the higher-priced variety. Chain width isn't an issue although height (the vertical span of the link) would (e.g. a bike chain tool won't break a motorcycle chain) since the pin wouldn't line up with the rivet.

DMF 

Good way to ruin the skewer along with the chain. Threads are too wide for the rivet hole.

urbanknight

Because some of us have seen what happens when someone compromises their chain (as you have, but much worse). Walk up to the stem of your bike and put it in your mouth, that's about where the guy hit when his chain snapped, spinning his pedals, sending him flying forward without notice. You have bent a plate on the chain back and fourth. That's how I break metal sheets that thick. Your original question included information causing us to be concerned. Don't be offended if people pontificate on the outcome of your refusal to take advice. I wouldn't ride 10 seconds on that chain, let alone 1 week.

Anyway, if you buy a track pitch chain tool (1/4") you can use it to break any other bicycle chain. You just have to be careful not to push the pin all the way out on the narrower chains. I use that kind because I used to race velodrome, and it has worked on 7, 8, and 9 speed chains as well without a problem.

Take our advice or not, but don't expect us to not warn you. This is a society designed to protect the stupid.

CyLowe97

I posted that QR skewer solution, which was an emergency roadside technique I recalled seeing, not something to be done in the comforts of one's workshop or garage.

Do yourself a huge favor and spend $10 on a chain tool. Even a non-wrench like myself has one and can use it with ease.


This thread is about as goofy as I've ever read on the forum.

slowandsteady

Why did you even post here? Clearly you have no intention of listening to people who know better. So instead of buying a $5 chain tool that you will use several times you are willing to break other tools, destroy a chain, buy another chain, and risk your health. You do realize that this isn't saving any money and it doesn't make any sense**********????

slowandsteady

Of course...I always use a hammer and a screwdriver. I mean, if the damn RD won't shift right, it deserves a good whack with hammer. That'll teach it.

makeinu

That's fine, but I'm perfectly happy doing my own risk management. The fact that the integrity of my chain has been compromised has been duly noted and I will adjust my total risk exposure accordingly. If the chain is 1000 times more likely to break then riding 1000 times fewer miles on it will subject me to the same amount of danger. Throw in a month of jaywalking abstinence for good measure and I'm a happy camper.

Warning is one thing. Derision is another.

It's a method for breaking a chain. Whether or not it's appropriate for any given situation really depends on the kind of results one is looking for.

When I get around to researching chain tools for 1/4" pitch chains I will, but for now I don't have any more chains to break.

To get information. When I ask someone a question I don't just blindly follow what they tell me ("excuse me sir, do you know where I can find a public bathroom around here?"..."why yes, if you just jump in front of that truck over there you'll be sure to find a public bathroom"..."are there any other ways to find a public bathroom?"..."well if you aren't going to listen to me then why did you even ask?"). I combine what they tell me with what I already know and make my own decision based on all that I've learned.

Knowing better about repairing a bicycle and knowing better about how I should spend my money are different things, but many people seem to be confusing the two. Nobody knows better about my life than me. I'd be replacing my pliers, throwing out the chain, buying a new chain, and risking my health whether I bought a chain tool or not. So despite what you think, the fact is that I am saving money in addition to learning how feasible it is to remove a chain without a chain tool (which will help me decide how I should break chains for which compatible chain tools aren't readily available). It makes a whole lot of sense.

TimJ

I get it now! You just happened upon the wrong forum! You should be asking your questions in the Wrong Tool For The Job But Right for the Particular Circumstances Involved According To Some Personal Unspoken Esoteric Logic, forums. This is bike forums, sub-category: bicycle mechanics.

See, we all thought you were doing something dumb and possibly dangerous according to the most basic bicycle rules of thumb. But I see now you're just in the wrong forum, that's all. Either that or you're a bit self-absorbed with a little too much sense of entitlement so you expect to be served in a particular way no matter how you present yourself.

slowandsteady

So as to not waste our time next time you post a question...please also post the answer you want to hear....cuts out all those silly experience based and knowledgeable posts with what you actually want to hear.

uncaboos

TimJ, you are brilliant, I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. The sad thing is that your scenario brilliantly duplicated the chain-braking thread. Thanks for the laughs.

Mr. Underbridge

This thread reminds me of the time my Grandpa was trying to cut a limb off the tree. He was sawing away, but the whole family was out there trying to tell him he was doing it wrong. He told everybody to shut up, he knew what he was doing.

Of course, his tune changed when he sawed through the limb, and it turned out he was standing on the end that didn't have a tree attached.

makeinu

I'd be perfectly happy hearing any answer to my question, or even no answer at all. However, "Use a chain tool" is not an answer to the question "Is there any way to break a chain without a tool?". It's an answer to the question "Should I break my chain without a tool?", which is a question I never asked.

How would you like it if you asked a question about wheel building and in response you got 30 posts, sprinkled with insults, telling you how to powder paint a frame?

I don't expect to be served at all, but if anyone sees fit to grace my thread with a response, am I not entitled that that response exhibit a modicum of politeness and be free of derision? I think you're entitled to it. So why not me too? Would it have been so difficult for each of the twenty or so *******s who saw fit to disparage me to have kept silent instead?

Here's a piece of advice I learned from my mother: If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all.

Well, we should add that to the GroupThink Handbook to ensure that all the little sheep out there never stray from the norm. After all, we wouldn't want anyone trying anything new with the risk of failure and all. For goodness sake, they might actually discover something better. Then what would we do?

Mr Underbridge, you are a champion of mediocrity and an inspiration to us all!

niknak

OP, the best answer to the question "Is there any way to break a chain without a chain tool?" has been repeatedly stated.

There is no good method that works to break a chain without a chain tool.

slowandsteady

Since you like analogies let's get a more appropriate one to your question...as this is nothing like a sensible question about wheelbuilding....and getting powdercoating responses. It is more like this:

Hey, everybody, I would like to cut off every other toe to save weight on my next hill climb. Should I just yank them off with pliers or cut them with a dremel?

And then getting mad when everyone doesn't answer my question but rather tries to talk some sense into me about not cutting off bodyparts as a method to reduce weight.