SO I got this old takara that someone who is leaving the island gave me for 40 bucks. Best partisthat it was already a SS and set up as a cyclocross bike. SO I took it out forthe first ride today, decided to cruise it the two miles in to work. I get about half way and decided crank it a little harder.Now since its got some knobby tires on it I'm in the nice grassy area. I heard a snap and felt a sudden loss of resistance in my pedal stroke. I get on foot off before the bike flips over a root, and I crash hard, half on a cement driveway. Some cut up legs and what will be a very bruised back, but mostly with the wind knocked out off I lay there thinking "what the jenkins just happened?" One of my fellow sailors drives by and laughs. I get up and realize I have no chain, backtrack and find it, masterlink completely torn apart. Call in to work, tell them I'll be late, and start walking in.
About half way there, I stop and laugh to myself. I started wearing my helmet more often because a fellow fixie rider warned me of the dangers of they what ifs. The first one he said that actually scared me was-"what if your chain breaks on your fixie?" I think I'll be wearing the helmet alot more than I do even now.
Walking into work all bloody though and getting out for an hour to go fix my bike was the best dang part of this whole story though.

somebody's gotta say it:

pictures???

I've had an alarming amount of chain breaks and jumps recently. I had the my masterlink explode on one of my brakeless fixed bikes but I didn't crash, I just had to burn my shoe on my tire and then backtrack to find thge mangled chain.

this is why i don't use my masterlinks, it seems that they are always the piece that fails

That's really odd. I got into a discussion on rec.bicycles.tech and the consensus was that phat boy on a mountain bike in a low gear puts way more strain on a chain than a fixie could (unless you're running a granny up front). Links are rated lower than the rest of the chain, but it's still kind of concerning.

LOL
Always funny when it happens to someone else. Well at least you got a good laugh out of it to. Hmm I keep meaning to ditch my master link maybe now is the time...

I had a similair incedent a few years ago. My chain broke because it was old and rusty but did not break at the ML. Very embarassing and painfull.

What kind of ML did it have (photo)? Did it break or come apart?

THe ML ripped apartmight be the best way to describe it...the masterlink when I found the chain, was bent 90 degrees out on one side. Sorry, no pics, already threw it away

never ever ever use the masterlink!