AHH...popped chain!
 

Well that was quite possibly the scariest thing that ever happened to me. Coming down a pretty nice sized downhill, same as I do everyday as it leads to my street. They must have started some road work over the weekend because ahead of me lies some uneven pavement. I figure no biggie, I always have to do a little hop over bumps this is no different. As soon as the back wheel hits the uneven pavement pop goes the chain. Now Im going downhill through a 4 way interesection, thank god my side was green, and im picking up more speed. In my head all I could do was pray the chain didnt get stuck in the back wheel somehow because I wouldve been a goner. Eventually I tail off the street into some grass and was able to slow myself down. This has never happened before and I believe my chain tension is very good. I have the chain back on and nothing seems out of line. Was it probably just because of the way I hit the bump? I really dont want to ride to class tomorrow and have that happen again so Im going to take it very slow. This is the first time Ive popped a chain so if it happens once does it mean it probably will again?

errrr how so? new links, in place of the broken one?

get a new chain.

Well by popped I mean it just popped off track, nothing broke.

Might be a good time to get comfortable with the foot-on-the-rear-tire technique (if for no other reason than to distract you from your certain death).

It's happened to me, it sucks, but here's what you do if you're on a downhill:
- dominant foot off the pedal
- wedge foot between the rear wheel and the seat-tube (practice first in non-life-threatning situtation)
- skid to a stop
- run a tighter chain

I might add that you need more than "a few toes" between pipe and tire. get that mutha up in there. it will hurt less.

Standing on the rear tire works too.
- put foot of choice behind seatstays (where brake caliper would be)
- stand up
A lot of weight will be on your rear tire and will shut things down real fast. (looks wonderful too!).

Also, it is pain free if done correctly ;)

Never tried your method Judah, will work on it.

Sweet, you wanna ride down to PA on Thursday morning?

What time do you usually arrive there? and how long is the ride back?

We roll through PA around 7-7:30, at 7:23 there's a bullet which will get you back to SF by 8:01, and at 7:32 there's a limited that will get you back to SF by 8:15...

how much does the train cost?

$5 from PA

Since Im getting a new bike fairly soon I didnt want to mess too much with this one. But I repositioned the rearwheel, cleaned chainring/cog and relubed the chain and this thing rides like a new bike! Now that I played with it my chain was wayyyy too loose. Im surprised I didnt die multiple times today.

mind if i come and wheat time do you start? and where? you can also check out my new wheel set

5am thursday at 3rd and 16th

If you had a brake this wouldn't have been such a scary occurrence.

Brakeless on one of applecart's bumbikes = trouble.

another variation on the foot to the back tire technique is to place both feet back by top of the tire and squeeze just as if your feet where the brakes. Works fine and pain free on straightaways, but be warned that I've never tested it on a major downhill...

Shimano 105 brake caliper: 175 grams of prevention is worth a megaton of cure.

You could always put a front brake on...

Oh wait, that would be downright logical... :D

Yeah but I can't imagine he would have gotten many responses (or even posted for that matter) if the story went along the lines of "and then, right after I dropped my chain, I squeezed my shimano 105 and came to a stop."
His story is an experience of much more depth and will be a good one to tell for years to come. Now isn't that what life is about?

I've unthreaded my cog like three times going downhill and each and everytime I unclip and put my feet down and let the sparks fly!

Stupid people die first.

but only the saints die young.

wait. did I just quote billy joel?! f-ing hell. somebody shoot me

at least I misquoted it. there's hope yet

Nope - death selects at random.