How often is too often to break a chain?
 

Is there are risk to chain integrity of repeatedly adding/removing link? I have been dicking aorund with different chain ring cog combos and it's required a few chain length resizes. Any info on this?

similar question: keep breaking the same link, or different links each time?

The major danger is that you mess up reinstalling the pin one of those times.

buy a new chain. Chains are cheap and broken chains suck.

That is what I do. The SRAM PC-1 can be had for $10.

dutret i think you and the OP are using "broken" differently. i think you mean broken like damaged, but i think the OP just means, having removed the pins to lengthen/shorten it - repeatedly.

Right and the latter leads to the former.

so how many breaks would be acceptable before needing to replace? through the life of a chain, i typically break it 5-6 times to clean it.

good point

Whats a common screw up?? It seems straight forward

Every rejoin increases the chances of your chain breaking at what point that risk becomes unacceptable is up to you.
a. It wears down the pins. If it was a chain that came with a masterlink or special pin one rejoin is probably too much.
b. There is a reasonable chance that even an experienced mechanic will mess up. This will create a weak link.
-you can not push the pin through the opposite plate fat enough
-you can push the pin too far though the plate you leave the pin in
-you can compress the plates together
etc.

A lot of the time if you put a new link in and that link gets put in too "tight", (aka the links are squeezed too hard for whatever reason). The link will loosen itself when ridden, This could mean the pin seating itself properly or being pushed out to loosen.

a worn chain looks like this

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/images/chain_wornpin.gif

when its settling in as its getting ridden, its deffinately worsening whats going on with the pin.

Some of you people act as if you are pushing all of your equipment to the absolute limits everytime you pedal around the block. If you brake (disconnect a link) a chain 5-6 times during the life of that chain, you probably aren't going to push out the same pin twice, and even then its not going to cause the pin to weaken or cause it to fall out. When riding, the chain experiences tension folks, especially singlespeeds with perfect chainline. The chain pins require very high lateral pressure to remove them, not tension. Just reinstall the pin correctly and you'll be fine. Its not that hard...just make sure both ends of the pin are sticking out of the link. If you are worried about it, inspect your chain occasionally to make sure all of the pins are in securely.

There is a perpetuated myth on this forum that masterlinks will fail and kill you. If that were true, there would be a lot of law suits. The masterlink on a KMC chain is held together with a flimsy little clip and it holds just fine..like all masterlinks, it is uneffected by tension, the only significant force thats exerted on a chain.
On the other hand the nut and bolt type masterlink on izumi chains bothers me...it seems like vibration might loosen it, but thats probably just paranoia on my part.

I think this forum needs a sticky with instructions for when to use "brake" and when to use "break"

Cheers mihlbach, pretty much what I thought. Sorry I picked on your spelling

Damn! I can't believe I made that mistake, because I normally am careful about brake and break. My excuse is that I'm really busy at work right now and was thinking and typing too fast.

drop $60. on a izumi v, like to see ya break this.

seeing as chains almost always break because of improper installation or actute abuse(chain suck) I doubt a izumi v is that much less likely to break then anything else.

I ride on kmc z chains because they are 6 bucks buy a new chain every 3 - 6 months if you ride hard and crazy also why would you break the chain to clean the drive train use the degreaser and brushes like you are supposed to

no to maste rlinks I have had several fail on me when I used to jumop bmx bike that is why I don't like them you mash the pedals realy hard and you stretch the thing apart the clip clies off and if your lucky you don't land on your face

The chain is not a Slinky. It dosen't stretch under load unless you measure down to the billionths of an inch (I'm not even sure if it does at that level either) I don't care how hard you think you pedal. The links will not pull apart and allow the masterlink to mysteriously lose tension and fall apart while you are apply force at the "superhuman" level. Chain stretch is not chain stretch but chain wear, on the pins, over time.

I've had nothing but bad luck with the clip style master link. Probably had them fail 3-4 times before I stopped using them. I highly doubt I installed it improperly as its an incredibly simple snap together system. Am I perpetuating a myth? As much as you are basically.

how much do you weigh and how much is your leg press??