I'm screaming down a hill with a tailwind at a bit over 30 mph, just about 155 rpms and I threw my chain. It locked up the rear wheel and I surfed the back tire for what seemed like 10 seconds (in reality it was probably much less) and BAM, the tire blew, then I slid on the rim for a few more seconds and came to a stop. I can't believe I didn't go down - the back wheel was all over the place. The tire has a 5" section worn completely through.

That was also the first time in 25 years that I had to call for a ride home.

I guess I'll keep my chain tighter in the future.

Hope it wasn't an expensive rim.

Threw a chain last week, didn't lock up though.

Last time I had to call for a ride was when a drunk hit me and a friend at the same time and our bikes got locked together in a tangled pile.

glad you made out okay.

Is your chainline spot on?

I threw a lose chain skip stopping in my neighborhood once, it locked up my rear wheel fast and I faceplanted it. It sucked ass.

i threw my chain for the first time ever just the other day as well. locked up the wheel and skidded to a stop while burning all the way through the tire and popping the tube (quite a dramatic pop to top off the situation)

threw mine too after loosening my chain recently. just enough to "prevent binding at the tightest rotation of my cranks" as they say. it was too tight before - must be too loose now. i'll take a little extra resistance versus losing my chain. glad i have a front brake. was going over some big street construction bumps when it happened...

I've never thrown a chain with a proper drivetain, but with the Sugino RD setup I was doing I was throwing them plenty if I wasn't anal about tension. Bad feeling for sure, but I haven't locked up the rear wheel doing it. Once I snapped a chain when a bungee fell off my basket and into my drivetrain, though.

I carry a full sized wrench in my bag...

The chain line is dead straight as far as I can tell. Is there anyway to check this other than eyeballing it? Part of my problem is the crankset or chain ring is pretty far from round. With the chain binding in one part of the crank rotation, it has almost an inch of play when rotated 180 degrees around. It is really tough to get the chain tension set so it isn't either binding or too loose.

jesus, that scares me thinking about it.


i hate not having control over situations.

Sounds scary, and I am glad that you got out of it without road rash or worse.

Get a chain tensioner. Surly makes a good one and there are others to be found. They are not fool-proof, but they will help your lug nuts hold the wheel in place, thus holding the tension. They also act as your "third hand" when you are setting the tension. You just dial the tension you want, then lock it up with your axel nuts. Just remember to keep checking the tension. The chain will still slacken, just not as quickly.

Also, when tensioning your chain, if you flip your bike over and bounce the head of your wrench lightly on the chain as you turn the cranks. You'll come to recognize the feel of the tension that works for you. This will help you maintain a consistent tension.

Use calipers to measure, sheldon has a good method on his website. Eyeballing it is bad news. Sounds like you should upgrade to a higher quality chainring, maybe Dura Ace or FSA if you have 144bcd.

Damn, throwing a chain is scary s hit. About 4 months ago I threw a chain skip slowing up to a red light, I was weaving between a bus and a pick-up truck and all of the sudden my wheel locked up and I nearly shat myself. My chain actually snapped and gouged up my chain stay a little. It only seemed to last for a couple seconds before I stopped. Scariest part was being next to the bus. So glad I didn't crash.

My current crankis garbage so until the new one gets here, I have to carry a nice hefty crescent wrench in my bag. Its probably a good thing to carry anyways. I've just been making it a point to check the tension and bolts every once in a while. Havent had too much trouble though.

I rock a droopy chain and <3 it. I have yet to throw one, though, so maybe I just have yet to learn.

I am confused - I thought a chain tensioner was just a derailleur pulley type thing for use on singlespeeds - I'm riding fixed (I don't think I mentioned this), on a track frame with horizontal dropouts. Are you talking about something else - a tool or something to set the tension?

Thanks for the help.

Thanks - I'll check out Sheldon's site. It very well could be my crankset that is far from round - it is a square taper Nashbar triple with a Salsa ring.

They work if you do in fact have a track frame with track ends (not horizontal drop outs). A tug-nut (chain tensioner) sits on your track ends and pulls the axle back.

op be steeln mai inishlz.

i like the MKS ones a lot better now than the surly one i had on before. its the allen-key MKS tensioner. yeah having a bottle opener is cool. but i realized that in my bag i already carry around 2

I recently had the stupidest fixed gear related injury I've ever had. I decided to take off my brake, I'm riding to work on New Year's Day, nice quiet roads. I'm going downhill and so throw a skip to knock off some speed.

My shoe comes off my foot and my foot flies out of the clip. I try to scuff the front wheel and the force of the wheel takes off my sock and with it a chunk of flesh, most of the skin on my big-toe.

Worst of all was that a load of fellas were hanging outside a laundry and though the whole thing was hilarious.

Brakes forever.

Tying/strapping up your shoes works pretty well too I've found. That sounds hilarious (but painful) though XD