Can a bad friction shift break a chain?
Broke a chain for the first time ever yesterday, thankfully close to home as the chain was damaged beyond repair after being immediately run over by a bus.
What happened was that I got stuck between shifts (friction shifting), as while trying to dial in a gear for a hill, I had to swerve to avoid a car door, leaving me having to go up a hill "between" gears. I didn't want to adjust it then, as I tend not to adjust rear shifting while having to put heavy load through the chain, but even on a short hill, the chain snapped entirely.
Can simply putting heavy load on a drivetrain with the rear derailleur not in line cause a chain breakage? And is this likely to have seriously damaged my rear derailleur?