Mayday.JP

Well, if you all remember my last post about my ACL sprain you would know i've been out for a few months. 2 to be exact. Anyways, i finally went out on a ride since my knee was getting stronger. I headed out on wednesday to the SGRT and just past liberty park, snap....my chain just broke off. I fell to the side and stuck out my arm to protect my frame from being scratched. A group of riders behind me stopped to make sure i was ok. I was thankfully but couldn't help but be disappointed. Anyways, i made a call to get picked up and began the walk of shame in my socks down the sgrt. Just my luck, it started raining. It wasn't fun but thankfully that day was my birthday so i had some money to spend and used it to get a new chain! thankful for that but not happy about the turnout of the ride. I was hoping to hop back on it later this week but well, it's raining. Just wanted to share my troubles.

Dunbar

Ah, that sucks. How many miles on the chain? I just switched from 9sp to a 10sp bike and am curious when I need to plan on changing the chain.

PhotoJoe 

Mayday. Seems to be an appropriate screen name. Sorry to hear about the whole thing. Get the chain fixed and get back on the bike. Remember, this is SoCal, where we get 2 days of rain a year. It'll stop really soon!

ChrisM2097

Carry a couple KMC Missing Links with you. I've used them 3 times this year alone (one for me, 2 for others I've met on the road/trail).

TJClay

With a chain tool you could've been back on the road in 5 minutes

spinerguy

Not always.

It happened to me last year. It was a brand new Ultegra 10 spd chain, found later online that some experienced premature failures which was attributed to a bad batch. Some develop cracks around pin perforations, mine looks like one connecting pin was working its way out (user error? Been installing chains w/ pro tools for over a decade)

Guess I was incredible lucky that I felt compelled to stop in that hot morning to sip a drink and take in the pretty scenery (over the bridge, along riverbed on Santiago Cyn). Clipped in and after several revolutions my rear tired locked up by itself with an unsettling unfamiliar noise. Dismounted to found a rear derrailer ripped cleanly in half and a mangled chain tossed into spokes. My gps showed just over 13 miles into the ride.

No doubt I could've ended in ER if that happened going downhill where it's easy to hit 35mph w/o pedaling. All in all, just had to replace rear derrailer and chain.

A nice couple in a SUV was gracious enough to stop and gave me a lift near where I had my car parked (it was in their way!) They said to be occasional cyclists.

I understand new 10 spd chains lasts less than 9 spds and newer 11 spds are being reported to get you just over 1500 miles. At any rate I'd recommend getting a chain checker, like Park CC-2 (which I own).

TrojanHorse

I've got 2,000 miles on my current chain (SRAM 1031) and SRAM chains aren't exactly famous for longevity. I clean it moderately often and lube it reasonably frequently and so far all is well. I also have a spare master link in my saddle bag but unless you also carry a chain tool (I don't), you're not exactly safe from chain maladies.

I'll probably get a 105 or KMC chain when I re-up... I see no upside to saving weight on a chain and buying an expensive one.

calamarichris

Broken chain <does not equal> walk of shame.
It's time to learn to strut in bare socks, my man! Strut proudly, not with shame! My mighty quads shattered yet another chain, but at least a few lesser souls went down with it.

The walk of shame is reserved for those who deserve it, like the cyclists who embark on a ride with neither tube, lever, nor pump; or the hapless shlubs who try to flee unseen from my Christian neighbor lady's bedroom to their cars every Saturday morning.

John R

Funny thing, I put over 10,000 miles a year commuting on a 9 speed system. I clean and lube my chain once a week. I wipe the chain clean with wd40, wipe it dry then apply regular motor oil, yes motor oil. I wipe the excess oil off with rag. I have averaged over 10,000 miles a year for the past 20 years and have tried about every chain lube out there, waxed based, graphite based, and other junk. Motor oil has worked the best for me. Its cheap and washes off with simple green. My chains have lasted the longest with regular 30 wt castrol motor oil.

B. Carfree

The situation you describe can still be remedied in five minutes with a chain tool. You will be rolling home with a single speed bike, but riding is always better than the walk of shame or begging a ride.

I got jammed up with a bad Shimano chain a couple years ago on a tour. The first failure was just out of Ferndale in the lost coast, two links down (and me). The second failure was just above Honeydew, even further from any shops, two more links gone. The third was between the Napa and Sonoma valleys and cost me the use of a few gears as the chain was now too short for them. Thankfully, I was only 75 miles from tour's end at that point.

Chain tools are right up there with flat repair items in terms of "don't leave home without them", at least in my book since that fateful day I walked twenty miles home for lack of one.

chefxian

Angio Graham

30 yrs of riding and i have never broken a chain.

Mayday.JP

@calamarichris you're right!! No walk of shame!! HAHA

Luckily i wasn't too far from home and a quick trip to the LBS bought be a new pin and 30 mins later, my chain was cleaned and reassembled. Unfortunately, that was wednesday and thursday until now it's been raining. Thankfully i worked on the trainer yesterday though!

As far as life of my chain, Since i got the bike used, i'm at about 1500 miles total. It's really in great condition except for that one pin.

jmX

I broke a chain 6 months after I started cycling. Luckily thanks to this forum I'd had a chain tool and spare link in my bag, and was back up and riding within about 10 minutes (having never installed a chain, use a chain tool or tried a link before). Yay internet. It's cheap and light, no excuse not to have it in the bag.

I didn't "earn" the broken chain with my massive quads, it was an Ultegra 10sp chain from late 2009 which are known to self destruct.

Tank_67

I also haven't had any chain problem but there is always a first time.

Tank_67

No walk of shame for a broken chain, hope you had a great B-Day

Biker395 

Never broke a 9-speed chain, but I've broken a couple of 10-speed chains. The last time, I was standing up on the pedals climbing up the last 12% bit of Triunfo Pass. That was a nasty surprise.

What I've learned:

1. If your bike is shifting funny and trimming doesn't solve it (or solves it temporarily or only in some gears but not others), stop and inspect your drivetrain, particularly the chain. The gonads you save may be your own.

2. Carry a chain tool or a multi-tool with a chain tool.

3. Carry a spare connex link. I put mine in the little plastic patch box.

Joe360

A couple of months ago my wife and I were doing some interval training on the SGRT and she snapped a 9 spd chain. Her bike came from Craigslist so I don't know the age or miles of the chain. I don't usually carry a chain tool so I had the pleasure of towing my wife back using her broken chain as a towing rope. She was laughing all the way to the Santa Fe dam, and boasting about how she has the power to destroy chains, where we got a ride from my little sis. Lesson learned: carry a chain tool.