(another) broken chain link

AidanG
AidanG Posts: 104
edited August 2007 in Workshop
Ok, I left my bike (Orbea Enol) in to get serviced last week. Everything felt fine, but on my next commute a link from the chain broke off. I limped to a local bike shop and got it repaired so that I could continue. Again, all well. Til this morning, just got into work when another link went and the chain came off and is now covered in grit and sh*t as work is a bit of building site at the moment.

So my questions -
1. Is the bike shop that serviced my bike in any way answerable - or is it just one of those coincidences that 2 links went within a couple of rides of the bike being serviced?
2 1. Should I just get a new chain, is this just a sign of wear and tear? I've got 3 month old twins, so I really dont have time to lovingly clean and repair the current chain.
3. If so, how much is that likely to cost me?
4. Do I need to bring the bike in to a shop to get the chain fitted? I'm a few miles from the nearest LBS and would need to cadge a lift.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Steven Martin
    Steven Martin Posts: 280
    Sounds unlikely that the bike shop would do anything to the chain that would cause it to break in more than one place, how old is the chain?

    As for replacement...you need to have a chain tool; then it is a 5 minute job to fit a new chain and the cost depends on the chain you buy. What groupset does the bike have? You can get 9 speed chains from about £7 if you look in the right place.

    I assume that you will need to buy a chain tool, get a decent one as the cheap ones have a habit of breaking, but buy one that you can carry with you and any future failure will be fixable without going to the bike shop. You will want to buy joining pins for this eventuality too.

    Look on Parker's or Wiggle or Chain Reaction Cycles for good prices.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    More to do with the chain that who fitted it - ditch it and buy something decent. You don't need to take your bike to an LBS to fit the chain - get yourself a chain tool, count the number of links on the old chain and shorten the new one to the same length. I've been pretty impressed with KMC's chains lately.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • AidanG
    AidanG Posts: 104
    Cheers for the info, thanks. The chain is about 4000km old.
  • rjsmith
    rjsmith Posts: 1,924
    AidanG wrote:
    Cheers for the info, thanks. The chain is about 4000km old.

    :shock:

    Yes, get a new chain! As above, KMCs with the joining 'missing link' are good and very easy to fit.
    Other people like SRAM chains. Shimano 10s chains can be trickier to join than the older 9s chains.
  • Phil Russell
    Phil Russell Posts: 1,736
    Maybe a pure coincidence relating it to the service... but still worth considering.
    Would the shop have needed to remove the chain for any reason? Was it cleaned as part of the service? Could it have been fitted badly (2 attempts to get it done?).
    Maybe not related at all but might be worth a friendly question at the shop.
    Cheers, Phil

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