Is it broken...?

optimisticbiker

Spot the mistake...



Bike started doing phantom gear changes then the chain dropped off the small ring... only had a 10speed link in the toolkit (for the other bike - good reason to have all bikes 10speed now) so put it in a low gear with a straight chain and nursed it 6miles to Halfords and bought a 9-speed link then nursed it (slightly less carefully) the last 3 miles home. Will change the link tomorrow....

cooldad

There's a chain behind all that shite?

optimisticbiker

cooldad wrote:

There's a chain behind all that shite?

Yes... and that was only cleaned a couple of weeks ago. Was a new chain in January!

Jay dubbleU

Held together by rust ?

cyclingprop

You need a different lube if you get that much crud on it. Dry a ptfe based dry lube.

optimisticbiker

cyclingprop wrote:

You need a different lube if you get that much crud on it. Dry a ptfe based dry lube.

I always use FinishLine Dry Teflon lube... I don't know why its got so cruddy in such a short time but even so I wouldn't expect the quicklink to break like that... never had a chain break before in over 15y of cycling...

cyclingprop

Ah ok same as me then. Maybe you need to cycle through fewer sheep dips?

Anyway, the quicklink shouldnt just snap, but they normally recommend you only connect them once... and replace it every time you "break" them...

optimisticbiker

cyclingprop wrote:

Ah ok same as me then. Maybe you need to cycle through fewer sheep dips?

Anyway, the quicklink shouldnt just snap, but they normally recommend you only connect them once... and replace it every time you "break" them...

Well its replaced now and never met a sheep dip in North London (except maybe the time we had a cloudburst in Crickelwood and the sewers flooded... unmentionable brown blobs floating down the street... :eek: )

But seriously, that was a new chain when I replaced the front mech after the Russian Woman incident and the quicklink was used then to join the chain and hasn't been removed since... It was a SRAM one too , now replaced with a cheapy Clarks (£2.99 for 2 from Halfords)

itboffin

You've answered your own Q Sram chain rust quick and snap, KMC all the way oh and really fingerless gloves its bloody freezing.

optimisticbiker

itboffin wrote:

You've answered your own Q Sram chain rust quick and snap, KMC all the way oh and really fingerless gloves its bloody freezing.

And I thought SRAM = quality

And it was only 10deg on Friday eve so nowhere near cold enough for anything but fingerless...

optimisticbiker

Follow up:

After I got back from this morning ride (on the other bike) I decided to have a closer look... I'd previously just shoved the new quicklink in... err, quickly... in case I didnt get a chance before tomorrow...

That wasn't rust on the chain, it was brick or pink cement dust and the cassette was clogged with it... that obviously put a strain on the link...

Our bike park is in the basement of our building right next to the work being carried out for Crossrail at Farringdon station, and there's a lot of movement of stuff along the underground roadway from their works store at one end to the actual works at the other end. I guess sometime in the last week or two somehow a load of brick/cement dust got into the cassette while it was wet from the rain; no idea when or how but its the only answer I can come up with as to how it got there. There was none on the rest of the bike except inside the rear mudguard

Ben6899

Re: quick links.

Depends which sort you use, but KMC ones are re-usable as long as you're using the same chain i.e. say you're removing the chain to clean it. However, if you're fitting a new chain then it's recommended to fit a new quick link as well. To do with differential wear, I guess.

woodnut

itboffin wrote:

You've answered your own Q Sram chain rust quick and snap, KMC all the way oh and really fingerless gloves its bloody freezing.

Really? Must admit the last 3 chains I've bought have been SRAM (2 x 8sp and a single speed) and I thought I was buying quality, (for what it's worth, the only chain that I've ever snapped was a TOYO or something like from Halfords, that had 3 quicklinks in it when I finally renewed it... :oops: )
Why are KMC better, is it a metallurgy thing?

cyclingprop

I've snapped a (brand new) 105 chain before. Incidentally, not at a power link.