Broken Chain

charliew87

After dodgy gears, a broken wheel and crap tyres, my 600 mile old Bianchi's latest issue is a broken chain.

I have no idea how this even happened. One minute I was happily making my way along a quiet flat road at about 17mph in a middle gear on the big ring, the next the chain is wrapped around my foot and looking not too happy. Put it back on, but basically there is one link which has been twisted by nearly 90 degrees so every time it comes round, the chain jumps to a different gear, which is a bit ridiculous.

1 Why do chains randomly break like this?
2 Is it normal for road bikes to break all the time and cost mad amounts to keep alive?

ugo.santalucia

Dodgy gears? You mean the cable needed a bit of retensioning? Yes, this is normal
Broken wheels? What exactly did break?
What was crap about the tyres? Was the pressure correct?

No, chains should not break, but they do because they are poor quality and these quick links have made things worse.
Looks like your bike shop didn't do a good build in the first place.

That said, and it might not be your case, most people go around with bicycles in shocking conditions, even reasonably new bikes that rattle like old bangers, so no, I am not surprised things break. A light bike is quite delicate and requires a bit of mechanical knowhow to keep running smoothly, it's not like a car that once per year gets a service, in this respect is way under-engineered and needs attention

charliew87

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Dodgy gears? You mean the cable needed a bit of retensioning? Yes, this is normal
Broken wheels? What exactly did break?
What was crap about the tyres? Was the pressure correct?

No, chains should not break, but they do because they are poor quality and these quick links have made things worse.
Looks like your bike shop didn't do a good build in the first place.

That said, and it might not be your case, most people go around with bicycles in shocking conditions, even reasonably new bikes that rattle like old bangers, so no, I am not surprised things break. A light bike is quite delicate and requires a bit of mechanical knowhow to keep running smoothly, it's not like a car that once per year gets a service, in this respect is way under-engineered and needs attention

Gears were a retensioning thing, which I've had to do a couple of times now.
Broken wheel - the rear wheel went inexplicably out of shape, egg style. It's currently with Bianchi who will hopefully send me a new one. http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12850997&p=17587167#p17587167

Tyres generally poor, not puncture resistent, also went out of shape with dodgy wheel.

I can see legit reasons why these things would happen, just don't see how a chain is straight and working one minute, then with a wonky link the next. Looking online, looks like another £15 just for a spare link.

keef66

£15 for a joining link?? You'd be better off getting a replacement KMC chain which includes one!

jonomc4

you can get a goodish quality new chain on ebay for about £20 - £35

gaddster

jonomc4 wrote:

you can get a goodish quality new chain on ebay for about £20 - £35

merlin are doing dura ace 7901 chains for 32.25, can't really beat that and cycle surgery will match that price. got one on saturday and it's a very smooth chain.