Chain abuse...

Schoie81

Hi,

Can anyone suggest how my son (with a little help from his friends) might have managed to do this to his chain without removing it from the bike??

And more importantly, can anyone suggest how I undo it??

rhext

Can't suggest how he did it. Probably mucking around though. I'd stop his pocket money if I were you.

1) you're going to get dirty fingers. If you've got some old rubber gloves, put them on.

2) pinch one of the tangles between thumb and forefinger and try to rotate it anti-clockwise. You should find that it will 'roll' along the chain towards the other tangle.

3) When the two tangles come together they should cancel each other out...although it might need a little bit of rough handling to bring them fully together.

Failing that, suggest purchase of a cheap chain tool and a power-link.

Wooliferkins

How he's done it? To undo hold out board of each twist pull towards the centre and go through an anti clockwise circular motion to unwind

Schoie81

He's in more trouble for lying about it - he swore blind he hadn't touched it, even when I explained that he wasn't in trouble, I just needed to know what he'd done so I could undo it, i'm no expert but I can't believe for a second it just happened.... Although given the fact he hadn't a spec of oil or muck on him, I'm guessing it was his friends doing! 'Playing' mechanic I presume....

I've already got caked in the stuff trying to undo it and thought i'd tried everything but I'll try and follow these instructions.

I've got a chain tool for my bikes, but wasn't sure if kids bike chains are as 'serviceable' as adult bike chains?? If I split the chain in this picture, will I be able to get it back together, or is that why you are suggesting the 'powerlink'? If so, and that's what I end up doing - what size link do I need? I've only seen links for 8, 9 and 10 speed chains and this bike has a 5-speed cassette...

rhext

Ah, yes, I see: I'd not try to split the chain without a bit more research on t'internet re how to join it back up again....you might be able to re-use the rivet (I got away with it once or twice way back when).

TBH, the fixes above ought to work: what you've actually got there is a pair of opposite loops. You need to bring them together and then they'll cancel each other out. And perhaps don't be too hard on him. It's possible that it did happen accidentally - if he went over a kerb or bump at speed, the chain can flap around a lot, particularly if the rear mech isn't keeping a lot of tension in it. My guess is that it's that sort of thing that caused it.

Schoie81

Thanks, i'll do a bit of online digging re. chain splitting, but will try and undo the tangle tongiht anyway. Don't worry, he's not in too much trouble - he did eventually admit they had been messing with the chain, but his punishment is automatic as he hasn't been able to ride his bike for three days!!

Its weird, but when I was trying to untangle it on Saturday, I couldn't for the life of me see how it had ended up like that, but as I was posting the pitcture here this morning, the 'opposite loops' did seem more obvious. Think I must have been over-thinking it in the first place.... Perhaps the 'red mist' was affecting my vision and ability to think logically!?!

k-dog

One of the local kids did that to his bike a few years ago. I just couldn't get it without dropping out the back wheel - it was a single speed so not enough slack in the chain. Easy with a loose chain.

Schoie81

Took some forcing the links back past each other, but got it untangled last night. A happy little boy again (my son is pleased about it too )

Thanks for the advice.