Quick chain advice please
scottybob_golf
Posts: 22
Hi all,
I have snapped my chain twice on my bike without too many miles between each time probably a few hundred miles. I was going to get a new chain a 105 from wiggle at £12.50 would I be best fitting a link thing to join it? Are they called quick link? If so can somebody direct me in the right way. It seems a bit excessive to snap twice in a short space of time.
I have snapped my chain twice on my bike without too many miles between each time probably a few hundred miles. I was going to get a new chain a 105 from wiggle at £12.50 would I be best fitting a link thing to join it? Are they called quick link? If so can somebody direct me in the right way. It seems a bit excessive to snap twice in a short space of time.
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Comments
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Chains shouldn't snap in usual use, and certainly not after a few hundred miles, when wear can't be a factor. Two in a row probably can't be down you being unlucky and getting a badly manufactured one.
I think you need to understand why it's snapping before just putting another chain on with a quick link - it may not solve the problem, and once again, you'll be at the roadside with a broken bike.
Is it snapping at the join you're making? Are you putting the chain on the bike the right way round?
The second question isn't as daft as it sounds - every Shimano chain I've put on specifically calls out a "direction" to get maximum strength when using their joining pin (see http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 682230.pdf)0 -
What have you been doing to your chain to keep snapping it?
Also, get a KMC chain, not a shimano one.Red bikes are the fastest.0 -
To be honest I didn't realise there is a wrong way round to put on a chain! How do you know what way round to go. I also don't know if it's snapped where it was joined.
Are kmc chains much better?0 -
Take a look at the PDF I linked to to see which way round they go. The joining pin is different to the standard pins, so you should be able to see if it's broken at the join or not.
Try another brand if you like, but no chain typically breaks after a few hundred miles, so I don't think the problem is due to the fact the chains are made by Shimano.0 -
scottybob_golf wrote:To be honest I didn't realise there is a wrong way round to put on a chain! How do you know what way round to go. I also don't know if it's snapped where it was joined.
Are kmc chains much better?
They come with a quick link, which makes life a lot easier. Lots of people say they last longer (which is entirely subjective, of course).Red bikes are the fastest.0 -
KMC all the way for me0
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NewTTer wrote:
But KMC manufacture Shimano chains, it's just badge engineeringDiscoBoy wrote:What have you been doing to your chain to keep snapping it?
Also, get a KMC chain, not a shimano one.
They are different products: KMC chains aren't directional, and they come with quick links.Red bikes are the fastest.0 -
Shimano only used that directional marketing nonsense for one series of chains then gave up on it, the joining pin positioning is common sense as per the instructions. If you choose to use a KMC branded quick link for convenience instead that's all good , but they are not different chains. KMC would not go to the manufacturing expense of setting up a separate line just to manufacture sub standard chains for Shimano, especially as MOST, people know they manufacture their chains, and as such it is still their reputation for quality that would be in question.DiscoBoy wrote:
You are spouting the usual internet nonsense that can tend to de value some of the information given out.0 -
I've only snapped a chain once, and that was an unbranded Chinese job that came on a bike I bought in a box off an old garage forecourt. (But I also had a close call when a KMC missing link fell apart while the chain was marinating in white spirit)
Shimano chains breaking repeatedly suggests that the joining pin isn't being correctly installed. If you are not sure you're joining it correctly with the snap-off joining pin, the use of a KMC link may be the best option.
Shimano 5701 chains fared pretty well in Tour Magazine's wear tests, and at current prices they are a bargain.0 -
NewTTer wrote:
Shimano only used that directional marketing nonsense for one series of chains then gave up on it, the joining pin positioning is common sense as per the instructions. If you choose to use a KMC branded quick link for convenience instead that's all good , but they are not different chains. KMC would not go to the manufacturing expense of setting up a separate line just to manufacture sub standard chains for Shimano, especially as MOST, people know they manufacture their chains, and as such it is still their reputation for quality that would be in question.DiscoBoy wrote:
You are spouting the usual internet nonsense that can tend to de value some of the information given out.
The series of chains which are directional is the one which the OP is looking at. The fact that KMC is symmetrical and the shimano one isn't is evidence enough that they are different chains. There is nothing nonsense about that. Additionally, the quick link is enough to make me always buy and recommend a KMC, or SRAM, chain over a shimano one.
What's next up on your list of things to argue about? All bike frames are the same because they are made in the same factories?Red bikes are the fastest.0 -
Thanks for further highlighting your total ignorance, marketing people who dream up gems like directional chains love people like you, and the Op could buy any generation of Shimano chain that matched his speed requirement. So in the same vein what subject are you next going to use to demonstrate your total ignorance and propensity for internet forum flock mentalityDiscoBoy wrote:NewTTer wrote:
Shimano only used that directional marketing nonsense for one series of chains then gave up on it, the joining pin positioning is common sense as per the instructions. If you choose to use a KMC branded quick link for convenience instead that's all good , but they are not different chains. KMC would not go to the manufacturing expense of setting up a separate line just to manufacture sub standard chains for Shimano, especially as MOST, people know they manufacture their chains, and as such it is still their reputation for quality that would be in question.DiscoBoy wrote:
You are spouting the usual internet nonsense that can tend to de value some of the information given out.
The series of chains which are directional is the one which the OP is looking at. The fact that KMC is symmetrical and the shimano one isn't is evidence enough that they are different chains. There is nothing nonsense about that. Additionally, the quick link is enough to make me always buy and recommend a KMC, or SRAM, chain over a shimano one.
What's next up on your list of things to argue about? All bike frames are the same because they are made in the same factories?0
