Snapped chain. Best way forward?

[yellowjack]

Simple as that really. Yesterday afternoon, 14.5 miles into an 18 mile off-road ride, I splashed through a puddle which turned out to be more thick, gloopy mud than water, and got bogged down. My chain then snapped.


This was the chain I fitted around the 30th October.



About 50 miles later, it was laid on the ground, very much like this.


Two of the outer plates have simply 'let go' of the pin, which is still there, intact, between the inner plates, with the roller bearing still there too.

I fixed it, albeit very temporarily, by tapping the plates back onto the pin with some 'old school' combined spanner/tyre lever things that I carry in my (MTB) kit, and I rode the last three miles VERY cautiously, in low gears to avoid applying excessive torque. It's the first time EVER I've had a chain snap, and it's not nice.

Question: What is the best way to proceed now?

I'm supposing that another SRAM Power-Link in place of the damaged outer plates and pin is the 'book' answer. I have the used link from the previous chain, but I'm guessing it's not recommended for re-use. To be honest, I have little confidence in this chain now, but it seems daft to scrap a 50 miles use chain, and replace it at quite a cost, but thinking about it, how much would a new Power-Link be? Am I going to end up buying a new chain anyway?

I'm pretty much screwed with any 'sale of goods act' replacement, as it'd be a devil to prove the fault was in the chain itself, and not something I did to it, and furthermore, I cannot find the receipt. I'm very grumpy about this, not least because I broke a fingernail!! fixing the damned thing

[shouldbworking]

Powerlinks are fine, and reusable except for 10 speed ones. Might want to figure out why it snapped first though - they don't tend to just go for no reason.

[Mr Will]

yellowjack said:

Question: What is the best way to proceed now?

I believe that scooting with your feet is the best way forward. Faster than pushing the bike but you have to be careful not to hit your ankles on the pedals - it really hurts.

[XG332]

It's worth emailing or tweeting (gets better response) and asking the manufacture

[yellowjack]

So I could re-use the PowerLinks that were fitted to my previous (well worn) chain?

That'll get me mobile again. I can't afford to be off the bike too much - I've already had ten days off with a head-cold, and I'm just getting back into pedalling again. I've no idea why it snapped (although "let go of a pin" would be a better description). I'm starting to look at replacing the whole bike, as it's had a pretty tough life, and wasn't exactly a 'high-end' purchase in the first place.

Bike is a GT Avalanche 3.0 from around 2008. It's taken a few knocks over the years, but it's slightly more than disappointing when a chain breaks after only 50 miles. It was thoroughly de-gunged too, just a few days ago, along with a good re-lube, and was squeak/creak/sticky-link free. Shifting is a bit 'clunky' at times, but that's only to be expected from the lower ranks of the Shimano 'stable' of groupsets. There's not enough life left in the frame to contemplate a groupset replacement, so it'll have to soldier on until I can save enough for a replacement.

[yellowjack]

Mr Will said:

yellowjack said:

Question: What is the best way to proceed now?

I believe that scooting with your feet is the best way forward. Faster than pushing the bike but you have to be careful not to hit your ankles on the pedals - it really hurts.

As you can see, I deliberately and carefully chose my wording there to avoid 'feeding you' that line. And still you "shoe-horn" it in

[gazza285]

I'd stick a Powerlink in it and carry on. The Sram chains are well regarded and I've had no problems on my cyclocross bike using them. It could be that you've picked up a small stone in the thick mud which has pushed the links apart.

[aka_kerrly]

Maybe buy a chain splitter and rejoin the chain without power links. I've not tried SRAM ones but I've given up on Shimano/Clarks split links.

[yellowjack]

gazza285 said:

I'd stick a Powerlink in it and carry on. The Sram chains are well regarded and I've had no problems on my cyclocross bike using them. It could be that you've picked up a small stone in the thick mud which has pushed the links apart.

This was what the LBS said when I bought it. I'd wanted to buy a KMC chain, as I use them on my road bike, but the owner said he 'swears by SRAM' and that it was KMC chains that caused problems, in his experience.

I'm going to pop the failed pin/plates out and slap the old PowerLink in there, at least for the time being.

[AndrewEH1]

yellowjack said:

gazza285 said:

I'd stick a Powerlink in it and carry on. The Sram chains are well regarded and I've had no problems on my cyclocross bike using them. It could be that you've picked up a small stone in the thick mud which has pushed the links apart.

This was what the LBS said when I bought it. I'd wanted to buy a KMC chain, as I use them on my road bike, but the owner said he 'swears by SRAM' and that it was KMC chains that caused problems, in his experience.

I'm going to pop the failed pin/plates out and slap the old PowerLink in there, at least for the time being.

KMC chains are fine to use. I run them on my trials bike, so big forces put on the chain.

[yellowjack]

aka_kerrly said:

Maybe buy a chain splitter and rejoin the chain without power links. I've not tried SRAM ones but I've given up on Shimano/Clarks split links.

I have a chain-splitter, but I keep that in my road bike kit, along with spare 10speed quick-links.

Can you rejoin SRAM chains without specific new 'joining' pins, though? I know with Shimano chains you need a new pin to rejoin a chain, hence why I now buy chains that are supplied with some form of 'quick-link' in the pack. I'm not sure if you can re-use the original pins when joining SRAM chains, so I'm going to re-fit an older PowerLink to get me mobile again.

Maybe the answer is three chain splitters (one for each bike) along with spare 'quick-links' suitable for each bike. That way I'll never be left stranded without the splitter, as I'd never remember where I'd put it if I kept chopping and changing between the bikes.

[Disco You]

yellowjack said:

gazza285 said:

I'd stick a Powerlink in it and carry on. The Sram chains are well regarded and I've had no problems on my cyclocross bike using them. It could be that you've picked up a small stone in the thick mud which has pushed the links apart.

This was what the LBS said when I bought it. I'd wanted to buy a KMC chain, as I use them on my road bike, but the owner said he 'swears by SRAM' and that it was KMC chains that caused problems, in his experience.

I'm going to pop the failed pin/plates out and slap the old PowerLink in there, at least for the time being.

As with anything like this, all you can get are opinions and facts are hard to come by. But I'd stick with KMC if I were you.

[yellowjack]

Cheers for the replies all.

The deed is indeed done.




The offending pin, plates and the pin form the other end all removed. I'm surprised how muddy it all is after only one ride, although it perhaps shouldn't surprise me as it fell of into the mud when it broke





So I now have two PowerLinks in the chain, with only four 'regular' links between them. Not ideal, as one of them has sreved the life of the previous chain already, but I'm back on the road trail, for now.

I also seem to have answered my own question with regard to re-using the 'standard' pins. The answer would appear to be "no, you can't re-use them" as the 'lip' of the riveting from the ends of the pins is now wrapped around the drive pin of my chain splitter.

[daddy cool]

Its not such a big deal - chains occasionally snap. Its not surprising really, considering how much they have to cope with off road. I never go out without a few powerlinks and a chain breaker in my kit. In fact, on longer rides i now have specific KMC tools (one to open the link, another to close) because the links on my 10-speed chain are almost impossible to close by hand, let alone open... my last bike was 9-speed and the SRAm links were dead easy to open.

Funnily enough my Boardman FS came with a factory-kit 10-speed KMC chain and KMC powerlink. After a couple of rides round swinley i heard a clicking sound on my way home. At home i noticed one side of the powerlink was gone, and the whole chain was held together just by the other side! Swapped it over, and its been fine since. I dont think theres much difference between the main manufacturers chains, they are thin bits of metal overall.

[aka_kerrly]

yellowjack said:

I have a chain-splitter, but I keep that in my road bike kit, along with spare 10speed quick-links.

Can you rejoin SRAM chains without specific new 'joining' pins, though? I know with Shimano chains you need a new pin to rejoin a chain, hence why I now buy chains that are supplied with some form of 'quick-link' in the pack. I'm not sure if you can re-use the original pins when joining SRAM chains, so I'm going to re-fit an older PowerLink to get me mobile again.

Maybe the answer is three chain splitters (one for each bike) along with spare 'quick-links' suitable for each bike. That way I'll never be left stranded without the splitter, as I'd never remember where I'd put it if I kept chopping and changing between the bikes.

You are aware that when you want to split/join a chain it is not necessary to push the pin all the way out?


As per your second point, on a long trip I keep a spare quick link and 3 standard links in a pouch with a chain splitter. This was after a split link failed on me when I was 15 miles from home and end up fashioning a bit of fence wire into a odd pin.

[yellowjack]

contango said:

I would have been inclined to return to your LBS to mention how impressed you were with the Sram chain?
They would likely have replaced or given you a KMC...

Not likely, as they only stock SRAM chains for SRAM/Shimano setups. I'll have a chat next time I'm passing, but in no hurry to make a specific trip there. The owner is semi-retired now, and the new generation just aren't as easy to talk to.

[yellowjack]

20.1 miles done today. Mostly off-road. No issues with the chain.

Hopefully that means it's fixed and that'll be the end of it.

[AndrewEH1]

yellowjack said:

Not likely, as they only stock SRAM chains for SRAM/Shimano setups. I'll have a chat next time I'm passing, but in no hurry to make a specific trip there. The owner is semi-retired now, and the new generation just aren't as easy to talk to.

A SRAM chain on a Shimano, I thought that was a bit of a no-no? Or is that only for shifters...Can't remember now.

[TwistingMyMelon]

What factors contribute to breaking a chain, in 20 years I've never broken one? Now I make sure the chain is cleaned at least every week and replaced every year, but in the past I was rubbish with maintenance and didn't ever replace them, yet they still never broke. I like to push some power through it as well, is it just I'm lucky?

P.S i'm gonna regret saying that, I have a pitch black rural commute home in a minute.

[Jimbo.]

AndrewEH1 said:

A SRAM chain on a Shimano, I thought that was a bit of a no-no? Or is that only for shifters...Can't remember now.

It's fine: it's the (rear?) shifters that are incompatible.