Fixing a broken chain
Thank goodness, we rarely break a chain. If it is easy to bail out and make your way home, that may be the easiest way to solve the problem.
Recently, one of our members broke their chain a long way from their car and with no easy alternative. Fortunately, we had the tool and the experience to fix it.
Here is what we did.
When a chain ‘breaks’, it is often when we push down particularly hard on the pedal, distorting a segment of the chain and pulling one of its pins out of its hole.
Our task is to straighten the chain segment and reinsert the pin. It is simple but fiddly and takes a bit of practice.
It certainly also takes a particular tool, called a ‘chain tool’. Kind of an obvious name, really. Sometimes it’s called a ‘chain breaker’, as it is also used to adjust the length of chains, by removing or adding segments.
As you can see in the photos, it consists of a screw that pushes into a fork-shaped piece. By turning the screw, you can push the pin into and out of the segment's hole. You can also use it to staighten out any bent segments.
Our chain tool was part of a standard multitool. You might like to check whether your multitool includes one, and consider getting one when you are next in a bike shop.
First, we threaded the chain through its various cogs and flywheels. Then, we turned the screw to push the pin out of the segment, so we could straighten the segment. Then, by screwing down on just the segment, we were able to get it reasonably straight; not perfect but not bad for a bit of bush-surgery. Once we were reasonably happy with that, we reinserted the pin into one side of the segment and screwed it until it clicked, showing that it was firmly in place.
And there you have it. It’s like we knew what we were doing!
Phill Hart, President |