D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Happened to my nephew pn his first ride as well, luckily only 2 miles from home
Chain snapped,6.7 mile walk home.
- Thread starter User46386
- Start date
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- chain
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Got a source for that? I've broken more spokes than chains and I've snapped more cables than spokes.
BurningLegs
Veteran
Because @Ajax Bay is an old punk at heart
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
If you haven't got what's needed to mend a puncture, that's a 'breakdown'. Since punctures happen (but not often (depending on your metric)) the prudent rider carries the necessary. The tyre (rather than the tube) may fail (eg sidewall gash) so carry a tyre boot or improvise. Normally with a broken spoke, opening the calipers will allow one to complete a ride, but this is made easier if a spoke key is carried (and the rider knows how to use it) - and easier the higher the number of spokes. I suggest a brake cable breaking is rare (but you have two brakes). Rider needs to make a decision if the front brake cable goes. Imo it would be prudent to swap the intact rear brake cable to the front if you have any distance to go. If a gear cable breaks, an FD can be set on the inner (middle on a triple) chainring and press on. If the RD cable goes this is more difficult but unless the ride is a hilly one, the two/three gears offered by shifting at the front should see you to your destination. An allen key and a screwdriver is needed for these fixes, and maybe a ziptie as well. If a chain breaks then a chain splitter is required (tho' it's been suggested upthread that a bit of screwdriver blade leveraging might get the damaged sideplates off) to allow a 'quicklink' to be used to mend the chain. As the OP said, failed chain and no chain tool/quicklink = long way home (hopefully as much as possible downhill). Broken axle - an overtightened QR can normally hold this together for a distance (which may or may not be enough to get home). Twisted stem/STIs (eg after a crash) can be sorted with allen keys. Failed freehub or freewheel are more challenging, but you can't carry anything to help, really. If the bike has a hanger, a failed hanger can only be solved by carrying a spare hanger (and some people do, on long rides, given how esoteric each hanger is).
This happened to a rider on LEL:
The outer part (nearest the camera) from the spider down to and including the pedal became detached from the inner part, which includes the chain ring bolts, leaving the pedal flapping about. The break was about 2 inches from the pedal, on the rear of the crank arm, then ran up either side of the arm to the area of the spider. I believe Shimano crank arms are hollow, formed of a U shaped front, including the pedal drilling, and a plate welded to the back, which includes the drilling for the chain ring bolts. The break was along the weld lines.The cable ties held the two parts together.
The rider managed to do 300km like this before (during the day) finding a bike shop with a replacement crankset - soon fitted.
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Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
Punk? Well after my time. Also useful for teasing out the ends of gear cables lodged in an STI when the cable breaks just below the nipple (a standard point of failure especially for 'under bar tape routed' cables.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Interesting experiences. I've never snapped a cable, probably 4 snapped spokes in 4 years and (I think) 2 or 3 snapped chains
Agree game over with a broken chain if you can't fix it (hence I have learned). I have been riding 20 spoke wheels which, when a spoke goes, buckle excessively and aren't rideable as the wheel sticks to the chain stays.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
As well as @Ajax Bay's excellent point that anything you haven't got the tool to fix is a breakdown, I remind you where we came in, with this excellent description of limpingly riding a bike home with a broken chain:
The only complete breakdown I remember is when my front hub bearings collapsed and the bike couldn't be ridden without it unscrewing things, including the axle nuts. I didn't fancy having the axle gouging the dropouts and stripping its thread, so I carried the bike nearly 3 miles home. I would have locked it up, walk/bus/taxi home and come back with a replacement wheel, but I didn't have a spare wheel in that size and rebuilding the bearing and returning with the same wheel would have left the bike locked up in an iffy location for too long... if I had a lock on that ride, as I don't think I was intending to stop and didn't always carry a lock then... OK rant over.
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Lozz360
Veteran
- Location
- Oxfordshire
I broke a chain not too long ago on my MTB and didn't have a chain tool with me - and I had a 5-mile walk home, albeit coasting downhills. Now I always have a chain tool in my bag.
The only breakdown I've ever had that I couldn't have fixed on the road whatever reasonable toolkit I had with me was a broken rear axle, and that resulted in a 10-mile walk home - thankfully it was many years (and kilos) ago so the strain wasn't too bad (and it was a nice sunny day near the coast).
The only breakdown I've ever had that I couldn't have fixed on the road whatever reasonable toolkit I had with me was a broken rear axle, and that resulted in a 10-mile walk home - thankfully it was many years (and kilos) ago so the strain wasn't too bad (and it was a nice sunny day near the coast).
BurningLegs
Veteran
U
User6179
Guest
Not sure but I have snapped a couple of side plates on 10 speed chains and they looked thinner than the 8 speed ones of which I have never snapped.
lazyfatgit
Guest
- Location
- Lawrence, NSW
Maybe.
The shaped and cutout sideplates on the narrower chains must have less material. I've broken 2 ultegra chains. The first I put down to shifting on chainrings under load. Second one i examined when i replaced it and found cracks around rivet heads on several sideplates.
I can't imagine hollow pins are as strong as solid ones unless the material is different.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
In the days when we were on 5 or 6 speed blocks broken rear axles weren't uncommon, I always found I could get home by going very slowly and walking the climbs.
I actually was on a 6-speed block at the time (and, in fact, still am :-), and I'd managed about a mile going slowly before it completely fell apart and my 10-mile walk started - it would still freewheel, but any pedal pressure and it locked up (and it was dead flat all the way home with no downhills).
