Getting a chain back in the box

[CharleyFarley]

This isn't the first time I tried this, and I haven't succeeded, yet. It's a magic trick that only the chain makers know. Take a new chain out of the box and then try to put it back in. I coiled this chain up as tightly as I could, and it would not go back in the box. They must have some machine that knows how to do it because they must do thousands of them, and I doubt the chains are packed by hand.

Incidentally, this chain is to replace a chain that I bought in a bike shop November 23rd, 2020. It needed 122 links so they took a new chain and added the extra links. My Park CC-2 tool now showed it 75% worn, and that's when Park suggests a new chain. I ride this beach cruiser 30 miles each week, and I fail to see how I wore it out so quickly. 600 miles?

 

[ColinJ]

I ride this beach cruiser 30 miles each week, and I fail to see how I wore it out so quickly. 600 miles?

Beach = sand/salt water = grinding paste?

 

[CharleyFarley]

Beach = sand/salt water = grinding paste?

I'm intimately acquainted with sand grinding paste. When I was a teen we moved from London to the east coast. I took my bike on the beach early in the morning and raced along the damp, hard sand, and as I approached the breakwater, I'd stand on one pedal and spin the back end around, kicking up sand. It didn't do the Sturmey Archer gear any good, as I could no longer change gears.

I've seen some guys taking fat bikes on the beach. I won't do that because I don't like sand in my chain.

I'm about six miles from a beach. I only ride on a blacktop road. No salt water or any water. And I clean and lube the chain with Rock N' Roll lube every 100 miles. There's no way it should have worn out in 600 miles.

I just checked my records and saw that I paid $14.45 (£10.44) for a new chain from the bike shop last November. I don't like to think they sold me a used chain but it looks very much like they did, but I won't say they did it, knowingly. I saw him take it out of a pack that looked like Shimano. He laid it on his bench to add some more links, then put it in a plastic bag. The gear changes seemed a bit clunky but I kind of expect that from a 7-speed, compared to a 10-speed. This new chain, though, is very smooth when it changes. I hung the old and the new chains together, and there was approximately a 1/2" (1.25 cm) difference, so it was definitely worn. This is the third chain on this cruiser, from new. 1800 miles, so my original chain gave me 1200 miles which doesn't seem a lot. By comparison my Specialized fat bike 10-speed is on its second chain after about 8,000 miles, and is doing well at 10,000. .

 

[ColinJ]

Hmm it does rather sound like you were sold an old 'new' chain!

 

[Pale Rider]

Put the chain wear tool back in the box and replace the chain when it starts to skip.

 

[Brandane]

How to get a chain back in the box?
You answered your own question a few days ago! Here.

 

[OldShep]

I clean and lube the chain with Rock N' Roll lube every 100 miles

How are you doing this?

 

[CharleyFarley]

Put the chain wear tool back in the box and replace the chain when it starts to skip.

You mean when it grinds away at the cogs?

 

[CharleyFarley]

How are you doing this?

I know it's a controversial issue so however I'm doing it, I'll stick with it. Some time ago a guy told me that he takes his chain off and has a bike shop clean it for him. Then he complained that the bike shop didn't do a good enough job so he had to clean it, again, himself. Apparently, there are extremists in everything. Anyway, I clean the chain on my cruiser the same way I clean the chain on my fat bike. That chain was good for 8,000 miles, so my cleaning method can't be that bad; it certainly wasn't the cause of the chain wearing out at 600 miles.

 

[CharleyFarley]

Hmm it does rather sound like you were sold an old 'new' chain!

I don't see how it could have been a new one, and I don't think the bike shop knew it wasn't new. They've been around for over 40 years and it wouldn't be worth risking their reputation for the sake of a used chain. The only thing I can think of is that someone else bought a new chain, put it on their bike, cleaned their old one and put it back in the pack and asked for a refund. Other than that, could it have been a factory defect?

 

[CharleyFarley]

How to get a chain back in the box?
You answered your own question a few days ago! Here.

Yeah, but they don't work so well like that. My wife came up with an answer which I 'm going to test, today, using the old chain and the plastic box. I had wound the new chain as tightly as I could, but she said it should be done in straight lines, zig-zagging it back and forth. I have a feeling she's right. She always is!

 

[T4tomo]

Yeah, but they don't work so well like that. My wife came up with an answer which I 'm going to test, today, using the old chain and the plastic box. I had wound the new chain as tightly as I could, but she said it should be done in straight lines, zig-zagging it back and forth. I have a feeling she's right. She always is!

She is, think Z-bed rather than Swiss roll.

 

[Pale Rider]

You mean when it grinds away at the cogs?

Chain wear tools may have their place, but I bet if you tested every bike on the road a huge proportion would indicate a change is needed when the chain could run perfectly well for thousands more miles.

 

[DaveReading]

Yeah, but they don't work so well like that. My wife came up with an answer which I 'm going to test, today, using the old chain and the plastic box. I had wound the new chain as tightly as I could, but she said it should be done in straight lines, zig-zagging it back and forth. I have a feeling she's right. She always is!

Yes, you want the half-links in adjacent rows to be 50% offset, which is impossible to achieve with a spiral.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, you want the half-links in adjacent rows to be 50% offset, which is impossible to achieve with a spiral.

And you can't get a spiral chain into the corners of a square chain box.