Spare chain links/ emergency fix jobby...

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
How do i know which spare link jobby to buy...I am not sure what type of chain I have. I have a daws galaxy with 29 speeds... I would hazard a guess at a shimano chain but I have no idea what it is to be honest.
I want to go online and buy a couple of spare links...the type I can mend a snapped chain with to get me out of a fix.

Also I heard that in an emergency there is a way of by passing the de raillier (sp?) and limping home on just one speed...how is that done?
 
29 speed - do you mean 27 ? ie. 3 x 9 => 27

In which case you have a 9-speed system so you'll need a 9-speed spare link : 6/7/8 are all same width, 9 is narrower, 10 is narrower still - you just need one the right width for your chain.

Is it Shimano or Campagnolo ? (i.e. the shifters/gear mechs - not the chain itself)

If you have say Shimano 9-speed, then any link that fits 9-speed Shimano will be fine, whether you get SRAM, KMC, whatever.
Any will work with a 9-speed chain.

You need a link extractor tool (aka 'chain breaker') to drive-out the pin from the chain.

The two halves of the link just go through in place of the two pins you've removed, then the two halves simply slot together.

If the chain broke by a pin coming out, you drive-out the next pin along, remove one link from the chain and replace it with your spare link.

You can, as a temporary repair to get you home, shorten the chain by a link or two.
If you shorten by too many, you won't be able to use the big rings front or rear, but you could limp home using just the smaller rings.

If the rear mech is bust/ripped-off, you could re-route the chain direct from one of the rings at the front to one of the cogs on the back, without going through the derailleur, shorten the chain to be the right length, and then limp home WITHOUT TOUCHING THE SHIFTERS
- basically you'll have made your bike into a single-speed, fixed in that one gear
- so it's best to go middle front ring on a triple/small ring on a double to one of the middle cogs on the back : you want a gear you can actually pedal, not one that's too high or low
- and you want the chainline to be straight, i.e. the rear cog to be directly in-line with the front ring, so the chain goes straight not pulled off left to right
 
Yeah, they're the fellas.

Note though that if you buy a new SRAM chain, you get a pair of these to join it up with. Same for KMC.
- Shimano however use a one-use joining pin which is a complete *rse by contrast

I change my chains periodically (get a chain wear guage, or use a ruler to see when they've stretched)
So I've just kept the joining links as chain-repair spares.

Rather than buying the links separately, you could buy a couple of spare chains now, to replace your chain with in future, 'borrow' the joining links out of them.
 

fuzzy29

New Member
Location
Somerset
I would suggest that you ditch the Shimano chain and get either a Sram or Wipperman chain. You need to have a compatible chain tool AND a spare link to reconnect a Shimano chain. A Sram or Wipperman chain comes with a split link and can be separated and rejoined like any other chain.
 
OP was on about buying some spare/missing links to fix a broken chain out in the boonies.

You're going to need a chain-tool to fix that whatever type it is.


I agree if buying a new chain I wouldn't (don't) replace with Shimano because the single-use connecting pin is a cr*p idea in contrast to joining it with a spare/missing link like KMC or SRAM
- it's an *rse of a job to use the connecting pin, rather than just a clip-together with a link
- and if you do separate the chain for cleaning or maintenance, you need a new pin with Shimano, rather than just unclip/reclip with KMC or SRAM

Or at any rate that is the case with 8/9/10 speed with KMC but only 8/9 with SRAM - if 10-speed the SRAM joining link can only be used once.
 
OP
OP
Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
Well I just ordered the multi tool Steve suggested and three chain links. The INternet shop said it would all work on my bike so all should be well in theory if it snaps.
 
Top Bottom