Never had a chain fail before... ever. My Dura Ace 10-speed chain (<150 miles) measures as new but broke yesterday under modest pressure while shifting the FD. From the looks of it the side plate was pried away from the roller and the failed link's side plate is now bent. What is my next step? Can I buy pieces of chain and reassemble it? This chain measures spot on 12" center-to-center and I would hate to throw it out--not to mention the $50-60 for a replacement!
...j
(02-19-2010, 05:10 PM)j beede Wrote: Never had a chain fail before... ever. My Dura Ace 10-speed chain (<150 miles) measures as new but broke yesterday under modest pressure while shifting the FD. From the looks of it the side plate was pried away from the roller and the failed link's side plate is now bent. What is my next step? Can I buy pieces of chain and reassemble it? This chain measures spot on 12" center-to-center and I would hate to throw it out--not to mention the $50-60 for a replacement!
...j
Too bad you didn't have a receipt or something like that for it. Sometimes to stand behind high dollar products the maker would rather replace it for free then have an unhappy customer. You could keep the broken one for a spare parts in case it happens when you are out touring as keeping a couple links is suggested for a portable tool kit. Do you know what model it is? I come up with some pretty good search results
. As far as piecing a chain back together some say it is ok and a lot suggest against it.
Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!
If you can see the photo, you can see that the chain did not break at the "quick pin" link. This concerns me as now I need to figure out why the chain broke. FYI the chain is marked VIA, HG, and CN-7801.
As JonB says -
Sram Power Link:-
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=871
KMC Link:-
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=18885
These will also jeep the chain to the same length once you've removed the damaged one.
Check out your prefered supplier or LBS.
I prefer the KMC version but either will do the job.
There is a report that the Sram is not re-usable but the KMC is?
Ride hard or ride home alone!
Found a semi-LBS that had a box full of chain bits... they had a length of CN-7801 that they gave me along with a pair of Shimano pins. I bought an SRAM link and a KMC as well for educational purposes. I'm heading out to the bench to see what I can do.
...j
UPDATE: Back in business... I replaced the twisted link using pieces of CN-7801 from the LBS and a pair of Shimano snap-off pins. Those Shimano snap-off pins are easy to install but binding was a problem. I spent about 20 minutes playing with the new link trying to get the kinks out.
...j
I have just upgraded from Ultegra SL to Ultegra 6700 groupset after a bike theft, as usual I chose a new Dura Ace chain (7901) after the Ultegra (6701) split at the connecting link early on.
I am running a triple chainset with a 28-11 cassette, I have always used shimano chains without issue.
The Dura Ace chain split on my first moderate hill, again at the connecting pin. The advice I was given from Evans was that the new Shimano chains aren't as robust as previous incarnations and with my build (6ft 1" and 17 stones) the power put through the chain and lateral movement with the triple chainset is stressing it too much.
I think they may have got the weight v strength balance wrong this time.
I was advised to use a SRAM (10sp) quicklink (£2.50)to connect the chain, and so far after 200 miles of commuting it's fine.
When I asked what chain the mechanic would put on a triple setup he said SRAM every time, I wasn't prepared to throw £50 away apparently the quicklink is a stronger connection than Shimano's special pin where both chains split under stress.
Dave S
Birmingham UK
I have a brand spanking new dura ace chain waiting to go on my bike and I plan on connecting it with a sram power link. hopefully nothing breaks on me. I've always used sram chains.