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think my mech hanger got a bit bent on some local trails and my gears started slipping about and not engaging at all, like an idiot I carried on twoddling the pedals and the chain snapped. One of the plates bent and pulled the end of the rivet out of the other plate. Fortunately I was only 2 miles from home, mostly downhill. Once home I removed the rivet and using 2 pliers I bent the plate back and it lies flat on a surface.
The chain is about 4 weeks old otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to replace it but should I? if I do fix it should I re-use the rivets and (now not bent) plates? or should I use an old quick link to join then back up?
answers on a postcard please. 🙂
I always chuck chains away when I snap em
I'd quick-link it. Possibly a new one rather than an old one though 🙂
Replace - high potential for other links to be bent. It's a small price to pay to avoid fubaring cassette/rings
Quick links. I just replaced a chain as getting new cassette and chainring. It had 3 quick links in.
unexplained break = fix to get home, get a new one in, expect it to break again, pref replace beforehand.
direct cause clear = fix to get home and forget about it.
Wouldn't reuse bent links and I wouldn't trust an old chain that had started to break, but I would and have patched up a chain in otherwise good condition that had snapped, just replace any deformed links.
Once the rivets been pulled out the hole in the plate will be oversized (hence the oversized shimano joining pins), so any fix will almost certainly fail sooner rather than later.
Also, you'll have work hardened the plate by bending it.
If it's a pair of outerplates you've killed, just bang a quick link in and carry on.
If you take the offending link out you'll be fine, esp if the chain is only a month old.
I've split and joined chains plenty of times, never had any issues.
Remove the snapped stuff and quick link, ride on. Done that and chain went on for couple of years fine, even with three quick links in the chain.
Chucking a chain due to snapping a link is madness.
It may also cost you a perfectly good cassette too if it doesn't mesh well with it due to wear (and no it's not because the cassette needs replacing, it's just brand new + slightly worn doesn't mix).
p.s. KMC. Then you'll struggle to remember the last time you snapped a chain 😉
Whatever you do, just carry quick links with you. Though mine just get lent to others these days.
It is a KMC chain 😮 , I always use them and this is the first time one has snapped. It wasn't at the split link that it snapped. I did have a spare quick link with me but not a chain splitting tool.
Lesson learnt hopefully! Even with quick links you'll still need a chain tool to get rid of the mangled bits!