The previous one was a Shimano link that had likely been used too many times (I posted about it on here).

This one has been re-used only once (for putolining), is a clarks link, 11spd, on a new chain (circa 100km old). quite a new XT cassette and chainring, nothing else obviously wrong with drivetrain.

Why do they snap? It’s quite sore when they go, as invariably its when I’m giving it the beans up something hard and one’s knee whams into the shifter – last time it was a wee sharp rise, this time it was trying to ride up a set of steps to ‘impress’ my middle 13yr old daughter. 😆

I am a huge fella, no doubt (mass and leverage). Physics dictates there’s a fair bit of power going on. But in, what, 35 yrs of mtbing I’ve never had a chain just snap, not even 9, 10 or 11spd previously, unless influenced by a jam/stick/mechfailure etc. Thats 2 now in 12 months, and the same quick link failure.

This is always on the hardtail, with 29+ wheels on 197mm rear hubs and a 120mm BB. The chainline is certainly nothing like as appealing as on the ‘normal’ bike, as it is quite extreme, and I do wonder if it is that that is causing the issue. This bike in general has been plagued by a lot of rear hub/wheel and drivetrain related failures that I did not experience on the previous Ice Cream Truck with the same dimensions and actually the same drivetrain.

Help my knees!

Is that another crack on the second rivet from the top at 3 o clock?

I had a chain let go with loads of cracks (caught it before snapping). It was a couple of years old but only had a few rides, I think it had been soaked in a green degreaser and not rinsed at some point. I lined all the cracks down the middle in this photo (more cracks on the reverse)

Kev, i got a new bike a month or so ago. with a rohloff. on the second ride, the link snapped. i repaired the chain, and on the 4th ride it snapped again.
new industrial strength hub chain now fitted.

it is cos we are powerhouses…………… ;o)

@ton – 😎 undoubtedly the power is off the charts, but I want to know why it is only happening now, with this bike, goddamit.

@spooky_b329 – I will check, but this was a pretty new chain, does look a bit suspect though

Thinking about it, if I was to hazard a guess, the snapping links have only started since I started using putoline, meaning I am more regularly re-using links to take off the chain to dunk it.

hmmmm… Correlation is not causation, but…

Perhaps this is not really an issue for lighter folks, but at my end of the spectrum, the extra ‘give’ from reuse in a quick link may well be the culprit. Arse.