Broken Chain Club

[kentercanyon]

i got a 10 speed murray for my birthday in 1984 , wasnt use to the drop bars yet - (most my bikes were cruisers or had apes )- and tried to shift while going up a slight incline while pedeling standing up , chain broke, i panicked and locked up the wrong brakes , the front brakes- i went over front handlebars - breaking my left arm in 3 places ,broke my collar bone ,fractured skull, and severly dammaged the bike .....

That's awful. Tragic even... You damaged the bike? (Kidding)

Like plenty of things in life I learned this lesson the hard way too but fortunately not THAT hard. I teach new riders now to learn to use both brakes together judiciously by instinct so that when an emergency comes its unlikely they will grab just one brake. I wish someone had taught me that from the start.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Got to push a flat today.
I thought it seemed like a good idea to bring a bike, drop my truck off for an oil change and ride into town to cash a check & etc. The guy at the oil change said there was hardly anyone there all day yesterday but today was the first day of the month so, it was about a two hour wait. :x

So I decided to go ahead and ride to the local bike shop first before lunch (about three miles), and then work my way back. About a mile into it the rear tire went flat. I pushed it for about another mile and then a friend called and asked what I was doing, and it turned out that he was not far away, so he picked me up and delivered me the rest of the way. Got a new tube put in (in a hurry, because the shop owner needed to leave during lunch) and I was on my way again.

I guess this was my longest push so far. Not fun.

 

[mikeeebikey]

I have broken every part on a bike at one time or another.
Tubes and chains!
Now a days I run bmx, heavy duty chains, special chain tool required.
Geared bikes, nothing but Shimano broke all the others.
I have to temper my assault on the pedals, I can bend most 1/2" stuff just with my legs, no jumping. Good sprockets, worn one's wear out chains faster.
I run no "vintage," chains, ever.
Now I need a good light weight sand spur cure.....

 

[ozzmonaut]

I had both tires on a 55 straightbar Schwinn get punctured down by the river. Had to walk it home with 2 flats. A couple little kids yelled, "Nice flat tires". Salt in the wound. Also snapped a pedal shaft on a 48 Schwinn on the local walking trail. It was still somewhat rideable, but only by pressing my right foot against the tiny bit sticking out of the crank.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

i think we have all been there one point or another
but i got one for ya
i was riding my genesis 29er and the rear hub fell apart to the point where the cog came right off the wheel
so when i limped 2.5 miles home and repaired it then the front bottom bracket thingy broke.
so now i have ym wife on speeddial in my cellphone.
needless to say i got her running again but im prepared for another breakdown soon lol
sean

 

[kentercanyon]

I made a joke upstream and now the chain gods have made me pay for it. My ten year old stepson wanted to ride bmx at the local spots and so I (a veteran skateboarder and longtime cruiser bike rider) decided to give it the "old man" try. He's a total novice and I'm not much better when it comes to jumping etc. The last bike I seriously jumped was my stingray when I was in elementary school and like everyone else had been watching ON ANY SUNDAY and Evel Knievel. But I can't be accused of being afraid to teach and old dog new tricks...

Through friends, craigslist and the local community bike shops I built up two decent contemporary bmx freestyle bikes - and learned a lot in the process about modern bike tech. I've seen enough to know that catastrophic bike failures can be very bad news and so I went through the bikes very thoroughly - his especially- paying close attention to the wheels, truing and regreasing everything. His bike has 14mm axels front and back and full cromoly frame and bars and should be as bulletproof as one can make a bike that's built in the last five years or so. I took the slightly lighter frame - a "we the people" German engineered Taiwan built frame since it was longer and didn't scrutinize the chain as well as I should have, figuring it was only three years old max. When one rides skiptooth bikes that are pushing 75 years it seems like "fresh as a daisy" in comparison.

I'd read about how tiny 9 tooth drivers were tough on chains and now I know the hard way to pay attention to these types of warnings.

We finished getting the bikes up and running last night and bombed around the driveways under the streetlights anticipating a nice Sunday riding the local spots. I was happy bunny hopping my beer cans and enjoyed the feeling of a well made bike under my feet. The kid was stoked too even if he can't do much besides go fast just yet. We were bonding over our newfound stoke and newbie status. Good times being on the learning curve more or less together.

This morning early, dawn patrol style alone in preparation for our maiden session I snuck out to cruise the skatepark 4-6-9 foot deep multi-bowl to get my feet wet, so to speak. I have no difficulty carving around on my skateboard here and so i felt comfortable swooping around below the coping on my new ride. I'd started on flat bottom and felt good. My second run was going to be a drop-in run from the deck and so I headed for the roll-out section in te middle bowl, gathering speed. Long story short I broke a chain and slammed going across flat bottom hitting my temple pretty good on the transition before I'd even known what happened. I was "taking it easy" and so stupidly was not wearing a helmet. Lesson learned! I didn't black out but I could have... Was dizzy enough that I had to sit down again after getting up. I've been skating in pools since 1977 and only ever hit my head twice... BMX is a different animal. It was like getting blindsided in a dark alley by a baseball bat!

Needless to say our bikes are both getting new half link chains before we ride them. I'm also considering fullface helmets...