How To Repair A Broken Bicycle Chain

How to Repair a Cleaved Wheel Chain

Quick Road or Trail-Side Fix for a Cleaved Bike Chain

Getting stranded on the side of the road or miles down a trail is never fun. In fact, it is one of the chief reason cyclists avoid riding alone. Learning some basic bicycle repair tips tin assist you experience more than confident on solo rides and enable yous to be the hero should a buddy accept a bike issue.

A broken or bent chain on your bike is super common, so knowing how to remove sections of your chain and reinstall it is a necessary skill to have.

The following tips will help you repair a broken concatenation while out on a ride, but first, familiarize yourself with the parts of your chain and so fixing it will exist a cinch:

Parts of a Chain

What You'll Need

To fix a broken or bent chain, yous volition need to remove it from your cycle AND remove the broken or bent links. To do that, you lot will need a chain breaker tool. In the video, we used the Park Tool Chief Concatenation Tool, which is the best tool for the task. But if you are on the side of the road or trail, you will probably want something a lilliputian more compact. Most multi-tools will come with a chain breaker zipper, make certain yours has one earlier you lot exit the house!

Chain Breaker Tools

In addition to beingness able to break the concatenation, it would also be handy to have an actress department of the chain you lot have on your cycle to replace the broken or bent section. However, this isn't totally necessary. Acquire more in the pace-by-stride instructions beneath.

How to Repair a Cleaved or Bent Concatenation

If you notice your derailleur skipping and yous are unable to stay in one gear while pedaling, yous probably bent your chain. Although you might be able to ride dwelling like this, it would be a little obnoxious and your chain could really spring off the cassette entirely and intermission or bend your derailleur! If you lot accept a set of pliers on hand, information technology is possible to bend the chain back and make it dwelling. If you lot don't have pliers, y'all'll demand to remove the bad section of chain. If your chain breaks completely, it usually snaps as you are putting try into the pedal or if you utilise force in some other fashion, like landing a leap.

Stop riding and flip your bike over. This is the easiest way to assess the damage, as you tin hands pedal the bike forrard to find the culprit of your issues.
If the chain is bent and even so attached to the cycle, remove the chain using a chain breaker tool every bit close to the compromised part of the concatenation as possible. Push button the pivot all the way through, as yous will toss this section of the concatenation.
You exercise not have to remove the chain completely from the bike to fix a broken chain, only it tin can be a piddling cumbersome to kneel over the wheel to fix it. If you remove the chain completely from the drivetrain, lay a slice of cloth you don't really mind getting greasy on the ground to forestall your chain from getting super dirty.
By bending the chain in your easily, you can figure out how much of the chain is damaged.
Make sure you have a roller (run into diagram) on the opposite end and the pin you are well-nigh to push through volition leave you with two outer plates.
Using your chain breaker tool, begin to push the pivot through. Be careful to not button the pin all the way through the outer plate. You should be able to remove the damaged chain without letting the pin fall out completely.
Thread the chain back through your derailleur and line up the pin on your tool with the pivot in the chain. Slowly and carefully bulldoze the pin back into the link to connect the chain. Check with the other links to make sure you lot pushed the pin in completely, simply not as well far through the link.
Jerk the chain back and forth with your easily to piece of work out whatever stiffness in the newly installed link.
You're expert to go!

TIP: Yous only removed a portion of your concatenation, so chances are the chain will not want to shift into the easiest gears on your bike (the biggest rings on the cassette). Be careful as you ride domicile to not shift into these extreme gears, or you might risk bending your derailleur. If for some reason yous had to remove a large portion of your chain, yous tin can by-laissez passer the derailleur all together and make your bike into a unmarried speed! Wrap your chain around the front chain ring and the desired cog in your cassette, trim the chain so information technology is tight and reattach. This method will also come in handy if you bend or break your derailleur.

The Deal with PowerLinks

Only, what if you have a PowerLink, right? Information technology is probable that your concatenation your bike came with has one of these quick attachments. A PowerLink allows you to remove your chain without a chain breaker and reattach your chain without fumbling with pressing a pin back into your chain link.

If you take a bent portion of concatenation and need to remove it from your bike, you can remove it with the PowerLink. However the bent portion is probably non located correct at the PowerLink, so yous will withal need a chain breaker tool. Also, PowerLinks (particularly on newer xi or 12-speed drivetrains) are oft hard to remove without a set of needle nose pliers or special quick link pliers, like the ones beneath.

Quick Link Pliers

It is a good idea to bring a PowerLink with you in your pack or emergency kit because it is easier to reattach your chain with. But keep in mind that all chains require different kinds of PowerLinks, so make sure y'all take the right one.

Quick Links

When you reattach your concatenation with a PowerLink, at that place is a neat trick to use: Connect the chain with the PowerLink and pull the chain on either side to piece of work the link'south pins into the holes. It is likely that the pins volition not lock completely just by pulling. So, squeeze your rear break and press downwards on the front end pedal. This pressure level should popular the link into identify!

Quick Link Install