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When a chain change goes wrong

January 22nd, 2007 by Tim Grahl

This weekend I put a new cog on the rear wheel of the GT Peace 9er singlespeed. I changed it out from 16 tooth cog to a 20 tooth cog. Because of the bigger cog it required a longer chain than the GT came with. I pulled the chain off another bike and learned something in the process…

I first found the link designed to be changed (the pin is flat on the ends) and threw it on the chain breaker. You are supposed to leave the pin in a little bit (that part I knew) but I wasn’t paying enough attention and pushed the pin all the way through. Now what?

Chain Link

I was able to fit the pin in just a little bit and then with my small pair of needle nose pliers I slowly snapped the pin back in. Be careful when doing this as you could jack up your chain but it’s a pretty easy way to recover from the frustration that comes with the mistake I made.

Chain Link

Once the pin is back in just put the chain back together as normal and you are good to go.

5 Responses to “When a chain change goes wrong”

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  1. 1 fixedgear  on Jan 23rd, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    I’d be reall, real, real careful with that. Lots of stress on a SS chain, you wouldn’t want your jewels to meet the top tbe when you are cranking up a hill out of the saddle. I’d have used a master link.

  2. 2 rashnixon  on Jan 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am

    +1

    I try to keep one in my camelback just in case I do break a chain.

  3. 3 RogueMechanic  on Jan 24th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    Ditto all of the above. Where that pin is is now “the weakest link”… SS chains are so inexpensive that I’d rather buy a new one instead of risking the painful experience of a chain failure. I’d only use a master link for a trail repair in order to get back home. I hope this info helps!

  4. 4 Tim Grahl  on Jan 24th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

    Thanks for the advice… I’ll be getting a new chain now!

  5. 5 agu  on Feb 15th, 2007 at 10:11 am

    don’t remind me - that happened to me already! (the pin escaped). come to think of it, I’ve had a chain snap on me and it’s not a pleasant experience hehe

    which reminds me, I’ve better get a new chain. I replace mine every six months, just to be sure!

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