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I pretty much always have a chain breaker with me when I'm out riding so I've been following this thread with interest:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/minimalist-multitool-with-chain-breaker/
It got me thinking - I actually can't remember the last time I used a chain breaker while out riding. I think perhaps 2004-2005 was the last time, and it was on a friends bike and with his tools. Oh and I snapped a chain on my cargo bike but the over-complicated chain guard meant I had to wheel it home anyway.
Am I just exceptionally lucky or are broken chains actually quite rare?
(fwiw, I'm still going to keep carrying the multitool woth a chain breaker)
I'd say as much as once a year. Not necessarily on my bikes though.
Probably 20 years ago. Still take one with me though!
I think about 5 years ago.
Used mine once after a bad shift bent a chain link. It was time for a new chain ring and chain anyway. Only ever needed to do it that once when riding in my entire life.
Once in the last 15 years.
Its one of those tools where nothing else will do. Lots of incidents will have many solutions but if you want to fix a broken chain you need a chain tool. Probably used mine a handful of times in anger but glad to have it. On a multitool it adds very little weight. That said last time I broke a chain I was on the way home and near the top of a hill so went chainless and freewheeled or scooted.
I only road ride these days, but literally never in my entire life.
I don't take a breaker with me for this reason. I am quite diligent about checking for wear and replace them quite conservatively so really the only hazard should be if I get a faulty one I suppose.
I've used mine three maybe four times in the last few years, always to rescue other folk! Once broke my own chain, but I was so close to home I just rolled downhill home. Carry one on longer days and multi day trips, but not on short local blasts.
Twice in about five years or so, one my bike, once for someone else
I used to break chains a lot more often years back, like everything, they (and I) have improved
Once in the last 5 years but without it there would have been a long unpleasant hike a bike back to the car as the chain had jammed the rear wheel so it couldn’t even roll
Never.
But i believe there is one on my OneUp tool.
Maybe once...in 20 years.
Once. And that was a friend's bike in the car park. I still carry one on a multi tool
And twice in one ride
Never on my own bike.
Once for my wife’s and once for a random guy in Switzerland last month. He was looking a bit lost beside a stream, I found his chain and put it back together for him.
I always carry it though as otherwise it would be ride ending and potentially a long way from home.
Most of what I carry is used on other people’s bikes. We’ve just been away for a 6 day trip and my multi tool was used once on my bike to do up some cage bolts but used multiple times a day by the rest of our group I think.
A couple of years ago, on a very cold, dark winters night about 10 miles from the nearest public road. A friend had mashed his mech and chain so I had to set him up singlespeed. One of those occasions where a 2-3 hour walk would have been necessary otherwise.
I almost needed it a couple of weeks ago when another friends chain got caught between the cassette and spokes. Luckily I managed to remove the chain by flexing the spokes enough.
Once about 6 years ago and it wasn't for my bike.
I'm convinced that if I didn't have a chain breaker I'd need it almost immediately.
A handful of times in the last few decades. The last one was after I gave my spare quicklink to a stranded rider then, a couple of hours later, almost inevitably broke my own chain on a steep climb. Had to rejoin the chain then ride very gingerly home.
But as above, it's one of those things you'll inevitably need the one time you leave it behind. That's how emergency tools work...
Had to remove my chain for a chainless challenge race in 2015.
That’s it.
NA friend had mashed his mech and chain so I had to set him up singlespeed. One of those occasions where a 2-3 hour walk would have been necessary otherwise.
Same. Never for a broken chain. The few times I remember were because of a broken mech or hanger, once midway thru a stage of the Camino de Santiago - managed to get the last couple of hours to Burgos, and a bike shop, on singlespeed. Could equally have got a taxi, but then I wouldn't have ridden the whole thing!
I think I needed it over lockdown but like most, it's something I hardly ever use.
However, when I do, I'm bloody glad I've got one.
It's one of those things where a bodge or a work around really isn't going to happen. It's either fix the chain or start scooting/walking.
To look at this from another direction, has anyone ever needed a set of quick links on a ride without needing the chain tool at the same time?
Whenever I've needed quick links, I've had to use the chain tool to remove the twisted outer plates .
Twice I’ve needed a chain tool in the last couple of years, both when a mech got mangled, on one occasion bending the chain. The other just to singlspeed it back.
Not snapped a chain for over 5 years, that was at a race. It pretty much exploded and ended up with 4 quicklinks by the end of the day. I suspect it was a knockoff.
Chains definitely fail less but mechs are still prone, especially riding somewhere rocky or a bit overgrown.
I needed one last winter when my 8 speed chain snapped and wrapped itself round the cassette, bending that beyond repair, as I was commuting home in the rain and the dark....
The chain breaker on the multitool had lost its pipn, so was useless....
I knoe carry a Topeak dedicated chain breaker in my seatpacks, as they really don;t weight that much, are easy to use compared to multitool ones, and really dont; add weight compared (as seperates) to carrying an all in one tool.
They're thr sort of thing you'll lig around for years, but when you need one, nothing else will do and you'll be glad you did!
But who carries 4 spare quick-links!!!!
In more than 50 years of riding... ...never.
A few years ago maybe...
But when I need one, I need it and it has rescued some big rides / days / walks home.
And a multitool is not exactly big or heavy really.
I think I've used one three times in the last 10 years, but those were all within a few weeks of each other, on different bikes. Two were from sticks getting into the wheel and snapping the derailleur hanger at exactly the same spot on the trail about two weeks apart. The other was a work mate who snapped a chain just as I happened to be luckily riding past. I always carry one, would not go more than walking distance from home without one.
On average about once every 12-18 months. Usually on other peoples bikes.
It’s invaluable - without it someone would be walking home which would ruin the group ride for everyone whereas with it the repair is 5-10 mins. Even if they don’t have a quick link you can rejoin the chain well enough to continue riding - at least for a short while.
A few weeks ago when I saw a dad bending over his kid's ebike - broken chain and fortunately I had a quick link that was the right size too.
Probably 18 months ago when I snapped a GX chain mid ride
Then probably 7 or 8 years before that when I asked the usual "got all you need?" as I passed a couple of riders fiddling with a bike in the lakes.
So not much, bot more often than the emergency tenner I still carry.
start of the year, 2 in a month, same friends bike, i told him to check his gear before peddling up a steep climb.. chains snap if you think you can grind out a steep climb in too high a gear,
I just ordered one because on the new bike I managed to bash the chainring a few times while riding over big rocks in the Peak.
It's one of those tools where if you really need one, you're absolutely knackered if you don't have it. Breaking or twisting a chain is easy and it could result in an enormous, unplanned hike. Which I'd like to avoid.
In the last 5 years, two for me, and two for others in the group.
The one up one was great...once. then the tiny Allen bolt rounded.
Few months ago…
snapped chain. Remove broken link with chain tool that lives in my headset, insert my spare quick link.
half mile later, chain snaps again, adjacent link. Probably weakens by a rock strike/chainring bash.
No second pair of quick links, no quick link pliers. Tried to break and rejoin the chain the old fashioned way… lasted about 20 metres. Long walk home.
^ironically, this was the day before the leogang World Cup, site of the most famous chain snap in mtb history.
In the last twenty five years I've used it:
Once on my road bike.
Once on a friends road bike.
Twice on stranger's mountain bikes.
Off the top of my head, once..... in nearly 30 years of mountain biking.
There's a recurring theme in the posts above; the people who need the chain tool are not the ones carrying it! I too have used my chain tool to fix someone else's bike.
I carry two power links and a couple of spare chain links in case I have to replace a section of broken chain. Hopefully I'll never use them, but it's a trivial amount of weight, and the chain breaker doesn't add much to my multi tool:
March for me.
Picked up a stick which took out the mech and jammed the wheel in a horrible chain/spokes/cassette interface.
Used a chain-breaker to release everything and free the back wheel so that I could walk home.
Also had a chain snap last year due to a bent hanger. Removed the dead link and rejoined with a rapid link to allow me to cycle gingerly to the pub.
I don't think I've carried one for a while, normally have 2 quicklinks stuffed away. I recon any mangled chain I could mangle enough to get the bad link out (ie snap the broken link) and get the quicklink in if I absolutely had to
I recon any mangled chain I could mangle enough to get the bad link out (ie snap the broken link) and get the quicklink in if I absolutely had to
No chance. Quicklinks are pretty pointless if you don't carry a chain breaker.
I recon any mangled chain I could mangle enough to get the bad link out (ie snap the broken link) and get the quicklink in if I absolutely had to
Yeah, good luck with that!
There’s a recurring theme in the posts above; the people who need the chain tool are not the ones carrying it! I too have used my chain tool to fix someone else’s bike.
yep funnily enough this was the situation a few weeks ago on a ride with a couple of mates 🙂 I've had a chain snap twice on my own bike (in many years biking!), once I had the tool & could fix it, the other (pub bike) I didn't, but wasn't too far from home so just used the bike like a giant balance bike for a bit 🙂
Once in 50,350 miles (but I was awfully glad to have it on that occasion!)
I've not used one during a ride in 20+ years. Stopped carrying one about 15 years ago, although now I seem to recall my Stumpy has one built in somewhere.
When I rode regularly at Swinley I'd use the chain breaker maybe 2 or 3 times a year (on a ride)
..but I don't think I've used it at all in the last 10 years
Three times in the last 40 years and only once on my own bike. The other two were the same bloke. One Sunday his chain broke and I sorted with a quick link. The following Sunday it happened again. You can guess what he had done, nothing and he was surprised it had broken again! Some people believe maintenance is optional.
See, now, I have had recourse to use a chain breaker quite frequently, either for myself or for riding buddies. I find the ones on multi-tools do work most of the time, but man they are not easy and 2 have failed on me. Quite possibly due to user error (how hard can it be!), but both were crank bros and both somehow managed to chew up their own threads.
You can still find each of them somewhere in the forests of the Alsace area, prob a long way from the trails from where they were chucked with great anger.
The one-up breaker works, but man, it is not easy. I had a chain snap last week and it was so humid and wet, my hands were just too sweaty and greasy from the chain to get enough purchase on the stupid tiny chain tool/tire lever that I failed and bodged instread. Have used it successfully when not quite so slippy however.
Thus, FWIW, if you are going to carry one, I recommend to carry a decent one. The mini park tool one is small but it actually works in all conditions.
n more than 50 years of riding… …never.
Same, but then as I don't take any tools on any ride I couldn't use one anyway.
I reckon about once every two years. These days, with most stuff having mushroomed pins, they are less useful than they were since masterlinks take up the slack, but broken links sometimes get stuck and nothing else will do.
I recall once riding with a friend 40 years ago when his chain broke. i can't for the life of me remember if he had his own chain breaker with him or used mine. So possibly once possibly never
No chance. Quicklinks are pretty pointless if you don’t carry a chain breaker.
no luck with breaking apart a damaged chain. probably half of the chains (2 out of 4 from memory) I have broken it has been the quick link that has failed. A new one drops right in, no tools required.
I've used it a few times. Mostly back when single speed would break chains.
More recently was in the mountains and I fixed a German guys chain, otherwise he would have had a very long walk back.
I have used mine three times this year.
OK, so far it has not been needed for my own chain, but still. That's three fellow riders who were able to continue as a result of me being prepared.
About once a year. Not necessarily on my bikes
In the last five years or so I've needed the Chain breaker twice, once to shorten my Gravel bike's chain for a lashed up SS bodge to get home after a snapping a mech hanger, and once to help a Hungarian couple on borrowed bikes who were having a mare of a day at Swinley.
It both instances it was the only tool that could solve the problem. you don't need a chain breaker often, but when you do need one there's not really any viable alternatives.
It's nice to be a good Samaritan, and it's nice to be self sufficient and get that positive affirmation that comes from having the right tool for the situation.
In terms of 'Bulk' a chain breaker doesn't add a huge amount of volume/mass to a multitool, and as already noted a pair of quick links is potentially useless if you don't have a chain breaker as well...
I always have one in my kit as it can save you from a long walk home.
I have also used mine to he other people who need help once on a hire bike at Fairholmes which had a chain made up of three different types of chain.
Two years ago. My hanger snapped while riding up the Gap and, while I didn't take out the rear wheel spokes or mangle the mech, the chain was so tangled I had to split it to straighten it out - but of course, I absolutely could not get the quick link to part.
After breaking the chain with the chain breaker, I sorted it out and rejoined it with another quick link, after also attaching the spare hanger I had. I now carry those tyre levers that double up as chain pliers.....and a chainbreaker tool.
A few years ago probably, on someone else's bike doing the round Preston NCN route one evening, he'd had a new chain fitted by an LBS and I think they'd broken and joined it the old fashioned way rather than using a joining pin or quick link.
But then I could say the same about Allen keys, spare tube, emergency £20 note or even my phone. I'd probably not do without any of them though, it's cheap insurance against having to walk a very long way. Or worse, be that guy who has to borrow tools mid ride ?.
n.b. the inside of brake levers (unless you have fancy brakes with carbon / CNC levers) is a great place to tape some spare quick links so you've always got some.
probably half of the chains (2 out of 4 from memory) I have broken it has been the quick link that has failed. A new one drops right in, no tools required.
My experience has been the opposite, I've only ever broken one quick link and that was a cheap ali-express link. The rest of the time it's either just been at random points.
I too have used one several times on other people’s bikes.
Chris Juden, ex-technical officer of the then CTC advocated carrying a very small molegrips on a tour. He said it was useful for many jobs and you could leave the chain breaker at home and use the molegrips to break the plates of a chain so a quick link could be fitted.
Once, in 2006. Shortened a snapped chain and was able to single-speed home.
About 6 years ago. If I didn't have one with me it would have been a very long walk home.
Plenty of people carry quick links but no chain breaker which seems silly. How are you going to remove the broken link before installing the quick link?
I crashed a few weeks ago. In the OTB crash, my chain broke at the quicklink. I think my foot caught in the chain on my way over the bars.
99.99% of the time I have a quick link in my tools. This was the time that I had to walk home instead of a 60 second fix.
Intersted to hear I'm not alone in rarely using but still carrying one.
Given the amount of solo in the middle of nowhere riding I do the risk of not taking one is too high to contemplate. Weighs hee haw, takes up a tiny amount of space and is a god send if you do need it. My teeny tiny topeak multi tool has one and it works fine.
If a chain breaks, it's usually such an easy fix with the right tool.
Without the right tool, it's almost impossible to fix. If you're a long way from home it's a pain and ruins the day.
I have used one couple of times in50years. I always carry oe tho its on my multitool. You cannot really bodge one.
Once in about 8 years on my own bikes but twice or three times on other peoples.
I've got a Kamasa multitool. Similar design to the Birzman posted at the top of this page. It cost a tenner, it's all metal and small so why not.
Definitely have used in the dim distant past. There was a time we got what seemed to be a bad batch of chains (proper SRAM not cheap junk), and broke about 3 of them over a year or two. "Just riding along", really. Tandem but not super heavy or strong riders, we weren't even in the granny gear.
Not for a long time now though. Not riding the tandems so much may have something to do with this, also chains have got better even as they've got narrower.
Roadbiking, never. MTB or Gravel last used about 15-20 years ago. On road will ride without one but my full on MTB or gravel bikepacking repair kit has one, plus quick links and pliers, dont usually take that on normal day rides though.
Usually when riding with "that person" (you know who you are)
Not having used one for ages is no excuse for not carrying one, though - when was the last time you made an insurance claim?
Good luck getting this untangled from the derailleur without tools.
Without tools? Did you read a different post to me?
I've done a chain break and add a quick link without a chain tool several times. Mainly as the chain tool i was carrying at the time was too crap to push the mushroomed pin out... A screwdriver through the link and a couple of rocks did the trick.
For me probably around 20 years ago on a group ride. Then again the one I have is so small. It fits in my headset so I wouldn't bother not having it. It's the kind of tool that if you need, you need. It's unlikely that anybody other than a cyclist would have one so if something goes wrong you are stuck
Carry the current one but it's pig horrible to use, but luckily never needed to! Only the commute bike actually, its a tiny fiddly Lezynne multi tool which has no leverage so I don't carry it on mtb. Last time I used one mid ride over ten years I think.
My own, a couple of years back to fix a pensioners bike on a cycle path. Was a section alongside a railway track and he was a 4 mile walk from home with no option of being picked up.
My mate used his at Tweedlove last weekend. Gears were shifting badly after one of the race stages. Found a broken inner link on a week old chain. Removed broken sections, rejoined with quick link and continued race.
I’ve been riding since the early 90’s and remember the days when snapped chains were a regular occurrence. You only need one long walk home to always carry one. Modern chains are so good I think lots of younger riders have never experienced this, yet.