chain woes

conor rowan

chain and cassete were absolutely knackered. so i replaced them with new shimano ones.

thing is 500km down the road in the next town im cleaning the chain and notice its a link too long. so i get out the chain breaker and shorten it.
the next day the chain is skipping, a link is loose. i get it back in and it seems fine and smooth.

150km down the road the chain snaps. i have to shorten the chain now.

im gonna replace the chain once i can find a decent bike shop here. for the last day tho the chains been too short so ive been limited to 2,4/5/6 and the chains been skipping like made as one of the links is stiff.tried rubbing it between my fingers and thumb with a clotha nd some oil to loosen it but no joy.

so (a) am i doing somehting wrong when im messing with my chain, whats the right technique
(b) how do i get rid of a stiff link

gonna replace asap but no point making mistakes if youre not gonna learn form them
thanks
conor

Scrivo

To get rid of the stiff link, hold the chain on both sides of the stiff link and bend the chain outwards and inwards. Use a good bit of force with gloves on. Should work after one bend.

Morgan

Read this:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=53

and this:
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=25

conor rowan

thanks for the help lads

blorg

I had a stiff link recently and there was no shoving it; needed a chain replacement. Noticed there was a bit of a gouge on the link. Scrivo's advice is right on what to do if it is going to be fixable though.

Well done on getting to China- I have heard there can be difficulties crossing over land into the country? (As well as rules against importation of bicycles.)

conor rowan

cheers blorg

yea it was a real feeling of achievement crossing that border.
the main difficulties seem to apply to motor vehicles, although i have heard of a couple on a tandem bike who were turned back as the chinese law states youre only allowed one person per bike (although from what we've seen it doesnt seem enforced).
the heardest partw as the irkhestam pass, although our crossing wasnt completely plain sailing. we arrived 5 mins before the border closed and had to spend the night in quarantine so they could clear us in the morning.

with every border theres a huge element of luck with what guard you get and how anal they are. being friendly and relaxed and shaking their hand goes a long way too though

Raam

conor rowan wrote: »

with every border theres a huge element of luck with what guard you get and how anal they are. being friendly and relaxed and shaking their hand goes a long way too though

Have you had to bribe anyone?

conor rowan

unfortunately not

at the lucky strike party i ended up in during oktoberfest i got given a packet of 20 cigs. i dont smoke so i figured id hold onto them and offer them to border guards to sweeten our passage. as it happened they were never needed.

leaving uzbekistan going to kyrgyzstan the lads had forgot to declare their cameras and the customs guy was trying to confiscate them. the lads kept smiling and just said " no no its fine no no" and took them back out of the customs guys hand and he just folded and let us through. guess he figured that the paperwork involved in dealing with whities was way too much hassle. by the time id fished the smokes out of my pannier we were being waved through. still have the lucky strikes, you get attached to the most bizarre things you carry with you
eg id be gutted to lose the superquinn plastic bag i wrap my shoes in