Broken chain help

flatface

As if the wind this morning was not struggle enough, my bike jammed suddenly, which i discovered was a chain pin that had popped out. It felt very loose but by pushing it back in I at least made it the rest of the way to work.

Chain is a 10 speed shimano 105 as is the rest of the groupset and near on its 1st birthday.
I am limitted to what I can buy in the few LBS around work today. Any wouldnt mind having something I could repair on the road should it happen again.
Whats you reckon is best to do?

a) buy a chain pin tool and make my existing chain 1 link shorter.

b) buy a sram chain with a powerlink.

c) new shimano chain + chain pin tool + spare link for next time.

mfdc

If your chain has snapped then it's probably time to replace it. C is the best course I'd think; personally I'd combine B and C though, SRAM chain w/ powerlink and a chain tool with some spare quick links for the saddlebag. I find it easier to just click on the quick link than fiddle about with a chain tool too much when putting on a new chain.

cython

mfdc wrote: »

If your chain has snapped then it's probably time to replace it. C is the best course I'd think; personally I'd combine B and C though, SRAM chain w/ powerlink and a chain tool with some spare quick links for the saddlebag. I find it easier to just click on the quick link than fiddle about with a chain tool too much when putting on a new chain.

I'd agree with this. You've already seen what can happen if your chain breaks, when you're out, and that could leave you stranded another time. Even if you have quick links to get going again, you may well need a chain tool to remove the broken link(s) before you can fit it. In theory you could use a new pin to get going at the side of the road too, but just picture a chain breakage on a day with foul weather, and think how much nicer it would be to be able to just remove the damage, and quickly click together a new link, rather than having to get a rivet just right

bcmf

Dont do a.
as mfdc said do a mix of both b and c. Buy a new chain and powerlink. even for taking off and cleaning its a lot handier.

flatface

Thanks for the advice. Do the sram chains run nice and quiet on the 105 too?

Also are the powerlinks on the 10-speed chains not one-use-only? That would be a shame as I quite liked the idea of taking the chain off to clean it.

cython

flatface wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Do the sram chains run nice and quiet on the 105 too?

Also are the powerlinks on the 10-speed chains not one-use-only? That would be a shame as I quite liked the idea of taking the chain off to clean it.

That seems to be the official line on it anyway, and from reviews on CRC, it seems true. There are other options, however, like KMC that seem to make resusable 10 speed links, though reviews there suggest issues using that link with SRAM chains...

As for running quietly, I have a Tiagra chainset with SRAM cassette and chain and don't notice any noise or problems that would be solved by a different chain. Shifting is a bit clunky (to be expected from a Sora/Tiagra level setup), but I wouldn't see a Shimano chain improving this.

ashleey

Wipperman do a powerlink type system and I have one on my 9 speed tiagra and it runs like silk. My SRAM on my other bike is also smooth. I am never using kmc again.