The week I broke three bike chains in five days

Last Tuesday I was working on a customer's old mountain bike in my shop in Austin. I put a new chain on it and it snapped on the test ride after two blocks. Turned out the cassette was so worn it was basically eating the chain. I replaced the cassette and another new chain, got it all set. Then Friday morning a different customer came in with a single speed that had a rusted chain. I swapped it out and it broke too because I didn't check the chainring was bent. My buddy Dave came by and just laughed at me. He said maybe I should quit and take up knitting. I thought about it for a second but no. Has anyone else had a stretch like this where everything just went wrong on the drivetrain?

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.margaret3d ago

Hang on, I get that it was a rough week, but isn't this kind of just the job sometimes? You've got to check the cassette and chainring before slapping on a new chain, right? I mean, a worn drivetrain will eat a chain in no time, and a bent chainring will snap it just as fast. Sounds like you learned the hard way, but now you probably won't skip those checks again. Don't you think that's just part of the learning curve for any mechanic?

karenh563d ago

Don't you think that hard lesson is what separates the weekend wrenchers from the folks who actually know their stuff? Tbh skipping those checks once is all it takes to make you religious about it forever.

gibson.avery3d ago

Wait, did you always feel that way about checking every part? I used to be the opposite honestly. I thought you could just eyeball the chain and chainring and be fine most of the time. But after a few rebuilds where I skipped a worn cassette and the new chain skipped like crazy, I totally get it now. That hard lesson really stuck with me, and now I never put a new chain on without checking the whole drivetrain first. It's way cheaper in the long run, and I'd bet most mechanics have that one mistake they learned from. Do you think folks are too quick to blame the chain instead of looking at everything else?