If the chain has "stretched" > 1/16th of inch, replace. Check by holding 12 inch ruler against chain lining up the first inch mark with the rivet. Look at the 12" mark and see how far the rivet is past it. You wait too long to replace you will be replacing your cassette much too soon as well.
Don has had bad experience with Shimano chains. In my experience KMC or SRAM are much better and hold up. They also have the "quick link" for easy removal and cleaning. They both are fully compatible with Shimano components as I have Ultegra and Dura-Ace and have had no problems whatsoever. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ssp Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 10:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [COWs] My thursday thumps .... sorry to hear of the trails and tribulations. stardude, you had a chain tool w/ you on your bike wed night when you got to checkers? And then proceeded to reduce the length of your chain by 1 link and then road ~25 miles? The chain length does not have to be that precise of a length? Interesting for me since I am getting on up in miles on my chain and think I need to put a new one on. Have been researching how to do it. Don does not sell shimano chains so I have decided to try it myself. Lately there have been many chain horror stories. Prefer not to have to replace cogs cause of chain wear. On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 7:42 PM, Tim & Susan <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I broke my chain last night. Whipped out my chain tool, took out the bad link, put it back together then rode to Bailey! Tools are great! :) Good luck this weekend!!! tim ----- Original Message ----- From: Derek Belhumeur<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 7:24 PM Subject: [COWs] My thursday thumps Ahh the wonders of a busted chain, bent rim and blown tire with a race coming up in two days. So, here I sit in my living room on my laptop after having gotten to OSB to reach for my front tire to place it on my bike only to find out that the tire was flat and the rim bent. I rush home, take the rim and tire from my old Trek 1.2 and throw it in the back of my car and head back to OSB. I jump out, slap my helmet, gloves and shoes on, place the front tire on my bike and take off in route to Cloverdale to meet up with the other riders. I arrive with a few minutes to spare. Phew! At least I made it. We leave Cloverdale, life is good because I'm in good company and on the bike with the road ahead of me. Life couldn't get any better and nothing could go wrong... or could it??? We arrive at the intersection of Nash and Grace St across from the cemetary. Cars left, cars right. Finally the path is clear for us to cross Nash Street and to continue on, however, my chain had different plans for me. I snap my left shoe in and attempt to snap my right in, however, my pedals will not continue to cycle. I make it to the turning lane in the center of the road and get off my bike. I look down and realize that I had a busted chain only to look back up and realize that the rest of my fellow Thursday riders are already down the road and out of ear shot. What a night. Thank goodness for wives and cell phones. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:cyclistsofwilson-cows%[email protected]>. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:cyclistsofwilson-cows%[email protected]>. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.
