Dismantled 10-speed chain

[Pebble]

With a bag of nails you could rebuild it into a duplex or triplex chain.

I was thinking of scattering the bag of parts along the road for cars to pick up.
Actually, I threw the old chain in the recycling bin but then realized it could get caught up in the recycling equipment and do some serious damage. So around 3 a.m. this morning, I was awake and wondering what to do with it. Then the idea of dismantling it came to me.

damage to the recycling machine or to the chain ?

I throw much bigger and heavier bits of metal into the recycling bin than old chains - I just guessed they would all get lifted out with a big magnet then melted down - am I wrong ?

I have some 50x50 10mm thick angle iron off cuts in there at the moment.

[Mick F]

There are 108pins.
Painting program and I put a black dot on each of them as I counted.

[DaveReading]

It had 122 links when new. The replacement was 122 links but then I had to remove a couple of them to make it the right length. Laying the old and new chains side by side, two links had to be removed.

The pins are mixed up with all the other parts in a bag, and I ain't gonna count 'em for nobody!

If only there was a way to deduce the number of pins from knowing the number or links ...

[OldLimey]

I wasn't actually present, but a clubmate once described his chain exploding on the way home from a club 10. He said that he was scrabbling round in the road trying to collect enough bits to build something to get home when, luckily, another rider came by in a car.

I've always visualised something like this for the event, although logic dictates otherwise

Sometimes production machinery malfunctions. He may have had an improperly assembled chain. I don't think that I'd save the pieces if that happened to me because I wouldn't trust the parts that I picked up.

I bought a new cruiser, several years ago, from a bike shop. At 1,000 miles the gears were giving me a bit of trouble, and I noticed the derailleur was hanging outboard. I knew nothing about derailleurs so I took it to the LBS. He said the chain is shot and needs a new one. At 1,000 miles? He said they're only good for 800 miles. So he put a new chain on the bike. A few weeks later, the chain broke, so I decided to have a go at replacing it, myself. Back to the LBS for a new chain. Back home I found the new chain was 20cm shorter than the one they put on. So back to the LBS for a longer chain. They said that because it's a cruiser it has a longer frame and needs a longer chain; they had added 20cm. That's when it dawned on me that the piece of chain they added was the piece that broke off. Their joining of the two together was badly done.

[OldLimey]

With a bag of nails you could rebuild it into a duplex or triplex chain.

I was thinking of scattering the bag of parts along the road for cars to pick up.
Actually, I threw the old chain in the recycling bin but then realized it could get caught up in the recycling equipment and do some serious damage. So around 3 a.m. this morning, I was awake and wondering what to do with it. Then the idea of dismantling it came to me.

damage to the recycling machine or to the chain ?

I throw much bigger and heavier bits of metal into the recycling bin than old chains - I just guessed they would all get lifted out with a big magnet then melted down - am I wrong ?

I have some 50x50 10mm thick angle iron off cuts in there at the moment.

I was concerned about damage to the recycling machines. They list the materials they don't want because they get caught in their machines. They didn't list bike chains as being unwanted but I imagined the chain coming uncoiled and getting caught in the conveyor belt. Just erring on the side of caution. I'll have to contact the local recycler and ask them about chains. The thing is, the chain would be among the cardboard and plastic items and so wouldn't be drawn out by a magnet, I'm guessing.

[OldLimey]

It had 122 links when new. The replacement was 122 links but then I had to remove a couple of them to make it the right length. Laying the old and new chains side by side, two links had to be removed.

The pins are mixed up with all the other parts in a bag, and I ain't gonna count 'em for nobody!

If only there was a way to deduce the number of pins from knowing the number or links ...

I erred in saying how many links the chain had. The new chain is listed as having 116 links. I had to remove four. So it's a total of 112 links plus the master link.

[OldLimey]

There are 108pins.
Painting program and I put a black dot on each of them as I counted.Screen Shot 2020-10-18 at 09.07.17.png

You're as nutty as me!

My wife found a pin on the floor, last night. And incidentally, I erred in saying how many links the chain had. The new chain is listed as having 116 links. I had to remove four. So it's a total of 112 links plus the master link. Does that jibe with the number of pins you counted?

[OldLimey]

Incidentally, the new chain is an SUMC make. The brand was founded by the engineer who designed KMC chain, and inherits the same design as KMC, with some improvements. The Thai National Police Cycling Team participated in the 2019 World Police Road Cycling Race using SUMC chains.

Seems like a decent chain.

[squeaker]

One of the parts I couldn't save was the tiny O rings. They were like wire not much thicker than a human hair, and they built up around the chain tool pin, making it very hard to get them off. I used a sharp knife and pointed pliers to remove them.

O-rings? I am so out of touch
I knew motorcycle chains used them, but bikes? Was the original a KMC chain? Any idea which one?

[backnotes]

I've been using a similar approach to clean my chains for years, having first learned about it on a highly reputable cycling website:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

[drossall]

Sometimes production machinery malfunctions. He may have had an improperly assembled chain. I don't think that I'd save the pieces if that happened to me because I wouldn't trust the parts that I picked up.

You might if it was your only way to get home...

[Cyril Haearn]

One should be wary of chucking metal stuff in the recycling bin
Some metals are not magnetic. Anyone know which ones?

[Jdsk]

Once you get into the details it becomes necessary to separate different types of magnetism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

The school-level answer used to be "iron, cobalt and nickel". But the wonders of neodymium are now seen in everyday uses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet#Types_of_permanent_magnets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_magnet

Jonathan

[Mick F]

There are 108pins.
Painting program and I put a black dot on each of them as I counted.Screen Shot 2020-10-18 at 09.07.17.png

You're as nutty as me!

My wife found a pin on the floor, last night. And incidentally, I erred in saying how many links the chain had. The new chain is listed as having 116 links. I had to remove four. So it's a total of 112 links plus the master link. Does that jibe with the number of pins you counted?

I was bored sort of post-breakfast with nothing else to do but count pins on a Sunday morning.
108 + one found + one master link = 111

I reckon you need to do all this again.

[Cunobelin]

I know you all must have been wondering what a dismantled 10-speed chain looks like. Well, wonder no more, because I dismantled my old one. It was laborious but the upside is, I got some practice with the chain tool.

Dismantled 10 speed chain.png

This is the chain cleaning system recommended by ShelBroCo