Brand new Haibike, two broken chains in first 35 miles, and other problems, advice needed

[soundwave]

id get another chain and try it on the bike stand as you will see if it out of wack then if it is then adjust it index wise on the rear mech.

 

[Woosh]

the chain could break because of a combination of chain load (big ring at the front and smallest cog at the rear) and 2Lazy has very strong legs. If it's the case, then 2Lazy needs a different chain.

 

[2Lazy]

the chain could break because of a combination of chain load (big ring at the front and smallest cog at the rear) and 2Lazy has very strong legs. If it's the case, then 2Lazy needs a different chain.

The bike shop said they use especially strong chains, I'm not sure what brand / model but they did say they were expensive circa £40. I guess it has to be a chain load issue of some sort but I find it hard to believe that my riding style is part of it. If that were the case we'd have chains breaking left right and centre. I've been riding at a relatively gentle pace and while I'm quite a big guy (14 stone) I wouldn't say I'm super strong. The first time the chain broke I was doing about 4mph on flat tarmac, I had just left my house and was about to set off on a ride. Second time I was going up a tarmac incline in quite a high gear and highest asstance level but I was only doing about 12mph so it's not like I was really gunning it.

 

[2Lazy]

My chain broke three times, I replaced it and ok so far 3500 miles.

I suggested they may have had a duff bunch of chains but they were not having it. The replacement was the same make of chain, I forget the make, just three initials.

Interesting. I'm convinced it's either a defective part of the bike hasn't been set up properly, perhaps too much tension on the chain. It can't possibly be anything else. If it were my riding style then chains breaking on eMTBs would be a daily occurrence because it's not like I'm riding aggressively. If anything I've been riding very sedately.

 

[2Lazy]

The chain appears to be a KMC X10e.

 

[Trevormonty]

I suggest buying chain break tool, and spare missing links.

 

[chris130256]

This has got to be the missing link not put on properly? Buy what Trevormonty says. £10-15 will cover that and they are an important part of a toolkit. Check out youtube vids on how to do this easy procedure. I use the same chain and it gets massive abuse and has never broken. Telling you to start off without the power switched off is so ridiculous it beggars belief!
What a terrible intro to emt biking. I think you have been really unlucky but it should be a very simple solution so please don't be put off.
I always carry a spare chain, so it might be worth you buying a new one (from a different place incase off a duff batch).

 

[Woosh]

if you still have the broken chain, a picture of the broken link would help to find out what causes it.

 

[Bigdaddyuk666]

I always have a chainbreaker a quicklink tool and spare quicklinks in my puncture pack but the kmc x10e is a good chain did 1500 miles on my first chain. then went through then went through 4 chain snaps on normal chains . So scouted around for x10e got a great price and feel comfortable it won't snap easily. I'd say they definitely have a bad batch of chain

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can get multi-tools that have a chain-breaker on them. Carry a short length of spare chain with you (say three links) and you will always be able to repair it to get home. Don't bother with a cheap chain-breaker tool. In fact, you don't even need to carry spare chain because you can always just remove the broken link and re-join the chain. That'll be OK to get you home on a bike with derailleur gears:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crank-Brothers-Multi-19-Function-Bike-Cycling-Multi-Tool-/162323040620?var=461333641068&hash=item25cb35096c:g:n7UAAOSwcUBYU9c~

 

[mike killay]

Until we know exactly what broke on the chain, we cannot give an accurate answer.
If one of the side plates actually snapped, then it must be a bad batch of chains.

 

[2Lazy]

Here are some pics.

First broken chain -

Second broken chain -

 

[Woosh]

the missing link on the first first chain seems to have snagged on a tooth, there is a small dent on the right side of the break, forcing out the pin on the right.
The second chain seems to have been classically twisted open.
Do you still have the missing link on the second chain? If you do, both cases can be caused by shifting gear under high load.
The pins on the X10e are narrower than on the X8, they don't protrude a little like on the X8 that I use, their resistance to torsion is much less.
When you shift to a lower gear under high load, the chain is bent into an S shape, the front link on a bigger cog, the rear link on the smaller cog.
The problem will be aggravated if the shifter moves more than 1 gear at that time. If you push hard on the pedal at the same time, the pin that engages the bigger cog will twist off like we see on the first picture of the second chain.
Check your gear shifter cable to see if there is a kink.

 

[EddiePJ]

How did you manage to get the second chain into that state after just 20 miles?

 

[Kenny]

The only time I've snapped a chain was on my unassisted bike.
It was caused by a clumsy gear shift at slow speed, at the start of climbing a hill on a cycle path.
I've always carried a chain tool since, but fortunately not had to use it on my rides.

 

[2Lazy]

How did you manage to get the second chain into that state after just 20 miles?

Do you mean the dirt? If so then the dirt was picked up during those 20 miles. Mostly on tarmac / gravel paths and a bit of pretty tame off road through rushmere county park family bike trail which is through pine woods. Conditions were quite dry and dusty and soil in the area is sandy, I'm guessing the dirt must have stuck to the chain in part because it had been freshly lubed by the bike shop technition prior to my collecting the bike.

 

[RobF]

Do you mean the dirt? If so then the dirt was picked up during those 20 miles. Mostly on tarmac / gravel paths and a bit of pretty tame off road through rushmere county park family bike trail which is through pine woods. Conditions were quite dry and dusty and soil in the area is sandy, I'm guessing the dirt must have stuck to the chain in part because it had been freshly lubed by the bike shop technition prior to my collecting the bike.

My experience with new chains is the waxy coating is sticky so does pick up surface dirt quickly.

 

[2Lazy]

the missing link on the first first chain seems to have snagged on a tooth, there is a small dent on the right side of the break, forcing out the pin on the right.
The second chain seems to have been classically twisted open.
Do you still have the missing link on the second chain? If you do, both cases can be caused by shifting gear under high load.
The pins on the X10e are narrower than on the X8, they don't protrude a little like on the X8 that I use, their resistance to torsion is much less.
When you shift to a lower gear under high load, the chain is bent into an S shape, the front link on a bigger cog, the rear link on the smaller cog.
The problem will be aggravated if the shifter moves more than 1 gear at that time. If you push hard on the pedal at the same time, the pin that engages the bigger cog will twist off like we see on the first picture of the second chain.
Check your gear shifter cable to see if there is a kink.

Thanks for taking a look and the explanation. Unfortunately I don't have the missing link.

In that case I think the fact that the gears (front and rear) weren't indexed correctly may have caused or exacerbated the problem.

The first time the chain broke I was doing less than walking speed in a medium to low gear and as I put my foot down on the pedal to accelerate away that's when it snapped, a moment or two earlier I had shifted up to a lower gear, but I waited until it had fully shifted before I put any significant pressure on the pedals. The second time I was going uphill on tarmac, the hill isn't steep, more of incline really, and I was't going particularly fast, around 12mph in standard assistance level and in a middle-ish gear, and I wasn't / hadn't changed gear it just snapped as I was pedalling up the hill.

I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but I just cannot stress enough how careful I have been and how lightly I've ridden the bike. We're talking driving miss daisy type of riding compared with what the bike is designed to do. The power meter on the Yamaha screen was barely registering any load for most of the ride. So unless there is some special emtb riding technique that I'm unaware of I refuse to believe that this is my fault. It simply has to be a faulty part or the bike hasn't been set up correctly. If not then I've just wasted £4k and it would seem that emtbs are about as durable as balsa wood!

 

[EddiePJ]

When you go back, ask them why they put lube on a brand new chain?

The chain is hot dipped with lubricant during the manufacturing process, and doesn't need lubricating.

It does go some way to explaining why the chain in photo looks such a mess after such low mileage. At the worst, I'd have expected it to look how your first photo does.

 

[2Lazy]

Bear in mind that when you lie the bike on its side in the car or otherwise have to manhandle it in, it's possible to knock the rear derailleur out of line so that it needs to be adjusted.

I guess it's possible but when transporting the bike I've always taken care to lie the bike with the drive train side facing up and I've always been really careful with it.

What I think may have happened is that when the the shop replaced the chain the first time they perhaps didn't check the indexing of the gears with the new chain in place. I suspect it's either that or they weren't indexed correctly in the first place.