So my first Tri of the season didn't exactly go to plan!
Felt great for the whole 4 minutes I was on the bike - a winter of hard training clearly pays dividends! Got the the first roundabout, bit of traffic so I tried to squeeze into a gap. Got up on the pedals, powered through and BOOM. Well, no boom, definitely more of a whimper. I initially thought my foot had come unclipped until I saw my chain sliding underneath me.
Snapping chains always worrys me, I've only ever done it once before in 7 years of riding and that was my own dumb fault for not putting the pin in right. This time the quick link had completely snapped, but I wanted to check in on a couple of things. First off, my chain was pretty greased up. Not appallingly so, but it wasn't the same kind of cleanliness I usually strive for. When a quick link actually snaps is it just a case of bad luck? I certainly can't put out massive watts, but I'm just trying to establish if there was any user error I can avoid in the future!
Secondly, if the chain had snapped anywhere else I'd be buying a new one, but as it was only the quick link that snapped would I be safe to assume the chain is ok and it wasn't wear that caused it? Tempted to get a new chain anyway (and possibly be a little more proactive in replacing older chains, especially on the road bike as I love short sharp hill sprints and today's snappage was pretty scary for a moment!)
Any advice much appreciated!
Felt great for the whole 4 minutes I was on the bike - a winter of hard training clearly pays dividends! Got the the first roundabout, bit of traffic so I tried to squeeze into a gap. Got up on the pedals, powered through and BOOM. Well, no boom, definitely more of a whimper. I initially thought my foot had come unclipped until I saw my chain sliding underneath me.
Snapping chains always worrys me, I've only ever done it once before in 7 years of riding and that was my own dumb fault for not putting the pin in right. This time the quick link had completely snapped, but I wanted to check in on a couple of things. First off, my chain was pretty greased up. Not appallingly so, but it wasn't the same kind of cleanliness I usually strive for. When a quick link actually snaps is it just a case of bad luck? I certainly can't put out massive watts, but I'm just trying to establish if there was any user error I can avoid in the future!
Secondly, if the chain had snapped anywhere else I'd be buying a new one, but as it was only the quick link that snapped would I be safe to assume the chain is ok and it wasn't wear that caused it? Tempted to get a new chain anyway (and possibly be a little more proactive in replacing older chains, especially on the road bike as I love short sharp hill sprints and today's snappage was pretty scary for a moment!)
Any advice much appreciated!