All You Need to Know About Fixing a Broken Mountain Bike Chain Using a Chain Tool

One of the most common malfunctions, on a mountain bike, is the chain. If your chain becomes broken, or damaged, it needs to be replaced right away. Sometimes, when you're out in the middle of a ride, you don't have that option. One solution is to use a chain tool to fix your mountain bike chain.

There are three elementary parts to a mountain bike chain: Metal side plates, rollers, and rivets (or pins). The rollers are set between the side plates. The rivets are there to help keep the plates together. The pins also enable the rollers to turn freely when the chain is going around the cogs.

When your chain breaks on your mountain bike, you will have to find the faulty link. Once you find the bad link, you need to replace it with a spare link. This is very simple to do. You just reattach the two ends of the broken chain together. You will be riding your mountain bike on a shorter chain, but at least you will be riding your mountain bike, and not walking off the trail.

In order to eliminate the damaged link of chain, you will need a chain tool. Put the broken link in the chain tool and turn the tool counter clockwise. You want to keep turning the tool counter clockwise until the rivet pin of the chain tool touches the rivet on the mountain bike chain. Now, keep turning the chain tool until the pin gets pushed out of the roller. Here's where you will have to be a little cautious. You will want to stop turning the chain tool when the pin is at the edge of the roller. You have to make sure it doesn't move through to the outer side plate.

Once you have the pin where you need it to be, turn the mountain bike chain clockwise and back it out of the roller. You can now put the chain tool down for a moment. Next, you want to move the chain, be gentle, in a side to side motion. The goal is to get the inner side plates and roller.