They fail down hill as well up. I wasn't a stellar mechanic once upon a time and put a hollow-pin or dirillium chain on a newly build up drivetrain. On my test ride a poorly placed shift sent the chain to the inside of the large sprocket on the freewheel during a down hill decent. Sliced off spokes before locking up the hub on a newly black topped road. Bike went into a skid but the sticky surface delayed my demise. I was still standing on the pedals and leaning hard as the chain released with a jolt. My feet flew off the pedals as the bike wobbled toward the grass where I finally stopped. Lucky the chained failed as it did or I'd of been asphalt toast instead of... Yea I caught the top tube.
Chris Plunkett Chicago, Illinois _________________________________________________________________________ How does an alloy (titanium) chain fail ?? What happens to the rider?
Has anyone on the list ever snapped an alloy or hollow-pin or drillium chain ?? I think that Regina made both drillium and hollow-pin steel chains in 1975.
What does the crash look like ?? I looked at the archive and in many cases a chain snaps on an uphill climb at low speed, is this the typical failure mode?
Thanx,
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA