How To Shorten A Bike Chain

I promised one of my folowers that the next time I would fix something, I would not forget to document it and share it with you all here on Steemit.

Just like most Dutch people I own a bike and I use it all the time.
As a result there is wear and tear. Once in a while a tyre gets a leak or the chain falls off the sprocket. Today I'm going to write about how to fix the last one.

Lately my chain has been falling off a lot... Yesterday I had enough of it.

First off I tried it with a hammer and a nail, but that failed miserably. The pins just didn't want to get out. I'm sure it's possible with a better item to hit than a nail, but as you can see in the photo below, I used something else. I used a universal chain tool (UCT). I bought it at a local bike store. It's not hard to find (in the Netherlands at least).

Love this thing.

This is what I was working with... As you can see, the chain is very loose which made it very easy to fall off when I hit a bump.

So I took the chain off the sprockets and pulled them as far out as it could go.

Then I put my UCT on the chain in front of the pin and just turned and turned the little lever. After a couple of seconds it was out.

Important: make sure to cup your hand around the place where the pin will shoot out, because with my first one it shot out and I lost it...

Then I did the same with the pin next to it.

This shit is smalllll...

As you can see, there are two different types of chain links. The flat ones and the ones with a little edge to hold the hollow cilinders. The flat ones connect the ones with the cilinders with each other. So it's important to keep in mind that you will need to take 2 links off of the chain. You can't just remove one.

So once I removed the two links, I could make the chain complete again by hitting the pin back into it with a hammer.

Be sure to have something study underneath to catch the blows. Otherwise you might break or bend your chain and we don't want that!

Get the chain back on and VOILA, your chain is tightened again. I fixed it two days ago and now I can't believe how long I biked with chain dropping off again and again..

Let's fix some shit,

Joel