Stiff links

A newly fixed link will often be stiff because the process of pushing through the rivet has jammed the chain plates together. You may also find that stiff links develop while you’re out riding. Heavy rain can do it, as can cycling through rivers. You can feel a stiff link when you pedal with moderate pressure – the chain regularly slips a little, enough to annoy you, but not always at the same point in the pedal stroke.

To locate the stiff link, lean your bike up against a wall with the chain in the big chainring at the front and the small sprocket at the back. Pedal slowly backward with your right hand and watch the chain as it feeds out of the bottom of the cassette, around the jockey wheels, and off the bottom of the bottom jockey. You see the bottom jockey wheel skip forward as the stiff link passes through the rear derailleur. Keep pedalling backward, and allow this section to pass through your fingers to pin down the stiff link. Step 1: Once you’ve found the stiff link, look at it carefully from above. You may find that one side of the rivet pokes out of the side of the chain more than…

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