Once your mountain bike chain becomes damaged

Once your mountain bike chain becomes damaged, you
should immediately replace it with a new one. It
is possible however, to repair a broken chain using
a chain tool. For this very reason, most mountain
bikers travel with a chain tool.

Your chain has three basic components - the metal
side plates, the rollers between the side plates,
and the rivets, or pins which go through the rollers
and help to hold the plates together. These pins
allow the rollers to freely turn as the chain
moves around the cogs.

If your chain happens to break, you'll need to remove
the broken link and replace it with a spare link.
To do this, simply reattach the two ends of the
broken chain and ride on a shorter chain until you
can get it replaced.

To remove a broken link of chain, place it in the
chain tool. Now, turn the tool counter clockwise
until the rivet pin of the chain tool touches
the chain rivet. Continue to turn the tool until
the pin pushes out of the roller. Be very careful,
as you want to stop turning when the pin is right
at the edge of the roller, before it moves through
the outer side plate.