How To - Get the Chain Back On Cleanly

In an ideal world, your chain would never fall off your chainring. But it seems that it happens, inevitably, no matter how well you adjust your derailleur.

One thing worse than the chain falling off the chainring is the fact that you have to get it back on just to get going again. And usually, unless you clean your bike obsessively, your chain is covered in black inky stuff that gets everywhere after you finished putting on your chain.

In order to replicate this dilemma authentically, I've (ahem) purposefully neglected cleaning my chain for a few weeks. Combined with a wet lube, my chain is now appropriately "untouchable".

So, if you dump the chain off the rings (like I did one one recent ride), what do you do?

I've seen people fiddle with sticks, leaves, napkins, allen wrenches, all sorts of McGyver tools, trying to avoid touching the gross black chain. But there is one tool you can use, it's free, and it's available anywhere (except when you're falling, but if you're falling that long, getting the chain back on will be the least of your worries). What is that tool?

Gravity.

Yep, good 'ole gravity.

And you thought its only purpose was to slow you on hills.

Gravity is very useful when you have a dropped chain and a bit of time. Now, if you do a Millar and drop it while you're winning the prologue of the Tour, then my technique below would be inappropriate. Get your fingers greasy and expect to need new bar tape for the next ride. But for virtually any solo or understanding group ride, the steps below work well.

First off, please excuse my poor photography. I'm at a loss at how to light things properly without using a lot of lights. Lights are one thing we're a bit short of in our temporary apartment. The flash is great but it lights up whatever is closest.

Anyway, let's start with the premise that you just dropped the chain. If you really want to do this, pedal backwards and toe the lower bit of chain inwards while standing on the drive side of the bike. The chain will derail to the inside of the small ring (if you have a right side drivetrain).

Role playing would add some feeling of authenticity here, so I'll do it in font.

"Egads! I've dropped my chain!"

(For the R rated version you'll have to go on a group ride and listen for the various realistic things to say when someone drops a chain).

Okay, you've dropped your chain. Now what?

Step 1: First verify that you dropped the chain due to a sloppy shift or sloppy adjustments. If the crank is falling off and that's why the chain dropped off, then you should fix the crank or at least figure out if it's rideable. Just make sure the chain dropped and that's it.

No other problems with the bike? Then carry on.

Step 2: Pick up your bike. Yeah, bike riders don't have strong upper bodies, I know, hurts climbing and stuff. Personally I think climbing is overrated, and for me anyway, protecting my collarbone is up there in importance. Having some muscles around the shoulder area helps pad impacts. But some upper body strength also helps in lifting your bike.

Grasp the downtube and lift the back of the bike so high off the ground that your bike looks like it's trying to float away on a balloon attached to the rear wheel. In other words, hold the bike vertically, front wheel down. You should see something like this (if you're staring closely at the bike):

Note the poor, derailed, dirty chain on the poor, dirty bike. I'm holding the bike like this, the picture was not rotated. Chain is kind of limp.

See how the chain is hanging? That's a good sign. If it's not hanging, if it looks sort of jagged like a heart rate line next to a hospital bed, your chain is probably stiff and not happy. A nicely hanging chain is a happy one.

Step 3: Tilt the bike back and forth along its main plane (i.e. parallel to its wheels). You'll see that the chain tilts back and forth too. Tilt the bike such that the chain engages the chainring. You'll want to engage the small ring, or the middle ring if you have a triple. I purposely derailed the chain on my bike from the big ring off into the bottom bracket for these pictures. So the derailleur is positioned over the big ring. Don't worry if your derailleur is too. No matter where the front derailleur is situated, this trick works.

Here is the chain, floating just next to the small ring. I'll tilt the bike clockwise to get the chain to sit on the chainring. And no, Michelin didn't pay me to put the tire label in the picture.

Note that the chainstay (yellow sticker) is now pointing to about 12:30 PM. In the prior picture, it was pointing at about 11:30 AM. I tilted the bike about 1 hour worth. And now the chain is engaged on the small ring, just for a few teeth.

Step 4: Start rotating the cranks with your hand. GENTLY. This will pull the chain onto the chainring.

I'm starting to pedal GENTLY. The chain is just barely engaged. The angle of the lower part of the chain (the right side in the picture above) shows that most of the chain is still derailed. The fact that the right side of the chain (in the picture) is straight means it's no longer hanging limply.

Pedaling here, you can see I've moved the crank about 90 degrees from the prior picture. You can see that the chain has engaged about halfway. The rest of the chain is still off. But with another 90-120 degrees of pedaling, the chain will be on.

And lo and behold, the chain is on. I know, black chain (it's silver when it's clean) on black chainrings are not ideal for photographic purposes. Sorry.

Step 5: If you derailed off the big ring, or you want to put it in the big ring to start off, put the bike down, shift into the big ring, lift the back of the bike up again, and pedal (use your toe to turn the cranks). The chain should go right up there. I didn't take a picture of that but you can imagine it in your head. Or, if you want, practice it with the bike.

Step 6: Check your fingers (the cranks get dirty too), wipe off on your shorts or any very dark pieces of your kit (letters of sponsors' names work, or logos, etc etc). Then, after putting the bike down with a feeling of satisfaction, throw your leg over it and get ready to go.

Chains shouldn't drop off but they eventually do. This will allow you to get going again without touching anything "icky". It demonstrates a certain fluency on the bike and not only will it keep your kit pristine, it will also be another skill you have that differentiates you from the "non-serious" cyclist.

Since the bike is so dirty, I'll be doing some picture type things on how to clean the bike. That'll be coming up later.