A dropped chain poses serious problems for all cyclists. Not only is it annoying, dropping a chain can damage your frame, especially if it is full carbon. And if it happens during a race, congratulations, you just lost!

The worst part is, even if you practice shifting for years and get really good at the nuances of your bike, and you adjust the front derailleur perfectly, it still happens!

So what do you do?

You need to get yourself a chain catcher!

A “chain catcher” (or “chain watcher” as some say) will prevent the chain from dropping off the small ring and onto the frame. If the chain is about to slide off the small ring, it hits the chain catcher, which pushes the chain back onto the ring. This saves time, keeps your hands clean, lessens frame damage, and could very well salvage your chances of winning a race!

The chain catcher is actually a simple device. It is nothing more than a small piece of plastic or metal that clamps to your seat tube or front derailleur and rests beside the small chainring.

They are cheap, too, so you have no excuse not to use one!

In my research, I have found six options for chain catchers. Here they are…

Third Eye Chain Watcher

This is a small piece of nylon with a built-in metal clamp. It clamps to the seat tube, and the nylon piece keeps the chain on the ring. It should fit seat tubes of 1 1/8″ to 1 3/8″, even if they’re oval.

Link: www.3rd-eye.com

Deda Elementi Dog Fang

This looks similar to the Third Eye Chain Watcher, in that it is a small piece of nylon. It fits 28.6 mm (1 1/8″), 31.7 mm (1 1/4″) and 31.8 mm (1 3/8″) round seat tubes.

Link: www.dedaelementi.com

N-Gear Jump Stop

This is a stainless steel plate with a plastic clamp. It clamps to your seat tube and the plate is there to act as a chain guide. It fits round seat tubes with a standard outside diameter of 1″ (needs shim), 1-1/8″, 1-1/4″, or 1-3/8″.

Link: www.gvtc.com

JTek DropStop

The DropStop is slightly different in that it mounts on the bottom bracket rather than the seat tube. This solves the problem of seat tube size, although it requires more time for installation.

Link: www.jtekengineering.com

K-Edge

The K-Edge is the fanciest chain catcher out there. If you want a good one, this is the one to get. But you do have to shell out $45 or more for this luxury!

Link: www.acecosportgroup.com

There is also a good story at VeloNews featuring the K-Edge.

Or… Make your own!

If you want a top-quality chain catcher but don’t want to spend a whole lot, you can make your own. It’s possible to make your own chain catcher that looks and works nearly as well as the K-Edge, while costing less than $10.

All you really do is take a piece of metal and bend it just so, then attach it to your bike via the screw on your front derailleur braze-on.

For instructions and diagrams, check out the RoadBikeRider.com ebook “How to Make a Chain Catcher (And Never Worry About a Suicide Shift Again)” by John Marsh. (Buy here; see my review of the book here.) It’s under $4 for the book, and the materials cost under $2. That’s a great value!

(Or check this thread at RoadBikeReview for some interesting ideas for homemade chain catchers.)

Yes, even the pros use chain catchers!

If you look at the pros’ bikes, you’ll see many of them have custom-made chain catchers!

Alessandro Ballan’s Wilier: click here for picture.

Paolo Bettini’s Specialized: click here for story, here for picture.

There is also a story here and another picture.

Bradley Wiggins’ Felt (equipped with a K-Edge): click here for story.

Don’t wait until you scratch your carbon frame, get a chain catcher soon!

One problem that every road cyclist encounters at least once is a dropped chain. This little mishap could cause you to wreck, cut a groove into your expensive carbon fiber frame, and most likely it will happen at the worst possible time, like while attacking on the last hill of a bike race.

The worst part is, it’s hard to prevent. Even with a properly adjusted front derailleur and years of perfecting a smooth shifting technique, it can still happen!

There are a few products on the market (called “chain watchers”) designed to prevent the chain from dropping off the small ring, but these don’t fit all frames. If you have a fancy carbon frame, chances are that none of these gadgets will fit around the seat tube!

So what do you do? You have to make your own, just like the pro mechanics do. If you look around the cycling news sites, you’ll find custom-made chain catchers on the bikes of Paolo Bettini, Alessandro Ballan, and the Liquigas team.

There is also something called the K-Edge, but I have not seen it available to the public (just on the Garmin-Slipstream team bikes.)

If you want to make one yourself based on those images, more power to you. But I wanted to save a little bit of time, so I bought instructions on how to do it for $3.99, and that included diagrams showing exactly how to bend some steel to make one of these gadgets!

The guide I bought was called “How to Make a Chain Catcher” and it was written by John Marsh. It is an 11-page eArticle that includes instructions, diagrams, and pictures.

The idea is to make one of these custom chain catchers that will attach to the front derailleur braze-on mount.

My mechanic skills aren’t too shabby, so I thought I’d just take on this task without help, but decided I’d buy this eArticle anyway to see how good it was.

As it turns out, it’s awesome! It gives you instructions and pictures of the entire process. And the process only requires basic tools that most home workshops have. No welding or machining required.

I’m glad I bought this because it gives you the exact dimensions you need. For example, if you look at the picture of a pro’s bike, you see you have to bend the metal. But at what angle? And how wide should it be?

You could figure it out with trial and error, but I’d much rather pay the $3.99 and cut down on the trial and error!

The only downside with this design (compared to some of the pro’s) is that the round metal will take up quite a bit of “thread space” on the Allen bolt that holds the front derailleur in place. But if that turned out to be a problem for you, you could shave down the steel rod or possibly use thinner steel.

My final verdict is…

The article is fun to read and addresses a serious problem. A decent mechanic or handyman could make one of these without buying the instructions, but if you are slightly unsure how to do so, it would save you lots of time to just buy this for $3.99.

Considering $4 or the article and $2 for the metal, you still save money vs buying a pre-made chain watcher for $10-15. So if you need one of these chain catchers, take a look at this guide.

Official website: www.RoadBikeRider.com