Rodney Handsfield wrote:
"The Porta Catena is an elegant solution to the small problem of where to put the chain when transporting your bike. A problem solved by Dave Moulton by brazing a nail head to the right seat stay of his frames."
To which Chuck added:
"Small point... the portacatena was designed for quick wheel changes for racing, not for someplace to hang chain when transporting a bike without its wheels, although it works great for that too of course.
Yes, the nail brazed on the seat stay works well for a chain hanger, but I've seen more than a few broken off because the rider forgot to take the chain back off the nail chain hanger after a wheel change."
I personally think that the chain hanger nail is the most useless thing that you can put on a frame. For wheel changes, as described by Chuck, it is useless. When transporting your bike, to use it, you are obliged to get yourself all greasy both when removing the wheels as well as when you are replacing them. Plus, it rarely keeps the chain sufficiently taut to prevent the chain from falling off except for when the chain is set on the large chainring, which makes replacing the wheels ever so slightly more difficult. Perhaps I am missing some hidden virtue.
On a somewhat related topic, can anybody explain exactly what Campagnolo part 40, the 'Reggicatena', is used for? Reggicatena translates as Chain Holder in English and it, like the nail, would seem to be intended to hold up the chain when the wheel is out. The Reggicatena appears to have been supplied together with the Paris-Roubaix derailleur.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA