Bicycle Mechanics - Is there a difference in spec between the black and silver SRAM powerlinks?

So, is there a difference in spec between the black and silver SRAM powerlinks? I bought some silver powerlinks off of eBay... at least I thought they were silver powerlinks since the listing said silver AND the picture was silver! What I received instead were the black powerlinks. When I told the dude who sold them that he sent the wrong ones, he said they're the same. I am fairly certain that's a load of... , but I'd like to know for sure before telling him so.

I've never seen black ones! All you can do is try them, I guess, and if they go together alright on your SRAM 8-speed chain, then they're probably fine. I seem to recall that there was a different brand of powerlink-type link, that was identical except for brand. Maybe these are those. Do they say SRAM on them?

So, is there a difference in spec between the black and silver SRAM powerlinks? I bought some silver powerlinks off of eBay... at least I thought they were silver powerlinks since the listing said silver AND the picture was silver! What I received instead were the black powerlinks. When I told the dude who sold them that he sent the wrong ones, he said they're the same. I am fairly certain that's a load of... , but I'd like to know for sure before telling him so.

No, They are not the same. The black ones are from the SRAM PC48 7/8 Speed chains, which are the lowest-quality SRAM chains, while the silver ones are from the SRAM PC58 7/8 Speed chains or higher. The "silver" you referred to is just the higher level of nickel that is electro-plated onto the higher-quality chains.

The "black" links should work with the "silver" chains though.


Regards,

The current crop of pc48's come with silver powerlinks (I just bought one). Only the much older pc48s come with black.

http://www.sram.com/de/service/sram/faq.php?faqID=9bf31c7ff062936a96d3c8bd1f8f2ff3