Questions about how to remove/put on the chain
01-08-08, 02:51 PM
#1
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Questions about how to remove/put on the chain
OK wrenching experts, I just swapped my first chain and I have a few noob questions.
As with everything, chain removal was easy but installation was harder.
1) The replacement chain (a used but unstretched chain) had a rivet that came free from my removing it from its prior bike. I had a hard time reinstalling this chain using my Park CT-2 tool. It took a long time and a lot of fumbling to tee up the loose rivet straight, so the tool could get it reinserted. Is there another part or tool I’m supposed to use for that purpose? Or do I just need to be careful to leave the rivet attached and sticking out when I remove the chain?
2) I just looked on the Park Tool website (I know, shoulda done that first) and it warns that removed/reinstalled rivets are weaker. Am I wrong to reinstall the removed rivet? Am I supposed to use a new rivet every time I remove/reinstall a chain?
Thanks for your help!
As with everything, chain removal was easy but installation was harder.
1) The replacement chain (a used but unstretched chain) had a rivet that came free from my removing it from its prior bike. I had a hard time reinstalling this chain using my Park CT-2 tool. It took a long time and a lot of fumbling to tee up the loose rivet straight, so the tool could get it reinserted. Is there another part or tool I’m supposed to use for that purpose? Or do I just need to be careful to leave the rivet attached and sticking out when I remove the chain?
2) I just looked on the Park Tool website (I know, shoulda done that first) and it warns that removed/reinstalled rivets are weaker. Am I wrong to reinstall the removed rivet? Am I supposed to use a new rivet every time I remove/reinstall a chain?
Thanks for your help!
01-08-08, 03:32 PM
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You should have stopped pressing out the old pin before in fell all the way out. Then it would be lined up to press back in. Even though you didn't, I suspect that the reassembled chain will be fine, but thre is no guarantee. Since you don't want to buy a new chain, I would advise carrying a "quick link" and multi-toll chain press when you ride.
Last edited by biknbrian; 01-08-08 at 07:40 PM.
01-08-08, 04:18 PM
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OK wrenching experts, I just swapped my first chain and I have a few noob questions.
As with everything, chain removal was easy but installation was harder.
1) The replacement chain (a used but unstretched chain) had a rivet that came free from my removing it from its prior bike. I had a hard time reinstalling this chain using my Park CT-2 tool. It took a long time and a lot of fumbling to tee up the loose rivet straight, so the tool could get it reinserted. Is there another part or tool I’m supposed to use for that purpose? Or do I just need to be careful to leave the rivet attached and sticking out when I remove the chain?
2) I just looked on the Park Tool website (I know, shoulda done that first) and it warns that removed/reinstalled rivets are weaker. Am I wrong to reinstall the removed rivet? Am I supposed to use a new rivet every time I remove/reinstall a chain?
Thanks for your help!
As with everything, chain removal was easy but installation was harder.
1) The replacement chain (a used but unstretched chain) had a rivet that came free from my removing it from its prior bike. I had a hard time reinstalling this chain using my Park CT-2 tool. It took a long time and a lot of fumbling to tee up the loose rivet straight, so the tool could get it reinserted. Is there another part or tool I’m supposed to use for that purpose? Or do I just need to be careful to leave the rivet attached and sticking out when I remove the chain?
2) I just looked on the Park Tool website (I know, shoulda done that first) and it warns that removed/reinstalled rivets are weaker. Am I wrong to reinstall the removed rivet? Am I supposed to use a new rivet every time I remove/reinstall a chain?
Thanks for your help!
But good luck on finding the rivet you pressed back in place. As biknbrian says, carry a tool and a master link when you ride. Your bike may find it for you
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
01-08-08, 05:45 PM
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Before I knew not to press it all the way out, I did the same thing you did. It was truly a b*tch to get the rivet re-aligned, hold it in place and press it back in. Once I had it in though, it lasted a good many miles without anything bad happening. Make sure the link moves freely without binding and the pin is fairly even on both sides of the plate provided you can locate that particular pin again.
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01-08-08, 06:40 PM
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Youre not supposed to, but I have reused pressed out all the way pins many times without problems. Not a big problem on 8 speed chains, moreso on 9 and 10. You can go buy a set of new pins for about 5 bucks to ease your mind.
Forget a tool to loosen hard links. Simply hold the chain in both hands and use your thumb to lightly press the offending chain pin away from you, pull back with your index fingers to complete. Do that untill its in spec. Works like a charm.
Forget a tool to loosen hard links. Simply hold the chain in both hands and use your thumb to lightly press the offending chain pin away from you, pull back with your index fingers to complete. Do that untill its in spec. Works like a charm.
