jkittlesen

Chains don't all come with master links ?

I looked at my chain and can't find one .

I'm just blind ...right?

You gotta be kidding me, I have to buy a tool or take it to the shop?

55/Rad

That chain doesn't come with a "master" link. You'll need a chain breaking tool - they aren't terribly expensive and can be very handy. Or you can get the shop to do it.

Personally, I like taking my chain off the bike to thoroughly service it. And I do it often. So I use a SRAM Powerlink - about $4 at any LBS. It allows me to remove the chain using nothing but my hands. Very convenient.

55/Rad

madpogue 

Uhhhm, where've you been? Master links (Powerlinks, et al) are a thing of the distant past, and the very recent present. Of course, hub-shifted and single-speed bikes, and tandem timing chains, have always required chains with master links. But with the first derailleur-shifted bikes in, what, the mid '60s (?), chains have not had master links. Only in the last coupla years, with 9- and 10-speed cassettes and the corresponding need for extremely narrow chains, which don't take well to the "force" of a chain tool, has there been a return to the use of a master link. I'd bet a nickel that at least 95% of the derailleur-shifted bikes of the past three decades had no master link.

jkittlesen

Showing my age!

katesisco

undefinedundefinedundefinedThanks for the info, I have been looking over the problems in relation to beginning to put a frame and wheels together that I picked up off the trash heap. Asked my son about this master link stuff and he didn't know and now I do. Want to find out about derailleurs, can I put one on; the chain is still on the frame and is there any way to use it or will I have to have a new chain? katesisco

DieselDan

No bike requires a master link. Even single speed or interal gear hubs, can use a chain without a master link. I've installed a few without one on beach crusiers after breaking a few master links. You just use the chain tool and remove a link, then put the chain back together with the chain tool.

I personally don't like Shimano chains. The replacment pins are ackward and are an unessacry cost, when a Sram or Whipperman chain doesn't require such pin and can be fixed roadside with just a chaintool.

seely

If you have to ask, then probably not a good idea to get into derailleurs. For someone without mechanical experience and a knowledge of how a derailleur works they can be confusing and frustrating, plus you have to know whats compatible with your shifters and drivetrain, which in itself can be a real crapshoot. As far as reusing the chain it depends on the length and condition of the chain entirely.