jart

hello! first time posting on this forum.

today I had a shifting mishap when my knee hit my barcon shifter while pedaling under a heavy load. the result was a bent link on my chain. it's a SRAM pc-951 9 speed chain. A friend had a spare 8 speed chain sitting around (sram pc-48) and i used the power link from that chain to put mine back together, replacing the bent link. it seems to fit just fine, but i know little to nothing about chains and i'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do this. what potential problems might i be look at? will it still get me by as is?

i'm sure i'll figure it out on my own eventually, but before i hop on and ride home from work i'd like to see what some with more experience have to say about it.

jart

oops, upon closer inspection i see why it's not a good idea. d'oh!

look closely before you post, eh?

MudPie

What did you discover?

I love the Powerlinks! I carry a spare 8- and 9-spd link in my tool bag in case I or a fellow rider needs it.

heyjaffy

Seems like you found that it will get you home. The 8-speed link is wider than the 9-speed link. If you have a gear combination that yields a mostly straight chainline, you'll get home just fine without an issue. As you shift gears and the chainline moves, the closer spacing of the 9-speed cogs could be a problem for the wider 8-speed link, it might snag and cause some jumping or ghost shifting - I've experienced this. I suppose it could get jammed if your in the middle or inner chainring and smaller cogs.