The chain was a takeoff from a local shop (some dude wanted campy, I think, didn't ask). I just pushed the pin in like you used to be able to, figured I wouldn't have any troubles. So, yes, not a [necessarily] new chain, and no pins. This was the second frame I used the 'old' method on, so I bought two pins and swapped them both. Thankfully I had a link to give so I didn't have to resort to something like a sram powerlink to replace the broken plates.