Originally Posted by
RandomTroll
Hmmm... This reads like the best answer. I'm not sure I understand - I think I tried this. When you wrote, 'Squeeze the plates together', did you mean squeeze the sides of the links from the left and right sides between the pins? Or did you mean squeeze them together from behind the pins? Squeezing the plates together while pushing the ends together reads as though it requires 3 hands? Are you perchance an alien?
You need four hands for it to work. One holds each pin, one holds each plate, then you press them all towards the centre at once. If you have less than four hands you're pretty well hosed.
Seriously, two hands are enough. What I do is position the missing link so it's in the lower half of the chain, making sure the pedals are out of the way. Use the right forefinger and thumb on one half of the link and the left forefinger and thumb on the other half. Push both inwards, so you're effectively pushing the two opposite corners of the missing link towards the middle.
It's tricky if the link is gunged up, and it takes a little practise, but it's not that difficult once you've got the hang of it.