Originally Posted by
NealH
I've never had a pin come out of a Shimano chain and I typically ride 11K miles per year.
When I purchased my Tarmac in 2010, it came with Sram Red. I had nothing but problems - imprecise shifting, noise, quirky grifters, etc - and after changing a couple components to Shimano I decided to just replace it with a Shimano drive train. I took it to my dealer and had him take the Sram Red off and throw it away (literally), then install Dura Ace 7900 with Gore Ride On cables. Four and one half years later my bike still shifts and runs perfectly. Never any problems.
Its not the chain that is your problem. Its Sram. A button short of trash.
I have used nothing but various Shimano gruppos since my Athena friction shifter until the SRAM on this bike. I have nothing bad to say about the Shimano and nothing bad to say about the SRAM. I had a broken chain and all the industry people I know attribute it to the Shimano pin. Until (if) I get contradictory information/experience I'm going to follow their advice.