I like to use the eight speed chain on most of my five and six cog freewheels/rings these days. Having a master link is fine with me, however; there must be an easy way to uncouple them. I damaged my left hand in a dog fight a week, or so, ago and now do not have the strength to unlink the master on my chain. Any hints for how to do this with reasonable ease would be much appreciated. On that thought, comes a second...

When I first started using the eight speed chain with a master link (SRAM), I had trouble applying enough pressure to snap the link into secured place. Robbie, a nice young fellow at a local bike shop told me to put the brake on and hit the pedal with my hand. That would snap the link solidly into place. So, I tried just that when I got home. I was, at first, disappointed...

Disappointed? Yup, because when I hit the pedal, the chain went slack and I could not figure out (at first) what I had done wrong. The following picture pictures what I learned and now do correctly. Can you guess what I was, so stupidly, doing wrong? And, don't forget to tell me how to get the darn master link apart.