Originally Posted by
maddog34
Do you have one of the 12sp. Shimanos you can look at, to see which orientation the inner pin/keyhole is at?
Per Shimano's instructions (for both 11-speed and 12-speed), the arrow on the quick link facing outward should point along the direction of chain movement as the crank is pedaled. This puts the pin attached to that quick link "forward" with respect to the path of the chain. But of course the other quick link facing inward is installed in the opposite orientation.
Originally Posted by
rosefarts
I have Park quick link pliers. Not sure the weird 3 headed thing is an improvement.
The trident has a better mechanism because one squeezes the handles together regardless of whether one is locking or unlocking the quick link. As you squeeze the handles, the middle prong moves toward the left prong while moving away from the right prong. Which pairs of prongs you use depends on whether you are locking or unlocking the quick links. To me this method of operation seems less prone to operator error than the Park or similar link pliers.