Originally Posted by
SourDieseL
Perfect thread for me right now as I'm about to break the bike down to winterize. So I'm riding a SRAM 10spd chain and for the life of me cant get the damn powerlink off. Ok so I read it's not easily removable like the KMC missing link where you pinch and push to disconnect the chain. So here I am off to swapping out my chain, would you suggest me just picking up a missing link from KMC and putting it on my SRAM while removing the powerlink? Is that even compatible to do? Or should I just remove the chain all together and go with a KMC x10SL w/missing link.
I struggled with this exact problem last week and finally took it into the shop. They had it off in 2 seconds!
1) They used a curved wire (you could make one from a coat hanger or they are often included in some multi tools) to get about 4 inches of slack in the chain that included the powerlink.
2) Then they used a pair of channel locks (water pliers) to grab the powerlink from end to end at a oblique angle such that squeezing the plier moved the pins of the link toward each other but only with force on each single side of the link (in other words, the jaws of the pliers only moved each side of the link and were not in the way of the side coming the other way)....
3) SNAP!!!!! easy peasy. I reused it without hesitation on the same chain after changing cranksets.