I usually use SRAM replacement chains that come with snap together connectors that I think are only recommended to use only once. I usually just assemble the chain pushing an installed pin with a chain tool. Is this the best way to do this or should I use the quick link? Can the quick connectors be used more than once and are they a weak link?


I installed a Shimano chain that had a pin that had to be used to install the chain and the excess length snapped off. That chain I don't think could be installed by pushing a pin out and pushing one of the chain's pins back in.


If the chain is as strong making it continuous with a chain tool, I'd rather not use a connector link and not take it apart for the life of the chain.

In the 80s the Sedis sport chains were closed like days gone by, with the chain tool and the skill of the mechanic..

As someone who never pushed my Shifts Late, they stayed together , 7 speed .

Now the pins are even shorter and the Way the chain Machine presses the rivets into the ends is as good as You will ever get. so Quick links are The way..

They can be reused But I'd only do that with the same chain..

New chain new quick links ..

Get the Park Quick Link pliers tool.

Yea Shimano had a different Idea ... get KMC quick links .. just match "speeds" number.

So as chains narrowed more than 8 speed, you have to use the quick link connector? Or does it just kind of depend on the way the chain is made? I don't own anything with more than 7 cogs on the cluster and the chain I'm most likely to use is the SRAM PC870. I'm been running one of these for thousands of miles put together with a chain tool.

Any 'hyperglide' compatible chain 7/8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 speed, should only be connected with a quick line (or Shimano chain with its special pin). You should not be pushing out and reusing a pin in a modern chain.

Even Shimano for its 2016 line has unveiled a master link. Least they announced it back in April, I presume it is out now.


Otherwise, yup.

I don't consider quicklinks weak. Never had one break. Don't think I've ever heard about one breaking even.
Some are considered single-use, some are supposedly reusable. I've reused whichever type I've had on occasion w/o ill effects. The ones consisting of two identical halves are easier to open.
Modern chains use harder alloys to compensate for the sideplates being thinner.
Meaning they tend to deform and chip around the pin hole if a regular pin is being pushed back. Easy to see if you try it out.
It's doable though. I've reused pins several times in a "limp home" kind of spirit. And it has often turned out good enough to last the remaining life of the chain.

I consider that the "one use" constitutes "use on one chain" and toss the link with the worn-out chain. You should never close a modern chain by pushing back a pin. The pins are peened-over and you shear off the peened area when you push it out, as well as enlarging the hole. So always close the chain with a master link or (not my choice) the Shimano special joining pin which is sized to fit correctly in the enlarged hole. People have gotten away with pushing pins back but it is a less than safe and satisfactory practice.

Well said/put. No better answer than this.

I don't want my 11 speed chain connector breaking and wedging the chain into my carbon frame so I am using the reusable Wipperman Connex. Unlike 10 speed an lower, other 11 speed connectors require a tool to remove them and lock them into place. The ridge that the connector slides along gets worn from this. With the Wipperman, you can easily take it off or put on a by hand - the unique curved locking mechanism holds it in place without the need of a tight-fitting locking mechanism that the others use.


They are more expensive, but to me it is $20 for a connector vs. $2000 for a new frame. Just my 2c.

Flush riveted chains require a connector link or special pin. Ideally you'd also use new outside links with new pins so the holes haven't opened up.

Shimano switched with the move to 7 cogs. Campagnolo did it with 10.

Campagnolo sells short lengths of C10 chain ending in outer links for re-joining 10 speed chains. Campagnolo 11 speed joining pins must be peened with a special tool.

When you cut such chains the peened over part of the pin shears off, so when you reinstall the pin there's nothing holding the side plate in place and it can spring open when you're riding. That can cause a crash if you're out of the saddle when the chain separates.

Connector links are harder to lose than the special small pins, avoid the problem of outer link holes which have grown, and should be more secure than special joining pins which aren't peened on both sides.

They're even available for other chain brands - KMC makes Campagnolo 10 speed missing links although Campagnolo themselves don't sell master links.

Thanks, guys. Between this and another thread I've been following, now I'm totally paranoid that my chain is going to spontaneously pull apart and throw me in front of a truck on the roadway.

I've been pushing pins in and out on my 7-speed chains for twenty years without ever experiencing a problem, but your arguments all make sense. I am going away (and riding) this weekend, but methinks I'm a gonna change out my chain on Monday!

PS: So why do they still make chain tools?

You still need a chain tool to shorten a chain to fit your bike.

I broke a quicklink a couple weeks ago on my mtn bike. Put a 9 speed quicklink on my 10 speed chain since that was all I had and finished my ride.

The Sram quick link can be used many times over, it's not a one-time use item.

I used SRAM chains for years and 20,000 mi. I always bought cards of quick links and never re-used one.
I've gone to Wippermann stainless chains (good buys in UK and EU) and they have the longest-wearing quick-links by far - same thickness plates as the rest of the chain.

I use KMC chains & reuseable links: very handy & reliable. I also bought the KMC tool set for opening & closing the links.

Joe

So, stoopid question, why aren't there chains made completely out of quicklink/connex-type links?

I'm a fan of wipperman connex connectors too. I have ten bikes and clean my chain regularly by removing it. I keep my connex connectors seemingly forever and can't imagine how many thousands of miles I have on all of my (and my wife's) bikes with the chains removed and cleaned regularly and replaced. I don't even think about it and with the connex it's super easy.

It is less expensive to use a plain pin and peen it over by machine than to provide a machined assembly for each link.

It wouldn't be cost effective. There's no reason that it couldn't be done.

There are Gimmick 1/8" wide single speed chains made entirely out of half links.

Although there are some seemingly good, definitive answers here, you will find oodles of differing opinions everywhere.

I, too, have pushed the pins in and out of Shimano Hyperglide chains for years without incident, but a recent thread convinced me I was risking my life that way. Now I use KMC Missing Links, but only because of peer pressure!

"Peer pressure," like when they say "Go ahead, but first change your will so that I don't have to carry your casket" . . ?