A recent post about chains motivated me to do a little investigating myself which leads me to ask a couple of questions in order to clear up some confusion on my part.

On Sheldon Brown's site it says:

"Shimano chains 9-speed and up are only reattachable by inserting a special. new link pin, using a special tool........."

Okay. I just recently bought a bike which has a nine speed chain.

I usually buy SRAM chains from nashbar which have the Powerlink. Will I be able to unattach, and reattach this 9-speed chain with the included Powerlink? [I know it's advisable to have that MLP tool to do it]?

What is this 'special tool' needed to install a 'new link pin' on the 9 speed shimano chain? Is it just a regular old chain breaker????

Thanks in advance.

I've used various quick links from SRAM, KMC, etc on various chains from Shimano, SRAM, KMC, etc with no issues. The bike didn't explode. The world did not end. Pigs still can't fly.

The installation-specific link pin is longer than an usual pin. Not all chain breakers can have their plunger backed out long enough to accommodate this. If yours can gape wide enough, you're OK.

I always use the SRAM power link on my Shimano 9-speed chains. Wouldn't leave home without them! Commo is right - No explosion.

The pilot part of the pin is inserted in the chain before you have to use the chain tool and I've never come across a standard chain tool that won't work.

That's definitely the most common scenario, but not all chain breakers are created equal...

The chain tool is a pin press to remove links, till the length is right.

Park Makes a tool, pliers like...you can use,
to squeeze the chain across the quick link to open it again.

It also is used to join chains using the original pin (on older pre-7-speed chains) or by pressing in a specific joining pin on Shimano chains if you choose to use one instead of a removable master link.