This is not an area where there's objective truth. What's right for me is that I expend an extra amount of effort that I feel is trivial enough that it is much less than the cost of the tool. Plus I enjoy the 'beat-the-system' feeling of a homebrew solution. For you, your time is more valuable, so the price of the best tool is justified. And you probably enjoy the 'biggest-armory' feeling of having lots of tools. I get it. I mean, if somebody gifted me a pair of master-link pliers, I wouldn't sneer at them and throw it back in their face -- just for myself I'd save my money to buy other things (maybe even other bike tools. Like a set of quality four-corner spoke wrenches).

Considering what an admitted tightwad RubeRad is, I doubt that he has shelled out for that new fangled 10 speed stuff;) Probably still using 5 speed:D

Also, legendary framebuilder Dave Moulton is right.

Haha! I got 9speed actually. And I was dubious about that, because I'd heard that everything past 8 just gets weaker/thinner chains. But here at BF I was reassured that 9sp is quite reliable, and also Retroshift doesn't offer a version with 8sp indexing, so I went for it. Also, to show I can see there are times to spend, I paid $400 for handbuilt wheels to commute on. In fact, here's the entire tale of the tape of my build; $5 cheaper than stock, including the wheels.

(Que the Outrageous Franch Accent) I already got one and it is veery nice. That said, having the ability to take a quick link apart without the tool comes in handy. You can't always carry all the tools that you could possibly use. And your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.:P

I fart in your general direction!

Aha, you were mislead!! Retroshift lever will accept 8-speed downtube or barend shift levers so you upgraded unnecessarily. :( In fact, I have Retroshift levers on my Surly Pacer using 8-speed Shimano downtube levers and, of course, 8-speed everything else too.

Ah, no I understood that, I just didn't want to add the complication of sourcing separate shifters. I was basically looking at the microshift barends from Retroshift, or DA levers, which I couldn't find for less than the $70 price differential between Retroshift with/without shifters. And it wasn't so much an 'unnecessary upgrade' as a decision to build 9sp vs 8sp, as all the old parts went back to the original donor bike, so now my wife has a road bike.

Just discovered another classic Moulton homebrew. One bolt and one hunk of scrap steel is probably under $5 compared to $60+ for a Park DAG. Too bad I don't have a drill press, because I actually just met a poor grad student with a RD that got mangled literall inside out, and his hanger probably needs straightening.

Remove the RD and thread in the axle of a spare wheel. Align the spare with the rear wheel of the suspect bike. Cheap!!

Hmmm, I'm intrigued. Do you mean unpack a cup&cone hub and the axle (tubular rod through which the QR slides) will have the same threading? Would this risk damaging the axle at all, or is it hardened steel and indestructible except in the fires of Mt Doom?

Sounds interesting, except it would only do for approximate alignment, as you can eyeball whether the axle is level in all directions, but not measure precisely with a perpendicular rod.

Use the entire wheel. When threaded into the RD hanger it will sit offset from the bike's own rear wheel but you can easily see misalignment. Use the wheel for leverage to correct it. I expect you can Google and find pics.

Very clever -- I found this detailed description, I'm stoked to try this out! (especially as it's not my bike!)

Better yet, if you are going to buy a tool:

http://www.parktool.com/product/mast...pliers-mlp-1-2

Depending on how flexible the derailleur hanger is, you may want to just use the spare wheel for gauging alignment, removing it and going back to the crescent wrench for the actual bending. My bikes all have forged dropouts with integrated hangers, so the spare wheel's axle flexes alarmingly before I've affected the hanger's alignment. ;)

That's good to be aware of, thx. I'll see what seems to be working.

I've only use the KMC links on 8 and 9 speed chains. My road bike 10 speed, but the last owner put an Ultegra chain on there so no master link yet.

If I cant get a master link loose by hand, I take a small piece of wire and run thru the link. With a regular pair of pliers I twist it up tight and it pulls the link together so it will come apart.

Another good idea, I like it. This is the kind of reason that at Christmas time, I save all the crazy plastic-coated wiring that holds toy packaging together nowadays. That stuff is a real pain if you're only focused on getting at your toy, but very useful in other contexts!