loimpact

So I've been wanting to pull my Ultegra 6800 chain off and put a master link on it.....(11 speed = expensive in English). But I've left it on til now. These puppies (at least Cannondale's version) comes pinned w/o a master link even though every other Cannondale bike seems to have master links.

Anywho......wondering if anybody has had success popping an 11 speed chain with a chain tool they already had?? (Reason I ask is that I see Park's CT3.2 says "upgraded" to work with 11 spd which I hope doesn't mean if I find an older one on the shelf at the LBS, it might not work.) I most DEFINITELY don't wanna ruin a $30+ chain!!

TIA

ClarkinHawaii

I think this is a good question--Do 11 speed chains require a different sized chain tool?

loimpact

Thanks, Clark. I think it's important cuz these 11 speed chains are FRIGGIN EXPENSIVE......AND.....you don't want to damage one thinking you could just use any old chain tool.

Here's a link to the popular Park CT3.2 tool and the very first thing in the paragraph it says is that it's "updated" to handle various chain widths & types (which I assume to mostly mean skinny little 11 speed chains.) ------> Park Tool Co. » CT-3.2 : Chain Tool : Chain

I'd like to get a "decent" one but I don't want to get too spendy on it.

cderalow

so the only issue I can see with using an older chain tool is perhaps the spacing between the prongs that help locate and center the chain are slightly further apart? If so, the difference in width is a couple of sheets of regular paper.


I could see that being an issue inserting pins/aligning new pins in place. but ideally you're looking to fully remove a pin, so it shouldn't matter.

trailangel

I have this one:
[h=4]Park Tool CT-6.3 Folding Chain Tool - With Peening Anvil[/h]Can re-mushroom the pin in emergency without a masterlink.

loimpact

That's on an 11 speed for sure??

And I'm clicking furiously on your link, but it's not working.

rm -rf

It's not the pressing out of a pin that's the problem. It's the install of a new pin. They need to have the ends mushroomed out to hold the chain side plate. This requires one of the expensive new chain tools. Pushing out a pin shears off the head of the pin, so don't reuse it.

I plan to use a KMC missing link when I get an 11 speed chain. I'll use my old chain tool to press a pin right out, and use the missing link there. It's not recommended to reuse the quick link, unlike older quick links that can be taken apart and reused.

See this thread "Any quick-links for Shimano 11 speed chains yet?", especially this post. And I'll get the quicklink pliers, too.

trailangel

Well that wasn't a link, but I hope you are on a computer and can search for it!
Park Tool Co. » CT-6.3 : Folding Chain Tool with Peening Anvil : Chain

loimpact

Yes, actually that was sarcasm set to "high".

I actually meant to put the link in there myself & work turned into crap right after I posted. Pfffffft!

Looks like a good tool, actually. Even says specifically that it's been updated for 11 spd. (Again, I wonder what the heck they had to do to "update" them).

Hopefully, all of this stuff will drop in price & become more commonly....err....common as 11 spd trickles down to everything.

LastKraftWagen

Think Wippermann has announced 11spd Connex. Easy, no tools necessary, and the 10spd version has stood up very well to tandem abuse.

loimpact

Indeed......though finding on the internet hasn't been easy in the last 15 minutes I've been looking.

HillRider

You still need a chain tool to cut the chain to size the chain initially.

LastKraftWagen

True, but any cheap old tool will do...You don't need a high[er] $$$ unit to remushroom the pins. Size it, mark it, and take it [and a local microbrew] to a buddy at the LBS...

HillRider

That's right, any chain tool will do to remove a pin but you still need one. If you use a masterlink (Missing Link, Connex, etc.) you can save the trip to the LBS to put the ends together once the length is right.

fietsbob

any more its like an amputation .. you only shorten a chain , the assembly machine and the tolerances involved makes adding links DNF.

Campagnolo and Rohloff make a chain tool that attempts to re rivet head the pin ends

other bail out is use 2 quick connects and a length of the same chain you made too short.