Sram chain masterlink

Rik O'Shea said:

Hello,
I use an 8 speed sram chain (PC58, PC68) and have generally installed
it without the master link.
If I use the masterlink what is the procedure for removing the chain
and can I install/remove the chain using the masterlink any number of
times (say for cleaning purposes) ?

Thanks & regards

To remove the masterlink, the chain must be slack. I generally
accomplish this by hooking a bungee cord on the rear derailleur arm and
hooking it on a pedal. Then turn the masterlink 90 degrees from the
other links and push each side plate in (you can look at the slots in
the link and see how this works). Often it will need to be squeezed
with a needle nose pliers, particularly if you use gummy chain lubes.
The masterlink can be re-used whenever you remove your chain. When the
chain wears out, get a new masterlink as it will be worn, too.

Smokey

Rik O'Shea said:

Hello,
I use an 8 speed sram chain (PC58, PC68) and have generally installed
it without the master link.
If I use the masterlink what is the procedure for removing the chain
and can I install/remove the chain using the masterlink any number of
times (say for cleaning purposes) ?

Thanks & regards

To remove the masterlink, the chain must be slack. I generally
accomplish this by hooking a bungee cord on the rear derailleur arm and
hooking it on a pedal. Then turn the masterlink 90 degrees from the
other links and push each side plate in (you can look at the slots in
the link and see how this works). Often it will need to be squeezed
with a needle nose pliers, particularly if you use gummy chain lubes.
The masterlink can be re-used whenever you remove your chain. When the
chain wears out, get a new masterlink as it will be worn, too.

Smokey

Rik O'Shea said:

Hello,
I use an 8 speed sram chain (PC58, PC68) and have generally installed
it without the master link.

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.

Quoted message said:

If I use the masterlink what is the procedure for removing the chain
and can I install/remove the chain using the masterlink any number of
times (say for cleaning purposes) ?

Yes. Others have posted the way to handle those gracefully.

Ron

RonSonic said:

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.
Ron

How is this type of chain supposed to be "cut" or shortened ?

Rik O'Shea said:

RonSonic said:

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.
Ron

How is this type of chain supposed to be "cut" or shortened ?

By removing the appropriate amount of links, plus an extra outer link
if that's needed to give you an inner link as the last link on each end
of the chain. The master link connects those 2 inner links.

The reason why modern chains, such as these, shouldn't be seperated and
re-joined with a chain tool alone is that one or both parts of the
pressed interface between the pin and the outer link can get deformed.
The inner link is unaffected.

Rik O'Shea said:

RonSonic said:

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.
Ron

How is this type of chain supposed to be "cut" or shortened ?

I believe Ron meant to emphasize *NOT ... replaced*.

Perfectly OK to "cut" or shorten the chain by pushing out a pin in the
traditional way. Don't try to push the pin back in, though. The pin
ends on high-end SRAM chains are "mushroomed" after manufacture to keep
them from coming out inadvertently; pushing them out enlarges the hole
in the outer link plate, so if you push the pin back in, it won't fit as
tightly.

Use the Super/Master/whatever-the-trademarked-name-is link. They work.
Note that when you use the Super link, the outer-link-plate that is
damaged when shortening the chain is on the discarded part of the chain.
Problem solved.

Mark J.

Rik O'Shea said:

RonSonic said:

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.
Ron

How is this type of chain supposed to be "cut" or shortened ?

Shorten it in the normal way but assemble it using the enclosed link. That is
why they include the thing.

Ron

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Rik O'Shea said:

Hello,
I use an 8 speed sram chain (PC58, PC68) and have generally installed
it without the master link.
If I use the masterlink what is the procedure for removing the chain
and can I install/remove the chain using the masterlink any number of
times (say for cleaning purposes) ?

Thanks & regards

<[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The link must be clean. This means thoroughly flush all
the grit out of the area where the PL outer plates meet
the inner plates of the chain.

One way to learn is to install a PL on a clean chain off
the bike on your bench. Put it on, take it off, put it on,
take it off... Bend the chain into a U shape at the link.
Put the forefinger and thumb of the left hand on opposite
sides of the link, squeeze slightly and shift the plates
so that the pins are in the large hole. Then remove the
link halves. Using an absorbent rag to grip the link can
help because it absorbs oil and increase the purchase of
you fingers.

--
Michael Press

Rik O'Shea said:

RonSonic said:

Then you are doing it very wrong and are damn lucky and pretty darn skillful
with a chain tool if you haven't had failures. Those rivets are NOT meant to be
driven out and replaced.
Ron

How is this type of chain supposed to be "cut" or shortened ?

'replaced' is the operative word...push them out, do not push back in
on these chains...use a snap link...

Quoted message said:

To remove the masterlink, the chain must be slack. I generally
accomplish this by hooking a bungee cord on the rear derailleur arm and
hooking it on a pedal. Then turn the masterlink 90 degrees from the
other links and push each side plate in (you can look at the slots in
the link and see how this works). Often it will need to be squeezed
with a needle nose pliers, particularly if you use gummy chain lubes.
The masterlink can be re-used whenever you remove your chain. When the
chain wears out, get a new masterlink as it will be worn, too.

I just started using the SRAM PowerLink (gold 9-speed variety). I
didn't require a slack chain or a 90-degree turn to install/remove the
link. A simple sliding motion (slide one plate forward, the other
back) seems to do the trick, no need to play with the derailleur or
rotate the link sideways. I do usually shift into a small-small
ring/cog combination, which does make things a bit easier. I don't
have any experience with their 8-speed links, but I expect that they
work in a similar fashion.

I did notice that the Wipperman conneX link appears to require a
90-degree installation, so I presume that a slack chain would make it
much easier to install/remove. Maybe SRAM has another quick-connect
link that isn't called a PowerLink?

FWIW, I have nothing but good things to say about the PowerLink. Give
me a few hundred more miles and I'll get back to you on
durability/strength. Some people have suggested that the link may be a
weak point in the chain, and in the event of a chain break the link
parts can be hard to find on the trail.

On 2 Aug 2006 07:22:34 -0700, "Borrall Wonnell" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To remove the masterlink, the chain must be slack. I generally
accomplish this by hooking a bungee cord on the rear derailleur arm and
hooking it on a pedal. Then turn the masterlink 90 degrees from the
other links and push each side plate in (you can look at the slots in
the link and see how this works). Often it will need to be squeezed
with a needle nose pliers, particularly if you use gummy chain lubes.
The masterlink can be re-used whenever you remove your chain. When the
chain wears out, get a new masterlink as it will be worn, too.

I just started using the SRAM PowerLink (gold 9-speed variety). I
didn't require a slack chain or a 90-degree turn to install/remove the
link. A simple sliding motion (slide one plate forward, the other
back) seems to do the trick, no need to play with the derailleur or
rotate the link sideways. I do usually shift into a small-small
ring/cog combination, which does make things a bit easier. I don't
have any experience with their 8-speed links, but I expect that they
work in a similar fashion.

I did notice that the Wipperman conneX link appears to require a
90-degree installation, so I presume that a slack chain would make it
much easier to install/remove. Maybe SRAM has another quick-connect
link that isn't called a PowerLink?

FWIW, I have nothing but good things to say about the PowerLink. Give
me a few hundred more miles and I'll get back to you on
durability/strength. Some people have suggested that the link may be a
weak point in the chain, and in the event of a chain break the link
parts can be hard to find on the trail.

Heh. I've got no idea what sort of weak link it might be. They hold together as
well or better than the rest of the chain.

Ron

Mark said:

The pin
ends on high-end SRAM chains are "mushroomed" after manufacture to keep
them from coming out inadvertently;

So is the result less weight or more?

--Blair

"RonSonic" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 2 Aug 2006 07:22:34 -0700, "Borrall Wonnell" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To remove the masterlink, the chain must be slack. I generally
accomplish this by hooking a bungee cord on the rear derailleur arm and
hooking it on a pedal. Then turn the masterlink 90 degrees from the
other links and push each side plate in (you can look at the slots in
the link and see how this works). Often it will need to be squeezed
with a needle nose pliers, particularly if you use gummy chain lubes.
The masterlink can be re-used whenever you remove your chain. When the
chain wears out, get a new masterlink as it will be worn, too.

I just started using the SRAM PowerLink (gold 9-speed variety). I
didn't require a slack chain or a 90-degree turn to install/remove the
link. A simple sliding motion (slide one plate forward, the other
back) seems to do the trick, no need to play with the derailleur or
rotate the link sideways. I do usually shift into a small-small
ring/cog combination, which does make things a bit easier. I don't
have any experience with their 8-speed links, but I expect that they
work in a similar fashion.

I did notice that the Wipperman conneX link appears to require a
90-degree installation, so I presume that a slack chain would make it
much easier to install/remove. Maybe SRAM has another quick-connect
link that isn't called a PowerLink?

FWIW, I have nothing but good things to say about the PowerLink. Give
me a few hundred more miles and I'll get back to you on
durability/strength. Some people have suggested that the link may be a
weak point in the chain, and in the event of a chain break the link
parts can be hard to find on the trail.

Heh. I've got no idea what sort of weak link it might be. They hold

together as

Quoted message said:

well or better than the rest of the chain.

Ron

Actually, I've found the SRAM Powerlink, as good as it is, to be the weakest
link in the SRAM chain, as evidenced by part failure. The only part of a
SRAM chain that has broken on my bicycles is the Powerlink. Thus, in my
experience it appears the Powerlinks do not hold together as well or better
than the rest of the chain.

Although the failure occurred as a result of a badly messed-up shift over
the chainrings, and although there was surely some coincidence involved in
where the Powerlink was located in the drivetrain at the moment, the
Powerlink is only one out of one-hundred and eight, which suggests by
overwhelming odds that it is certainly the weakest link in the chain.

Parts recovery from the roadside revealed the Powerlink was torn apart,
parted on one side bent sharply on the other, with adjacent link plates on
the chain also damaged. To get underway, I repaired the chain with the small
chaintool carried in my roadside repair kit. No problems with the ad-hoc
repair, but since then I've taken care to have a spare Powerlink tucked
away -- along side the mini chaintool.

FWIW, I've removed and replace pins on the SRAM Powerlink chains without
problems. I agree its a procedure to be avoided, and that it can easily be
botched and causes undue wear and tear on the parts, but if sufficient skill
or luck is deployed with the chaintool the procedure can be done at least
once on a given pin without causing enough damage to appreciably weaken the
chain. That is to say, I can remove and replace a pin once, but the
Powerlink will still be the weakest part of the chain.

Mykal in Seattle

On 2 Aug 2006 10:45:40 -0700, "Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Mark said:

The pin
ends on high-end SRAM chains are "mushroomed" after manufacture to keep
them from coming out inadvertently;

So is the result less weight or more?

The weight's unchanged but it becomes more rigid and compliant.

Ron