Santana chain link removal

fyodor said:

What is best way to remove the "master link" santana uses? What is its
purpose?

Uh, it joins the chain?

Seriously if you want an easy-to-open link, replace that
with a KMC or a Wippermann or a Forster or just about any
other snaplink.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Sure, it joins the chain but so could a regular link. The The
horizontal slot in the outboard plate seems suggests that it is
easy-to-open but, before I put the old chain break to it, I'm wondering
whether there is some preferred way. I could see using a pair of
pliers to get it back together but they don't seem to work getting it
apart. Will upgrade to one of the others.

A Muzi said:

fyodor said:

What is best way to remove the "master link" santana uses? What is its
purpose?

Uh, it joins the chain?

Seriously if you want an easy-to-open link, replace that
with a KMC or a Wippermann or a Forster or just about any
other snaplink.

I'm very surprised that it isn't one of the others. A bike maker designing and
fabricating a unique and proprietary master link seems hard to believe.

Ron

fyodor said:

Sure, it joins the chain but so could a regular link. The The
horizontal slot in the outboard plate seems suggests that it is
easy-to-open but, before I put the old chain break to it, I'm wondering
whether there is some preferred way. I could see using a pair of
pliers to get it back together but they don't seem to work getting it
apart. Will upgrade to one of the others.

There's something odd about your description- you say there's a slot on
the outboard plate, but every derailleur chain master link I've seen
has a slot on both the outside and the inside plate. There's a good
picture on this page:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQchnRe.shtml , about 2/3 of the
way down.

The SRAM links that I have are relatively easy to open, but there's a
trick I've learned: before trying to seperate the link, clean out both
plates thoroughly. WD-40 works well, particularly if you're going to
clean and relube the chain. Accumulated gunk in the sideplates' slots
will keep the link from seperating easily. One it's clean, it should
come apart with moderate pressure.

Note: some master links (notably KMC) are one-time use. Once they're
used to connect the chain, they can't be seperated. Pretty silly, if
you ask me.

I would *not* try to use a chain breaker on a SRAM or KMC master link.
You'll damage the master link beyond usefulness. The SRAM chains can
be split with a conventional chain tool, but I haven't used mine in the
years since I bought a case of SRAM chains, aside from adjusting the
length of a new chain.

Jeff