Half-link hell

I've just put a half-link into my chain. I wanted to shorten it and manoeuvre the axle into the middle of the drop outs. Cutting the chain without a half-link would have left the axle precariously close to the open end of the drop outs. I'm running a 3/32" chain. EBay provided a compatible half-link.

OK, so my purchase arrived this morning and I installed it in the chain. The only problem is that the join between the wide part of the half-link and the original chain is as stiff as a board. I mean, it's totally rigid and ungiving - think SRAM on Viagra. Wiggling the chain till my fingers bled didn't solve the problem. WD40 was pretty useless too. Has anyone experienced this before? Advice gratefully appreciated. It's been two months since I started messing about with this bike and this daft wee piece of metal is all that's stopping me from riding it.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=53

You gotta know how to use a chain tool properly.

On your chain tool there should be a second set of pins (might not be, but usually is), nearer the screw than the other ones. Put your chain on there and wind the screw in - it should loosen up the link without popping the pin out

or just flex your chain sideways a few time, this will remove a stiff link.

It may be more than that - I too had one of these 3/32 half-links and whatever I did the 'stifness' could not be removed - something to do with the profile of the plates. My chain is a 3/32 and although I did manage to find a 3/32 half-link the one I ended up making myself worked better! It's quite easy but involves taking the plates and swapping rollers etc between a 3/32 and 1/8 link. To cut a long story short you may be better off buying a 1/8 half-link and making your own 3/32 one from it. If you need to know how I can post tips.

Hurray! God bless you, one and all! God bless the Internet! That's it sorted. The stiffness has gone. I was getting far too freaked by appearances: the half-link is slick and silvery-grey, like it was coated in Teflon by aliens. The chain just looks like...well, a chain. Far more humdrum. I was looking for all sorts of bizarre, metallurigcal compatibility problems. The huge rivet in the half-link was freaking me out as well. Still is to be honest. It's much longer than any rivet need be. Anyway, everything's peachy now. Thanks very much. :-D

Using the chain tool to slightly move the position of the joining pin will often help the situtation. There's a little groove on the pin that the chain roller bit "sits" in and if this isn't lined up you have STIFF link.