Chain Master link / Joining Link safe?

Ok cheers.

What would be wrong with using a joining link?

Overdrive - I think I paid about £28 for it... In retrospect it's probably a bit of an excessive purchase and tougher than I need but it does look nice :-)

really you find it fiddly, mine goes in and out no probs, although thinking about it...you mean the nut is fiddly right? Well i lost mine ages ago, i've had that chain off and on several bikes, it's currently been played polo on, for a year, without the nut, just the screw. Its no probs.

its also the best chain i have ever, bought, jonny swears by them too. come on jonny where are??

yeah the nut is fiddly but so too is the screw and you have to ensure that you slot the screwdriver in cleanly to avoid messing up the screw head

while my mechnical skills are good enough i do have a tendency to f*ck up small screw and allen bolts etc. :-)

I put a bit of loctite on the square washer so it stays in place pretty permanently and ran one for commuting for about 10 months/5k miles when I thought my drivetrain was getting noisy. Never had the screw come off and turned out was the Phil cog that was worn and noisy so chain back in use on teh tarck weapon.

The screw on the replacement HKK Vertex I bought came loose daily so I have a KMC link on that instead.

i wouldn't use a joining link on that.

For the look or mechanical reasons? I replaced the screw and nut on my DID chain with a KMC masterlink. Doesn't offer anything in aesthetics but gives me peace of mind, irrespective of others' experience.

I have just had fitted a DID chain to my SS bike. I was quite surprised to find the chain was joined together by a very small screw and nut. I understand that this complies with Japanese track cycling rules, but I can't help feeling that this might work loose over time. Has anybody had any experience with these chains? Is the screw / nut connector a problem? Thanks in advance for any help.

I assume the DID connector is similar to the Izumi one which I didn't have any trouble with.

You should be looking over your bike now and again anyway - checking the link screw is something you can do when cleaning the chain, for example.

I've got an Izumi Super Toughness chain...

I like everything about it - especially the "Super Toughness" name - except the fiddly joining link that has a screw and nut

Does anyone know if I can just get another joining link (which is easier to use) and run it with that instead? And if so where from?

i am skeptical about the screw and nut too - supposedly the rotating action of the chain would either tighten or loosen the nut in time, just like pedals?

on the other hand, quick links e.g. the KMC one are rather thinner than other links of the chain, making it less "super tough"?

should work

i am skeptical about the screw and nut too - supposedly the rotating action of the chain would either tighten or loosen the nut in time, just like pedals?

on the other hand, quick links e.g. the KMC one are rather thinner than other links of the chain, making it less "super tough"?

They work great, I have raced and trained on them for a couple of years, never had one unscrew or break and I used to output a reasonable amount of power.

I'm looking to replace my chain, but a common problem I've always had when replacing them, is that once I've shortened it (and used the link-extractor tool to re-insert the link pin), it always leaves me with a tight spot, where it effective tightens/crushes the link together under the pressure.

Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid this?

Cheers!

If you look at chain tool, it has "teeth" to put the chain link on, one in front of the other. The one nearest the pushing pin is thicker than the farthest one.

When using the tool to re-insert the link pin, you use the farthest tooth to sit the chain and push the pin in. Once you've done that, you get a tight spot as you've said, so move the link to the nearer tooth and with small turns of the pushing pin, you can spread the links and thus ease the tight spot.

Hope this helps

You just grab the chain (imagine looking at it side on, we're not bending it in its normal direction) and bend it side to side around the link that's tight.

slightly over push it in, swap the chain tool around the other side, then slightly push back, (so it's now centered) then wiggle, wiggle sideways as the chunkster says.

Cheers guys!

what type of chain are you using?

Current one is a KMC 1/8 single speed. Can't remember the model, but not sure what to replace it with..

do you want one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/290536574374?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95&ff19=0?
I have loads. Much easier!

Cheers for the offer. I've always been a bit wary of split links. Do they handle the stresses ok?

I have used them for years, never ever had a problem. Trouble is I entered 50 instead of 5 when I placed an order a few years ago…….