Shimano XT HG95 10K with MissingLink and a free NW chainring

LimitedGarry

Just replaced my cassette and chain recently and bought the Shimano XT directional chain - the one that shifts better (it really does) and can only be mounted in one direction. The chain is awesome, but Shimano pin is absolutely NOT cool. The particular link connection just keeps getting stuck, which causes chain bumps and even got an embarrassing chain drop because of it on a 2 inch stair (literally one stair). I always gently wiggle the link lose with a screwdriver, but it jams up after a few km again.
I'd like to ask if anyone's been using this chain with a KMC missing link. I'm probably going to put it on no matter what, just wondering whether that could be a problem as the chain is directional.


On a much more pleasant note, I recently purchased a NW chainring from Superstar Components. The guys seem pretty cool, they just didn't tell my what's up with my order. So I emailed them and got a reply almost immediately, saying that they've got no idea what's going on with my order, that it should have been processed days ago and that it's now been sent to packaging team. A few hours later, I got another a bit generic seeming email saying that their automatic system didn't inform me about the order being sent away due to some technical problems, but that my order is on it's way already. Everything turned out fine, the package arrived on Monday or Tuesday (not really sure now). Well just now I took a look in the mail and saw a familiar thin package in there. As I was opening it up, I was getting the weirdest deja vu - they ended up sending me another chainring.
Now I'm just having a dilemma whether to contact them and ask if it's all cool, or whether I should keep my mouth shut and act like Santa exists.

rockmonkeysc

Well now that you've said about it on here and Mr Superstar does read this forum you can't really keep it quiet. Should have kept it to yourself.
Maybe they'll let you keep it at a discounted price.

The Rookie

Do the right thing, they will probably say keep it anyway and then everyone is good!

LimitedGarry

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Maybe they'll let you keep it at a discounted price.

The thing is, I would not purchase the same ring twice since I'm not sure what the lifespan of my cranks will be (I hit them pretty hard not long ago). One of the small arms that holds the chainring is bent forwards by about 1mm. It's noticeable at a very close inspection and it's enough to bother me even when I sleep (everything functions fine though).
So I would be willing to return it but only if they cover shipping. I haven't gotten around to contacting them but I will. It just feels wrong to not say a thing. Especially since I intend to buy from them in the future.


To answer my own question about the chain, visited a local shop and asked about it. The guy said they put easy connection links on these directional chains all the time and no issues whatsoever. Did a few easy KM on it and as he said, no issues whatsoever.

philcubed

Bit late to answer, but yes, you should be ok. I ran a kmc quick link on a hg95 chain and had no issues. Had same experience as you, when both myself and the lbs couldn't get the shimano pin to stay in position, I went for the quick link.

LimitedGarry

I gave the Shimano pin a shot long time ago and had the same experience. Except wiggling the link lose did help solve the problem back then.
Thought I'd give it another go now, thinking that since I've broken and joined chains a bunch of times now, I might get it right - never again. I mean, it's not like I'm bad at following instructions. The pin was flush with the chain and everything. If it's this easy to screw up, it's a bad system IMHO. Especially since I'm not even aware of doing anything wrong.


As for the chainring situation, mailed them a few minutes ago asking what to do. Let's see what they say.

LimitedGarry

Alright, so they told me to keep the chainring and not worry about a thing. Awesome.