Quicklinks

1964johnr

Fitted one of these for the first time today. Previously I have always used a Shimano chain with a pin. I was surprised at how easy it comes out when you push the adjoining links inwards. I got two for £3.00 from E-bay. Are all quicklinks this way or would better quality ones be a much tighter fit?

cooldad

As the chain is under tension, it isn't a problem. They should come apart easily. But if unbranded who knows, they could be made out of cheese.

cougie

You're one with the links so it's your call but as cool dad says the chain won't be compressed like that in practice.

trivial_poursuivant

I still use 10speed kmc missing links on 11sp chains. Work perfectly fine and open easily without it being so easy it risks opening up on its own

dabber

I've no idea what quicklinks you have... KMC? or for what cassette ... 9, 10, 11 ?
I can only say that KMC Quicklinks for an 11 do not come apart with a gentle push. In fact they need a bit of encouragement to come apart so much so that many people have a little tool especially to make life easy.

trivial_poursuivant

Dabber wrote:

I've no idea what quicklinks you have... KMC? or for what cassette ... 9, 10, 11 ?
I can only say that KMC Quicklinks for an 11 do not come apart with a gentle push. In fact they need a bit of encouragement to come apart so much so that many people have a little tool especially to make life easy.

That’s why I still use the 10 speed ones. They work on an 11 speed chain. No shifting issues or clicks or fouling . And they come apart very easily.

kofsw4

I've been looking at these today, there are a few on eBay that seemed too cheap to be true so did some further research and came upon a couple of threads comparing links bought on eBay /Amazon with those bought from more reputable sources. Seems like there may be some fakes around:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showth ... p?t=360316

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... sing-links

veronese68

I had a quick link come apart on my pub hack. Changing from big to middle ring the chain broke. As it was dark and I was a tad worse for wear I locked the bike up and jumped on a bus. Got the bike home the next day and realised it was just the link that had come undone. Put it back together and it worked fine.
No idea how as I’ve never had that before in many years and lots of miles. That was an 8 speed KMC, chain was dirty but only worn to .75 on the checker. Replaced it anyway just to be sure. Very strange.

cooldad

I only use KMC chains, so use the quicklinks I get. And save them when I replace the chain so I collect plenty spares. Never broken one or had one come undone.
8, 9 and 10 speed. I haven't progressed to 11 speed yet.

grenw

cooldad wrote:

I only use KMC chains, so use the quicklinks I get. And save them when I replace the chain so I collect plenty spares. Never broken one or had one come undone.
8, 9 and 10 speed. I haven't progressed to 11 speed yet.

Same here. Buy a KMC chain and keep the old quicklink as a spare. 10s on the mtbs and 11s on the road bike. None have yet failed and only ever get opened to change the chain.

veronese68

cooldad wrote:

I only use KMC chains, so use the quicklinks I get. And save them when I replace the chain so I collect plenty spares. Never broken one or had one come undone.
8, 9 and 10 speed. I haven't progressed to 11 speed yet.

Same here, my failure was a complete freak so I'll keep using them with no qualms.

dabber

I have had an 11 speed KMC quicklink break on me... just came over the top of a cat3 climb and it went. The pin bit had pulled broken away from the plate. I had a bit of a job getting the remaining bit off but once I did I put the spare kmc quicklink I had with me on and continued the ride. I still use KMC quicklinks and that's the only time I've had one fail.

paulbnix

I went down a local hill that is quite fast and has a number of sharp speed bumps.
At the bottom I applied power only to have the chain roll off the chain wheel and lie neatly on the ground.
I had to be rescued as it was before I carried a spare quick link.

It was a 10s SRAM chain with a SRAM quick link, not very old. All I can assume is that as the chain was slack during the descent the bumps were enough to rattle the quick link so it disconnected.

keef66

I had a 10 speed KMC one fall apart in a jar of white spirit. I assume the dirt was all that kept it together before that point. No other mishaps in 10 years of using them.

I do have the little removal pliers to make it easier / cleaner.

Decathlon ones used to be stamped KMC and cheaper than the KMC packaged ones. Not sure about the Ebay stuff.

If you look on the KMC website you'll see they make reusable and non-reusable ones. Presumably the latter are a tighter fit and removal compromises them?

Not entirely sure I see the point of a non-reusable link... Some people report reusing them anyway

After years of making sure I had both 9 and 10 speed versions in my saddle bag, somebody pointed out I could run 10 speed chains on both bikes. Genius!

pblakeney

keef66 wrote:

I had a 10 speed KMC one fall apart in a jar of white spirit. I assume the dirt was all that kept it together before that point. No other mishaps in 10 years of using them.

I do have the little removal pliers to make it easier / cleaner.

Decathlon ones used to be stamped KMC and cheaper than the KMC packaged ones. Not sure about the Ebay stuff.

If you look on the KMC website you'll see they make reusable and non-reusable ones. Presumably the latter are a tighter fit and removal compromises them?

Not entirely sure I see the point of a non-reusable link... Some people report reusing them anyway

After years of making sure I had both 9 and 10 speed versions in my saddle bag, somebody pointed out I could run 10 speed chains on both bikes. Genius!

All KMC 11-speed quick links are supposed to be single use. That doesn't mean you can't reuse them, just not recommended. I use the tool for strip down cleaning without problems.

sloppyschleckonds

I was riding last week and just starting a steep climb I saw one half of a ql on the floor.

I'm guessing it ended very messily