cracking open the power link

jpaul

jpaul

jpaul

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1 Mar 2010
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I just spent at least 30minutes with a chain trying to open the sram powerlink
(fortunately at home, but nonetheless missing the sun for this afternoons ride)
what is the knack to these, do you push it together keeping the adjacent
links in a line, or make a Z shape ?

Needle nose pliers did not help and frankly a chain link remover would be faster,
yes I do not want it to come apart in the field , but nonetheless.
 
SRAM powerlinks are not designed to come apart, it's a one shot deal. If you want a chain that you can undo and redo multiple times you want a KMC chain. You can get special pliers that are designed to open or close the links, or if you look on eBay you can get a set that will do both.
 
Thanks, I will shift allegiance to kmc , seems you can get their powerlink and will
fit sram chains. The utube video shows pinching opposite sram link plates together,
which I admit I knew once and had forgotten about.
whereas for kmc tool will push pins together (so the two styles are a different design ?)
[having a halfords voucher to use up - i recently discovered they will easily match Evans
and probably cr prices]
 
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touchwood I have never had a chain break on the road and do not carry spare powerlinks,
whether the Sram would have an advantage here, or whether you could use/close the kmc ones without a tool. My previous chain was a shimano dura-ace and these links would I think have been impossible to move with light weight portable chain tools that was why I got a park ct-3, the rivets all had heads that had to be broken off (or you had to buy their $$ spare links)
 
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Vonhelmet said:
SRAM powerlinks are not designed to come apart, it's a one shot deal. If you want a chain that you can undo and redo multiple times you want a KMC chain. You can get special pliers that are designed to open or close the links, or if you look on eBay you can get a set that will do both.
Click to expand...

SRAM power links do separate. I've been using them on my MTB and road bike for years and they open and close many times. Granted the road 11 speed chain version needs the pliers (open & close) as the fit is very tight.
 
SDK^ said:
SRAM power links do separate. I've been using them on my MTB and road bike for years and they open and close many times. Granted the road 11 speed chain version needs the pliers (open & close) as the fit is very tight.
Click to expand...

The ten and eleven speed ones aren't designed to come apart. The lower speed ones are. That's not to say they're aren't ways to split the ten and eleven speed ones, but they're not designed for it in the same way that the KMC ones are.
 
Vonhelmet said:
I'm sure it's doable, in the same way that people say you can remove a cassette with a rag instead of a chain whip. You can, but for the sake of £10 in tools, why would you?
Click to expand...

It's greasy and a bit or a wrestle.. But it's perfectly doable by hand, you've just got to get the links braced with part of your hand, and press/ pinch the split link together, then they pop off!
 
"Pop off", he says. I don't have the tool and I have to keep alternating between the needle nose pliers and the hammer, until it eventually moves a tiny bit which makes it easier to go the rest of the way. It takes like 15+ minutes and it's pretty frustrating, if I had disposable income (or, income) I'd get the tool even if i needed to do it once and never again.
 
needle nose pliers were tricky I agree, I could have broken the points off, they
were just causing the 'washer' surrounding the rivets to rotate (my anatomical
knowledge of a chain is not good) ; also the tool would be a bit big to carry in a saddle bag.
I wonder if a home made tool with a piece of coat hanger wire, bent in a 'u' that
would fit through the chain could be the portable/cheap solution ? (with 2-3" legs to
give some mechanical advantage and force the quicklink pins together) ?

edit 06/04 Sheldon Brown suggests similar improvised tool using brake wire looped
through powerlink rollers (and pulled time to compress them)
 
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Some further questions on chain care :

1. After removing chain, the wire tag I added to show 'direction' of use fell off, so I do not know which sense to re-install it when I swap it back in.
Inspecting it I could not see any assymetric wear at the start and end of links this surprised me, i had thought the hard steel of the rear block where it disengages with the chain would leave a mark at the back of link, but there was nothing obvious.
2 what is a good way to lube a chain when it is not on the bike ?
 
I wouldn't worry about which direction to put it back on the bike.

As for lubricating it, it's probably easier to do it on the bike, to be honest. Run the chain backwards and drip lube onto the bit running under the chainstay. Run it round a few times then wipe off the excess. Alternatively, you can follow the advice of insane people and melt paraffin wax in a saucepan and then sit the chain in that.
 
Wasn't what you asked but one good tip I've heard for cleaning a chain off the bike is to use an old coke bottle, add degreaser, add chain, screw on top, shake it up and leave it, then rinse off, dry and lube
 
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