therealkw15
MacRetro Rider
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Gather round while I share my discovery.
After much research (looking on the internet) and experimentation, it is clear that nobody is sure whether the 7/8 KMC speed chain missing links are meant to be removed, or indeed what a foolproof easy way to do so is.
With regard to the former, you can buy KMC missing links for a 7 speed chain that are labelled reusable, but the link with the chain makes it clear that it can only be removed using a chain tool, i.e. pushing out the pin.
That, dear readers, is a load of pish! You can easily remove and reuse it.
I have developed a technique which I will now share with you, my fellow Retrobikers, the last people in the world for whom buying a good quality seven speed chain is still important.
This requires NO special chain tool. Let me elaborate:
1) With the chain on the bike, turn your bike upside down, in the way that you normally would when you are scraping the tops of your thumbshifters, except without actually doing that bit.
2) With the bike upside down, run the chain so that that the missing link is on the highest point of the big chainring (i.e. nearest the sky- we are using an earth, rather than bike, frame of reference).
3) Turn the missing link through 90 degrees so that one end is still against the chainring, and the other end is pointing up (towards the sky). Hold it like so.
4) Now get a pin hammer that is within reach (if one is not within reach, get one, and return to step 2) and tap the roller bit of the uppermost end of the link. The chain will now open as a combination of this and the almost unconscious squeezing of the roller link resulting from step 3.
Now guard this wisdom, and smile knowingly at the struggles of non-initiates.
After much research (looking on the internet) and experimentation, it is clear that nobody is sure whether the 7/8 KMC speed chain missing links are meant to be removed, or indeed what a foolproof easy way to do so is.
With regard to the former, you can buy KMC missing links for a 7 speed chain that are labelled reusable, but the link with the chain makes it clear that it can only be removed using a chain tool, i.e. pushing out the pin.
That, dear readers, is a load of pish! You can easily remove and reuse it.
I have developed a technique which I will now share with you, my fellow Retrobikers, the last people in the world for whom buying a good quality seven speed chain is still important.
This requires NO special chain tool. Let me elaborate:
1) With the chain on the bike, turn your bike upside down, in the way that you normally would when you are scraping the tops of your thumbshifters, except without actually doing that bit.
2) With the bike upside down, run the chain so that that the missing link is on the highest point of the big chainring (i.e. nearest the sky- we are using an earth, rather than bike, frame of reference).
3) Turn the missing link through 90 degrees so that one end is still against the chainring, and the other end is pointing up (towards the sky). Hold it like so.
4) Now get a pin hammer that is within reach (if one is not within reach, get one, and return to step 2) and tap the roller bit of the uppermost end of the link. The chain will now open as a combination of this and the almost unconscious squeezing of the roller link resulting from step 3.
Now guard this wisdom, and smile knowingly at the struggles of non-initiates.
they seem quite good quality but I haven't used them yet so can't comment on there operation ...
