motobecane69

What is the point of having a "quicklink" if you can't remove it by hand? its quicker to use a chain tool than to open one of this fawking things. I can't get my ****ing BRAND NEW CHAIN to open up and no I don't have needlenose pliers which you shouldnt need anyways. I'm strong as an ox, these chains suck cawk. i'm about to just break it and throw it in the ****ing trash.

motobecane69

whats even more annoying is that I wouldn't be going through any of this if the stupid new 5700 FD had an actual screw on the cage so that I could remove it instead of having to open up the fawking chain! My ultegra 6600 has a screw.

LesterOfPuppets

That's why they didn't call them "handlinks".

Sram links are the same way. Robogrip pliers work the best. Quicker than chaintool for sure. At least you can put them back together with your bare hands.

motobecane69

i've never had a problem removing a sram link by hand

dsbrantjr

+1 on SRAM chains/links

bikex10

So how would you be able to get the chain around the chainstay without taking it apart?

LesterOfPuppets

He seems to be swapping front derailers so no need to get the chain out of the frame.

I must say that this forum is awfully lucky that everyone doesn't post about every single hurdle of this magnitude that they encounter in such a fashion.

skilsaw

Hey Moto...
I'm with you on this one.
I had a quick link in a chain that broke while I was riding. The little pieces were lost forever in the gravel on the side of the highway. If I didn't have my chaintool, I would have been SOL.

I undo quicklinks by threading strong dental floss around the two pins, crossing over the dental floss, then pulling it tight. This pulls the pins together, releasing the quicklink. I don't know If I've described this clearly.

This is a finesse job, not dependent on strength.

Good Luck.

ultraman6970

Neer had a problem with KMC chains or his links, neither opening them with bare hands, probably the OP is a little bit slow and need to practice with legos 1st???

Ikarios

I used a wire snipper I found in my toolkit, was just the right size for a 10-speed link. Looked like this:


Popped open the quicklink on a chain that had been used for at least two years without any apparent maintenance or lube. It was covered in mud and disgusting.

The new replacement quicklink I got was easy to open by hand.

I like KMC chains.

motobecane69

um no, I've opened 8 9 and 10 speed sram chains in no time flat. I just spent 2 hours getting this kmc chain opened. Not to mention when I did a google search a million threads came up about these chains. it's complete horse**** and a lame attempt at them to get you to purchase their proprietary tool. hey morons, the whole point of these links is that people didn't want to use a tool to remove a chain. you've just added another unnecessary tool to the mix

ultraman6970

I have no idea what tool are u talking about. I have no idea what kmc are u talking about either. If its a regular road chain the link comes out with your bare hands. If you are talking about a KMC track chain then u need a pair of regular house pliers to take the safety pin out (2 secs?) and you are done. Dunno what this screaming is about.

Looks like is too complicated for you to take the wheel out find the link, then make a 90 degrees angle with the links around the missing link so both ends of the missing link get closer and the take it out? Once the two parts of the link are together the link comes appart right away with a tiny twist, is almost the same than with all the other stuff tho.

Again man, if you cant do that just go to toys are us and buy a set of 5 years old blocks and practice with those ones 1st?? I can send you a few coupons if yo u want to save a few bucks

KMC has a tool?? <-- yes it does, why do i want to buy that if using my hands comes right out??

FastJake

The whole point of them (for me) is so that I don't have to use a stupid replacement pin every time I want to remove or install my chain. If you're installing a new chain you need a chain tool anyway to cut it to the proper length. I've only used SRAM links and never had any serious issues.

You don't own needlenose pliers? Go pickup a cheap pair. They'll come in handy for other stuff too, I promise.

Shimagnolo

These links are all the same design:
- KMC MissingLink
- SRAM PowerLink
- Superlink

I have used all of them and never had one fail, and never had a problem taking one off.
The Park MLP-1 (which I purchased for use with SRAM PowerLOCK) does make them come off easier.

BikeWise1

I've installed and removed hundreds of chains. Never needed a tool other than channel lock pliers for the most recalcitrant quick links. Takes a couple of seconds......

I'll bet the OP is a real treat when he gets cut off in traffic!

Of course, this forum has seen guys that were flummoxed by the mighty presta valve, so....

JanMM

I am able to open SRAM master links by hand but had to resort to a Park Master Link Tool for KMC master links. Still much easier than using a chain tool.

oban_kobi

KMC seems to vary a lot. Mine is so easy to undo I wouldn't trust it on a derailleur bike for fear of it falling off if there was a sudden decrease in tension. I've also had ones I've been forced to use pliers on. I think you're trying to open it wrong though, if you're that strong. I have dainty pansy hands, and I've only had to use pliers for one.

mrrabbit 

...geesh...next thing you know the OP is going to whine about his campy brake lever releases getting stuck.

=8-)

JonathanGennick 

Years ago the first KMC links I bought snapped and locked into place, and you needed pliers to remove them. Not sure whether any are still made that way.

eja_ bottecchia

True dat!

joejack951

KMC sells a lot of chains. So does Shimano. Do a search on their chains and see how many complaints you find. Might as well throw SRAM into the mix. I'm sure some pros even had a few choice words for that company after the events a few years ago.

Proprietary tool? Link please. My KMC 9 speed links come apart by hand easily. I need to use the Park Tool masterlink pliers to remove my KMC 10 speed link though. Maye an issue on the road but hardly problematic for 99.9% of the times I want to remove the link. In a real emergency, I'm sure I could manage by hand somehow though I've never tried.

Camilo

The tool for removing the quicklink (whether it be KMC or Sram) are not proprietary, and cost about as much as a decent pin tool. I've used chain tools for years so I have a couple. But I've also found that although I can often take apart a Sram or KMC quicklink by hand, it's just so much easier to use a tool. Either way I use a tool. Now that I have only 9 and 10 speed bikes, I just use the quicklink tool all the time and the pin tool is in the "archives".

Actually, the main advantage is the fact that w/ modern chains you can't reuse the pin if you push it out to break the chain. Shimano's solution is the special little pin that has to be installed pretty carefully and correctly. Sram and KMC's solution is the quicklink . OK, it's not rocket science, but I just find that using a quicklink is more idiot proof than the modern 9 and 10 speed replacement pin procedure.

But I've also always found Sram and KMC quicklinks to be identical in ease/difficulty of putting them on or off, at least in terms of 9 speed. The Sram 10 speed link absolutely needs a tool (at least for me). I don't have a 10 speed example in front of me, but the 9 speed KMC link I installed yesterday is visually identical or nearly so, to the 9 speed Sram quicklink, except the Sram is gold and the KMC is silver. So to say one is "better" than the other is stretching it.

sideshow_bob

Seriously, I bought the close tool and the open tool, both combined cost me about $20. Get a grip.

Crankycrank

How to remove stubborn quicklinks without special tools. https://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Magazine/201107050.pdf

Jed19

I have two bikes with KMC links. I bought the Park Tool Master Link Pliers for about $10 on e-Bay, and I can definitely say it has saved me a lot of time and grief.