Chain broke

[ridebikeme]

SRAM makes very good quality chains, and I would NOT hesitate to leave the chain on your bike and use them continously from now on. You mentioned the link that they have with their chains, one thing that I always recommend to customers is to carry a spare link... if you should break the chain you can use the link to repair it. AS you can see, they are much easier to take off, to clean, repair broken links etc... We have sold SRAM since the early 90's and I wouldn't hesitate to use them at all... very good quality and much easier to repair(if you should have to).

[OakLeaf]

Technically you're not supposed to reuse the PowerLink.

I know a lot of people do, and I'm sure that it's one of those things that's just specced that way out of an abundance of caution ... but the bottom line is that I, and a lot of people I know, have NEVER been able to get one off intact. And I have to say that I've never even HEARD of someone using their fingers!

What's the secret? (Not that I really have any burning desire to save $5 and risk breaking a chain ... just curious.)



Also, in my area SRAM and Shimano are comparably priced (if anything, Shimano is slightly higher), but just like their "permanent" componentry, there are levels. I'm surprised that you found SRAM to be more expensive ... are you sure it wasn't a lower level chain than the one you took off? I think their cheapest (Shimano 105-equivalent) chain is 1050.

Also ... if I were doing a whole lot of it I think I'd invest in a quality chain tool, and they certainly are not cheap. A portable chain tool will get the job done, but it sure takes some finesse.

[DebW]

I work in a bike shop, and we routinely remove and replace SRAM Power Links with fingers only. You may need to squeeze the side plates together to help the link come apart. We reuse them because they wear with the chain and you want all the links with even wear. To install a new SRAM chain, and possibly to add a new Power Link to a broken chain, you need a chain tool to shorten the chain to the proper length.

[OakLeaf]

Seriously though, what's the secret? I can't even get them apart if I squeeze the side plates with my chuffiest needlenose pliers.

[Melalvai]

Sorry, I was just watching. He made it look really easy.

[Cataboo]

I think the earlier powerlinks (8 speeds?) were made to be reusable. The 10 speeds aren't, but while I definitely haven't figured out how to do it with my fingers only, I have managed to jury rig something to get the powerlink apart and reuse it several times (it usually involves balancing one end of it on a ridge (the ridge sits on the inside part and not on the outside) and then using something else with a ridge to push down the top part of it only on the inside, squeezing it together. sometimes jeweler's screwdrivers or tiny needlenose pliers get used. )

I switched to using sram chains & powerlinks once after my chain broke at about sunset when I was 7 miles from home. It was a long walk home (I didn't think I was going to be able to jury rig something in the middle of nowhere while it was getting dark). While I had a chain tool & a spare pin on my bike tool - it was either an 8 speed or 9 speed pin and the chaintool was for bigger pins than 10 speeds - so it was useless anyways. So now I always carry a working chain tool and a spare power link.