Re useable chain links

[presta]

I re-use my SRAM links until the chain's worn out, I must have been doing that for years before I discovered they're not supposed to be re-usable. The spare links I carry in the toolkit are only the old ones off worn out chains.

Foot on the pedal and a handful of brake will close the link just as effectively.

If you just pull without squeezing the sides it will tend to round off the bits that help to stop them coming apart.

There are all kinds of tricks for them if you have an aversion to purpose made tools. Some of them even work.

I use a bent wire hook to pull a loop of slack chain, then it's easy to do them by hand once you're not fighting the chain tension.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I use a bent wire hook to pull a loop of slack chain, then it's easy to do them by hand once you're not fighting the chain tension.

One of the millions of useful things you can do with coathanger wire.

 

[cyberknight]

Bearing in mind also that "reusable" doesn't mean "can be reused as many times as you like".

as you normally get a new link with a chain i replace it when i put a new chain on

 

[figbat]

I use a bent wire hook to pull a loop of slack chain, then it's easy to do them by hand once you're not fighting the chain tension.

I have a chain tool with one of these built in; very useful. It also has a hollow handle to store spare pins in (although it has been a long time since I drove a pin into a chain).

 

[Blue Hills]

I re-use my SRAM links until the chain's worn out, I must have been doing that for years before I discovered they're not supposed to be re-usable.

Am pretty sure you can re-use SRAM links for chains up to 9 speed.
I do - for cleaning as folk have described upthread.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Recommend anyone interested have a look at this thread (with pictures!) which addressed this here (almost exactly 6 years ago, when I was very (CC) young):
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/kmc-quick-links-11sp.194897/#post-4122564
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/shimano-chain-sram-powerlink.170990/#post-3437717

 

[normgow]

Connex from Wippermann are very good any can be re-used an infinite number of times

 

[Ajax Bay]

Cycling Tips article/video
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/01/chain-quick-links-guide-to-easy-connection/

View: https://youtu.be/e-JRkZwuLAs

 

[andrew_s]

Connex from Wippermann are very good any can be re-used an infinite number of times

You'd die of old age before you got anywhere near infinite reuse

The pins wear just the same as all the other pins on the chain, and by the time the chain's knackered, the link will be too.

You've also got to fit them the correct way round - if you don't, they can make the chain skip on the 11T sprocket, when the bulgy side of the sideplate rides up on the edge of the lockring. That said, they are my preferred type of quick link - easy to spot, and usually open relatively easily even if the chain is a bit mucky.