Touring and quicklink

[navrig]

My new bike is currently being built and I expect to collect it in a few weeks.

I am a roadie and all of my bikes are run with a quicklink.  It is easier for general maintenance and deep cleaning of the chain.

What is the view of the touring world on quicklinks?

I have the chance to have on installed as part of the build.

[steve216c]

Are you talking about on an internal gear hub (e.g. Rohloff/Alfine/Sturmey Archer) or on derailleur geared bike?

My personal experience is that I have had one quicklink fail on a derailleur bike. Chain came detached at quicklink but I could never establish the cause as one part of the link was missing and I couldn't see where it was. I fixed it using chain tool and made a permanent linked chain.

On my Rohloff bike I use Connex 808 chain with their quicklink. I lost/misplaced my link one time cleaning the chain after removing it but had a used spare I had saved from an old chain as a get me home link. That same Connex 808 is 150km shy of 14,000 km and the Connex made quick link has remained reliable throughout with the replacement used one serving the last 9000km.

I cannot comment on other brands the quicklink failure I mentioned was not on a Connex. But since then I have Connex 808 on all my bikes. What I like about their link is that you can remove and refit it without tools due to their clever design.

[John Saxby]

I have used quicklinks on my Sram & KMC chains for the past 20 years. Never had any problems with any of them, but I always keep an extra in my toolkit. Note, though: the various links can be re-used, but may not be interchangeable across brands or models. So, if you keep a spare in your toolkit, make sure it's compatible with whatever is on the bike.

[Andre Jute]

The Connex quicklinks are known to be good. In days gone by, when I used white wax on my chains, I always kept some Connex quicklinks to hand and used them with whatever cr@p chain the LBS had. This was before my patience with the LBS ran out and I decided to educate myself about bicycles. Never had a Connex quicklink fail in the eighteen years I used them.

Later a KMC chain was highly recommended by a bicycle manufacturer in Germany who had everything they fitted tested to destruction. KMC quicklinks are highly recommended and one comes with each of their chains suitable for Rohloff installations (perhaps with all their chains). I've never had a KMC quick link fail in the thirteen or so years I've used them. Be careful if you buy spares though: there are two thicknesses of KMC eight-speed chains, with two corresponding thicknesses of quicklinks, of which only the thinner one is suitable for the Hebie Chainglider, which sooner or later many tourers want to marry, and which cuts down maintenance, in my case to nothing because I run the KMC X8 chain inside a Hebie Chainglider on the factory lube for its entire service life. (In order not to let this useful thread on quicklinks slide away into a Chainglider beanfest, please make any remarks and ask any questions about Chaingliders and/or factory lube schemes at http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=6813.msg42349#msg42349.)

I definitely recommend that you have a quick link fitted to either a Connex or KMC chain on your new bike, and order one or two spare quicklinks to be supplied with the bike as insurance against loss. Chances are that the spares are merely a supernatural insurance against ever needing them -- the other day, cleaning out the toolbag on my bike, I came across a quicklink wrapped in a receipt dated 2008 from a shop in a coastal town 80 miles away that I don't remember visiting that year, with a pencilled note, "Other one fitted to Matilda's bike at Kilmacsimon Quay,"-- don't remember who this Matilda who rode with us is either, maybe just a cyclist with a broken chain we found on the road; "other one" because the KMC quicklinks are sold as spares in pairs.

There are some quicklinks I don't consider worth having, like the Shimano single-use boutique items, but there's probably someone here who'll champion them.

Happy days with your new bike!

[martinf]

My personal experience is that I have had one quicklink fail on a derailleur bike. Chain came detached at quicklink but I could never establish the cause as one part of the link was missing and I couldn't see where it was. I fixed it using chain tool and made a permanent linked chain.

Also had a quick link (SRAM in my case) fail on a derailleur bike several years ago. After that I stopped using quick links with derailleurs.

A few months ago, because I was hardly ever using it, I converted my last remaining derailleur bike to use an S5/2 hub gear. So I no longer have any derailleurs in service on the family bikes, at least for now.

Not had any problems with quicklinks on hub gear bikes, but I don't always fit them, sometimes I just use a chain tool.

I have a Rohloff chain tool which has a setting that is supposed to reform the rivet when joining the chain in order to prevent it from breaking at the joining point.

[mickeg]

Most of the time I have two quick links on my Rohloff bike.  I have to remove four links if I want to use a smaller chainring and two quick links simplifies that.  (Photo)

I carry a few spare quick links on tour.  Once years ago working on my bike at home outside, I disconnected the quick link to remove the chain and one quick link went flying, I never found it.  You do not want to be on a tour and lose a piece of your chain.  I carry several spare quick links on my tours.

One tour, one guy I met had broken his chain four times, his chain got shorter every time, and he was getting to the point where he was running out of gears.  I gave him one of my 8 speed quick links for his 9 speed bike and said it would probably not work, but if he was stranded on the side of the road, that would be the time to try it.  This was in the middle of Iceland, nearest retailer of anything was over 100 km away.

Some quick links are useable for multiple times, some are for one time use.  If possible, avoid the one time use ones.

If using KMC 8 speed chain, there are two different quick links, a 7.1mm and 7.3mm, get the right one.

Do you have a tool to remove a quick link?  New ones sometimes need some help from the right tool.  I bought a small version to carry on tours.

On tour I also bring a chain tool, but that is because it is attached to the better multitools so I would have to go out of my way to leave it at home.

Off topic but related - If you are getting a Thorn built, they would have the spare spokes and know what sizes you need, buy a couple spares.  You probably will never need them, but if you do it is nice to have the right length spare already.  On tour I carry two spares for each wheel.

[navrig]

Thanks for the replies.

I've been running quicklinks on my roadbikes for 10+ years and only had one issue which was user error rather than mechanical failure.  I always have spares in my toolkit and generally use KMC.

The new bike will be running 2x11 and probably a Shimano chain which I have not had any issues with.

On tour I'll be carrying a spare chain (cut to size) and a couple of spare quicklinks.

I do have the quicklink pliers but only with the removal bits and not the nose for engaging the link (which was the cause of the fail I mention above).  I'll be buying a new set.

[Danneaux]

For more than 25 years, I've enjoyed great performance from Taya's Sigma Pro connectors...
https://tayachain.com/product/sc-23/

They require no tools and are reusable. Available in a variety of widths to suit whatever chain you might be using.

Taya also makes a more conventional quick-link connector, but I prefer the Sigma Pro, which has both pins on one plate and a simple flat top cover that snaps on and holds ever tighter under increasing pressure, yet snaps off easily if you bend the slack chain in the right direction. Tip: It helps to put the flat top cover on the outside as standard practice for ease of installation/removal.

Best,

Dan.

[in4]

What type of chain do you use this link with Dan? I tracked Taya down to a wholesaler in UK; Oxford something or other. Might be useful for the Nomad tool kit.
Thanks

[Danneaux]

What type of chain do you use this link with Dan?

I don't use the Taya Sigma Pro with all my chains all the time, but I find over the years it is the one I return to over and over again after trying others.

I've used them successfully with Shimano, SRAM, DID Lanner and KMC (...and...anyone remember Sedis and Regina?) chains in 5/6/7-sp and 8-sp, not tried in 9-sp or beyond in both derailleur and SS/IGH applications -- provided they are matched to stated and actual chain width. I would recommend actually trying each and every quick-link made by every brand in your chain before it is needed, as I have had links of various brands arrive in mis-printed packages that did not fit in practice and them measured too narrow or wide for the stated size. So far, Tayas have been accurate as stated but not all chains are equal, so still best to try in advance of need.

In the back-of-beyond in rural Romania, I found not all 8-sp chains or connectors have the same actual width even when labeled a match. It can be heartbreaking to find your intended quick-link is 0.1mm too narrow to slide together and a cable tie will actually work briefly as a replacement (!) until you can get to a farmer with a rock anvil, a hand sledge and a punch awl. Such saved a tour for me.

Best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

..., I found not all 8-sp chains or connectors have the same actual width even when labeled a match. It can be heartbreaking to find your intended quick-link is 0.1mm too narrow to slide together and a cable tie will actually work briefly as a replacement ...

Great thinking, another use for zip ties.  But I am sure that would not work on a derailleur bike where an adjacent sprocket has a larger diameter and it might not feed through the derailleur cage.  But, a derailleur bike would allow you to keep riding if your chain was two links short, as long as you had a chain tooi. 

[PH]

All my bikes are on KMC or SRAM chains of one sort or another and all using the quicklinks that came with them, I' don't recall ever having an issue with any of them, though I don't usually remove a chain till it's time to dispose of it. 
I have had a chain break at a normal link, it was a long walk and a lesson in why those of us with EBB's need to carry some chain links not just the quick sort. I've also used a SS spare link on someones 9spd chain, was OK, a bit slack maybe, but they finished the few hundred miles left of tour on it.

[Tiberius]

For more than 25 years, I've enjoyed great performance from Taya's Sigma Pro connectors...
https://tayachain.com/product/sc-23/

They require no tools and are reusable. Available in a variety of widths to suit whatever chain you might be using.

The first time that I came across that type of connector every bone in my body said that it was cheap and nasty and that it wouldn't work - it would be unreliable - the end plate would fly off etc.

How wrong could I be? I've now used them for many years over countless thousands of miles without a single issue.

You CAN teach an old dog (hello) new tricks.

[Pavel]

What type of chain do you use this link with Dan?

I don't use the Taya Sigma Pro with all my chains all the time, but I find over the years it is the one I return to over and over again after trying others.

I've used them successfully with Shimano, SRAM, DID Lanner and KMC (...and...anyone remember Sedis and Regina?) chains in 5/6/7-sp and 8-sp, not tried in 9-sp or beyond in both derailleur and SS/IGH applications -- provided they are matched to stated and actual chain width. I would recommend actually trying each and every quick-link made by every brand in your chain before it is needed, as I have had links of various brands arrive in mis-printed packages that did not fit in practice and them measured too narrow or wide for the stated size. So far, Tayas have been accurate as stated but not all chains are equal, so still best to try in advance of need.

In the back-of-beyond in rural Romania, I found not all 8-sp chains or connectors have the same actual width even when labeled a match. It can be heartbreaking to find your intended quick-link is 0.1mm too narrow to slide together and a cable tie will actually work briefly as a replacement (!) until you can get to a farmer with a rock anvil, a hand sledge and a punch awl. Such saved a tour for me.

Best,

Dan.

Thanks for that link and recommendation Dan.  I've got an assrtment of quick links which I cut out of the large display cardboard so that only a bit of the cardboard around the plastic which holds the link needs to be taken.  But over the years I now find all of then have gotten popped out the back of the packaging and I have six or seven for who knows what.  I will have to get better organized, not just for a trip, but for years to come. 
Have you used. their chains and if so what are your. thoughts and which would you recommend for a Nomad mkII? I believe both nine speed and eight speed fit, is that correct?

[Danneaux]

Have you used. their chains and if so what are your. thoughts and which would you recommend for a Nomad mkII? I believe both nine speed and eight speed fit, is that correct?

Hi Pavel!

While I have used Taya Sigma Pro quick-links periodically over the years with a variety of chains, it has been ages since I used a Taya-branded chain on one of my derailleur bikes and never on my Nomad, so I'm sorry...I can't make a personal recommendation in this case. I did find their 7-sp chains to be durable and smooth on my derailleur bike a long time ago.

All the best,

Dan.