# Best quick link for Record 10 chain



## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

I have a new Record 10 chain I need to install. I don't like the Campy pin, and used a connex link last time I put a chain on this bike. Anything new and improved over the 10-speed connex link I used last time? SRAM 10, KMC 10? Any preferences? I have never been a fan of driving a pin back into a chain. Don't like the shimano system or campy system for doing it. Push a pin out, use a quick link. May be irrational fear, but I haven't had a chain break since I started using quick links.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

I have used many quick links. Never had a problem with Connex, and they come apart by hand.


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## flatlander_48 (Nov 16, 2005)

I used the Wippermann Connex for about 4 years when I ran a Centaur group. I would still be using a Wippermann except they didn't have an 11spd product when I updraded to Chorus.

If I'm not mistaken, Campagnolo says to break the chain at a different point each time. That says to me that they don't want you to break more than once at the same site as it must cause some degradation. Might be something like the third time you break in the same place you severely compromise the fit and strength at that point. Not a good situation and I won't challenge what they say.

By the way, I came to using the Connex by a very different path. When I pack my bike, I wanted to be able to completely remove the chain and put it in its own bag. Much cleaner that way and minimizes the possibility of damaging something. That's not the Ritchey way, but it works for me...


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

flatlander_48 said:


> If I'm not mistaken, Campagnolo says to break the chain at a different point each time. That says to me that they don't want you to break more than once at the same site as it must cause some degradation. Might be something like the third time you break in the same place you severely compromise the fit and strength at that point. Not a good situation and I won't challenge what they say.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## flatlander_48 (Nov 16, 2005)

c-40 said:


> With the 11 speed chain, they do say that you can use up to 3 of the new-style joining pins on the chain, but they should be spaced far apart. Fortunately, there are at least a couple of good choices for master links - kmc or ird.


The first couple of years with the Ritchey in Taiwan was spent 2 to 3 months in country alternating with 2 to 3 weeks at home, so I was packing it fairly frequently. The Connex link was sometimes a bit tricky to install as you had to make sure that both sides were clipped in. Very easy to get one side, but not the other. However, it was pretty easy to disassemble and try again. All this was by hand. However, The KMC Missing Link that I now use on my Chorus chain is much harder for me to do by hand (arthritis), so I bought the KMC Open and Close tools for maybe $12 each. What brought this about is that I took my bike with me to North Carolina for a work assignment last year. I clipped the Missing Link in, but only one side was seated. I could not push hard enough on the link to separate it and had to take it to a shop. There the guy tried to do it by hand, but resorted to a set of Park Tool pliers. I realized that it wasn't just me and that buying tools would be a good idea. However, I find it interesting that the 11spd Missing Link is theoretically non-reuseable.



c-40 said:


> With shimano now making 11 speed, wipperman may decide it's now worth the effort to make an 11 speed chain and link. It took kmc about 2 years to get their product out on the market.


Yes, hopefully that will be the case. Maybe Campagnolo and Shimano translates to critical mass for them. And actually, Wippermann stated in a magazine article that they did not want to just make a link. They would enter the market when they had a viable 11spd chain AND link.

I suspect that a large part of the reason for the 2 year delay with KMC was that they might have been waiting for the Campagnolo 11spd market to get big enough to make it worthwhile. I wouldn't think it would take 2 years just to develop the chain. Anyway, I think things will move along much quicker now.


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## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

I like Connex, but they got real expensive so now I mostly just use the reusable KMC Missing Links. I even reuse the non-reusable 11 speed Missing links because they seem to be identical to the re-usable 10 speed links in terms of construction (but obviously thinner) and there is nothing else available (for now...). I do have the pliers, but I still prefer the ease of installation and removal of the Connex link for my travel bike. Powerlock is a giant pain to work with, unless they made design changes recently.


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