Powerlinks

[hagar]

i had the sram power links on my shimano chain with no problems and the can come apart its easy sometimes and othertimes not so easy just push the two into each other and the links should come out . if you get my drift !!!

[jmaccelari]

 

i had the sram power links on my shimano chain with no problems and the can come apart its easy sometimes and othertimes not so easy just push the two into each other and the links should come out . if you get my drift !!!

If that's the 9 speed (brass coloured) ones, I agree with you. However, the

10 speed ones (black) were nearly impossible to fit and appeared impossible

to get off..

 

[hagar]

i never could get the black 10 speed ones for my bike they told me i could use the brass ones 

 

neway here is a thread that i started a while back when i first got them hope it helps !!

 

<>https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=17216&KW=links

 

[jabbathemutt007]

 

i had the sram power links on my shimano chain with no problems and the can come apart its easy sometimes and othertimes not so easy just push the two into each other and the links should come out . if you get my drift !!!

If that's the 9 speed (brass coloured) ones' date=' I agree with you. However, the

10 speed ones (black) were nearly impossible to fit and appeared impossible

to get off..

[/quote']

 

RTFM - The manual says they are not supposed to be taken off once fitted which is why I use KMC or Connex links with my 10 speed SRAM chain on my Campag bike.

 

[jmaccelari]

 

RTFM - The manual says they are not supposed to be taken off once fitted which is why I use KMC or Connex links with my 10 speed SRAM chain on my Campag bike.

Never got a manual. Just a shrink wrapped piece of red cardboard backing. I

was told just to clip them on and assumed (Assumption is the mother of all %$#@ ups)

they worked the same way as the 9 speed ones.

 

Velo's earlier post was the first I heard that they are not supposed to come off and

it makes sense from what I saw of them...

 

[jmaccelari]

RTFM - The manual says they are not supposed to be taken off once fitted which is why I use KMC or Connex links with my 10 speed SRAM chain on my Campag bike.

Just checked and found this at Velo News (SRAM themselves don't have any

info):

"Mark Pippin, SRAM?s product manager for cranks, chains and cogs,

says, ?Making a sub-6mm-wide chain for 10 speeds is a challenge, but it

was one we needed to take on anyway, being in the chain business.?

The PowerChain has hollow pins, and, like other SRAM chains, a

master link, but in this case, the new PowerLock link is not removable.

Pippin credits an engineer in SRAM?s Portugal facility for coming up

with PowerLock and says, ?the linking system is always the weakest

link, but our 9-speed PowerLink is as strong as the surrounding links.

We wanted to do the same with the connector link in our 10-speed chain,

but because of the constraints of the narrow chain, we made it a

permanent connection.?

It locks in by hand like the PowerLink, but if the rider wants to

open the chain, he must do so at a different link and then install

another PowerLock link to close it up again. The 1070 chain is the base

model, the 1090 chain has hollow pins, and the 1090R also has hollow

outer plates.""

So it looks like you can use them with Shimano, but they're permanent.

 

Thanks Jabba - sometimes RTFM does work!!!

 

 

[IanJ]

I actually think it is printed on the back of the shrink wrapped red cardboard too.

 

 

[jmaccelari]

 

I actually think it is printed on the back of the shrink wrapped red cardboard too.

 

Smartass!

 

Nope - it's blank. Completely. Unless they wrote it in lemon juice...

 

It appears the instructions for use of the Powerlock are in the instructions

included with their chains! It appears (from what I have read) that a SRAM

chain includes a Powerlock instead of the pin that Shimano provide. Don't

quote me on this as it's what I have surmised from browsing on the Internet...

 

So if you just buy the links you're on your own.

 

Also, there is allegedly a video at http://www.youtube.com/sramtech that also

explains it, but I can't access YouTube from work.

 

As for the ability to reuse the link, it seems people say you can use as many

Powerlocks as you like - you just shouldn't take an existing one off. So you can

keep on breaking your chain (not at a Powerlock) and then install a new one. So

you can't reuse them, although you can keep on breaking your chain.

 

What happens when your chain is only Powerlocks?

[jmaccelari]

Found it!

http://www.sram.com/_media/techdocs/roadchains__10spd__2_07.pdf

"Caution:

Power Lock is for one-time use only! Always use a new Power Lock when fitting a new

chain. Failure to shorten the chain properly or to lock it exactly into place may cause

damage to the chain and eventually total chain failure, material damage or the rider to

fall off his bicycle resulting in injury. Worn sprockets should also be replaced when a

new chain is fitted. Use only Power Lock to close 10 speed chains (no Pin)!"

 

So to summarise:

9 speed:

Powerlink: works perfectly with Shimano. Can be removed.

 

10 speed:

Wippermann: works perfectly with Shimano. Can be removed.

Powerlock: works with Shimano, but cannot be removed.

 

Phew!

 

[Pickled]

WOW, thanks guys, all that info...

 

did not think that I could get so many people on to a simple topic such as this.

 

 

 

Thanks again.

[IanJ]

I actually think it is printed on the back of the shrink wrapped red cardboard too.

 

Smartass!

Nope - it's blank. Completely. Unless they wrote it in lemon juice...

 

Ok I stand corrected but I bought mine on the cardboard and read it somewhere on the packaging.

 

With regard to your question about what to do when your chain is all Powelinks? It is easy, you start using Shimano pins .

 

 

[jmaccelari]

 

WOW' date=' thanks guys, all that info...

 

did not think that I could get so many people on to a simple topic such as this.

 

Thanks again. [/quote']

Ah! We all learn (even IanJ). And now I know why my SRAM Power Locks

did not appear to fit properly...