Zog The Undeniable <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
> Question: as most of these chains are sold for utility bikes and come with a slip link for taking
> them apart, is it OK to use the special link on a fixed wheel or track bike (I'll be limited to
> 1/8" chain as I can only get big sprockets in this gauge)?
>
> Or are they only intended to be strong enough for the local vicar to pedal his roadster down to
> the shops?
>
> TIA
Dear Zog,
Encouraged by Sheldon Brown's wisdom, I'll add that strength isn't likely to be a concern, even on
miniaturized bicycle chains. Off-road motorcycles apply far more power in both directions on their
heavier chains (20+ horsepower forward, and enough engine braking backward to chirp the rear wheel
on pavement if you drop a gear carelessly).
They often use the 3-part master link, with the closed end of the elongated c-clip in the direction
of what we'd call pedalling. This way, anything that knocks into the clip tends to force it onto the
two pins rather than prying them off, a common problem in off-road motorcycling. The chief
equivalent in thin-wheel bicycling would be rubbing against nearby gears.
The clip part really just holds the removable plate onto the u-shaped fixed plate with its two pins.
Together, the two plates are as strong as an ordinary link (you can't pull the pins through them).
And barring remarkable chain misalignment or a crash banging something into that specific link, the
elongated c-clip is more than strong enough to secure the removable plate against side forces.
They're actually more likely to have problems on multiple-gear systems (where they work fine) than
on a system where there's not much sideways thrashing and no climbing back and forth from one gear
to another.
They're intended to let the vicar blast out of mudholes well over the rear hub in the International
Six Day Trials, so unless they're very poorly designed when scaled down for bike chains, you should
be fine with 3-part master links.
As for the two-part ones, Jobst has some posts on those and how to get them apart. (It seems to be
trickier than lubricating the parts with profanity and wrestling the elongated c-clip off with some
needlenose pliers.) The 2-part master links seem to be a purely bicycle-oriented design.
Be glad that you're not dealing with half-links, which use cotter pins and still crawl the face of
the earth near older motorcycles. See you at the tea party, vicar!
Carl Fogel