I was lambasted for this suggestion made on other forums, but I’ve got some links which pop easily with barely finger pressure, some which take a little persuading, and some which are absolute buggers to get off.
With the final category, after a 5 hour window of trying absolutely everything I knew of at the time (incl pliers, WD40 cleaning, pressing them together, mole grips) I tied a shoe lace across the rollers, formed a loop, put a spanner in the loop and twisted and twisted until the force of the lace pulling together popped the quick link.
Other methods might ultimately have worked better / faster (e.g. I’ve seen and subsequently used a technique of balancing the link on the large chain ring, and tapping the top / side of the link with a light hammer a few times – seems to work fairly reliably), but it was nice to have come up with a novelty way of doing it, and for me, in that circumstance, it worked so well that I’ve kept it in my memory banks as a potential technique for the future. And as at least one possible option roadside with few tools available, I thought it was an experience worth passing on!!
