On my ride today the chain came of and jammed between chainring and chainstay. I wanted to split the chain instead of jamming back through and risking damaging more paintwork.
With cold hands and a wet muddy chain I couldn’t get the quick link to split no matter how hard I tried.
So what are your tips and tricks for getting these links to come apart?

v-shaped piece of coat-hanger wire (or can use cord/cable to do the same job)

Shoe lace either side and pull. Obv you need to be using shoe laces for this to work.

I used to carry a short section of spoke stuck through a cork inside my handlebars, 5” length is enough to split quick links easily

Was it a KMC chain?

Most multitools have a chain tool – I always carry one, so would use that and split the chain in the old fashioned way. Split links are great if you have a handy split link tool… come to think of it, why haven’t they incorporated this into multitools yet? Or have they?

They have incorporated it, or Wolftooth have:

Pack Pliers – Master Link Combo Pliers

I’ve got one of these on my shopping list…

Or tyre levers with a built in chain link tool?
http://www.kmcchain.com/onepage/missinglinklever-18mar/en/
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/KMC-Missing-Link-Lever-bike-Chain-Magic-Buckle-Repair-Removal-Tool-Bike-Master-Link-Plier-Cycling/32865950136.html

If all else fails some keys are thin enough to fit between rollers.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/park-tool-master-link-pliers-mlp-1-2/rp-prod109888?mx=a

OneUp EDC has a super nifty one built in as well.

They have incorporated it, or Wolftooth have

I mean a proper bike multitool – you know, with hex keys and useful stuff for out on the trail. (And that don’t cost over £30!
Like –
Can’t be too hard to design a mini version of what Cheeaybeanz posted to incorporate into one..

First four video hits for “remove quick link chain without tool” show three different methods.

But there’s also this way:

– Position quick link part way around the chainring.
– Lift and move the chain behind the quick link up one tooth so the quick link sticks out in a ‘triangle’ from the chainring
– Push down on the top of the ‘triangle’ and bingo, the whole thing should come apart

Pack Pliers – Master Link Combo Pliers

these are pretty nifty, and you can carry a couple of chain links in the handle.

Already posted further up, nickc.

Still think it’s easier to use the tool you already carry and break with the chain tool. Whitestone’s method, may work fine, but then you have to join it again. Simple with old type tool, not always simple by hand with a quick link.

ah, missed that!

eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2in1-Bicycle-Bike-Tire-Levers-Plastic-Master-Link-Chain-Pliers-Wheel-Repair-Tool/263893067104?_trkparms=aid%3D333202%26algo%3DCOMP.CATCARDS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180608100040%26meid%3Df25420ba24064bc291c7b98b066a180f%26pid%3D100889%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D253992494477%26itm%3D263893067104&_trksid=p2056116.c100889.m5204

those tyre lever ones work brilliantly, you can get from china for a couple of quid but ebay have versions for about a fiver that are already imported

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-in-1-Bike-Tire-Levers-Master-Link-Chain-Pliers-Bicycle-Wheel-Repair-Tool-1Pair/253992494477?epid=21026196328&hash=item3b2321e58d:g:00AAAOSw5tNb9Pml

Also; these links are hard to undo if mucky – even a bit of grit can stop them being pushed together to enable the lip to disengage – so a good squirt of water / drink if needed (if you use a camelbak, get a mouthful and ‘spit’ it)

But there’s also this way:

– Position quick link part way around the chainring.
– Lift and move the chain behind the quick link up one tooth so the quick link sticks out in a ‘triangle’ from the chainring
– Push down on the top of the ‘triangle’ and bingo, the whole thing should come apart

Ingenious.. but may not work with a NW chainring? I don’t think mine fits one tooth out – it might need to be two.

TBH I’ve not tried it with a NW, might depend on the particular brand/model.

Whitestone – is the OP’s chain not jammed? In which case he needs to split it wherever the link is rather than moving it onto the chainring?

@poly – yes but there’s also three other techniques that I noted (but weren’t quoted by @molgrips) are the first hits on Google.

@DezB – no need to use any tool to fit the quicklink – fit the QL loosely and make sure it’s along the upper run of chain then just stomp on the pedal and it clicks into place.

is the OP’s chain not jammed? In which case he needs to split it wherever the link is rather than moving it onto the chainring?

True-ish; but I assume he got it sorted somehow and isn’t still sat there waiting for the magic answer 😉  Now he wants advice on undoing a QL in general.

I’ve had this happen before and usually the chain actually goes up through the gap between inner and chainstay and then sits there rather than specifically jamming in the gap – so you can feed the chain through if you are careful to be able to access the QL if needed, but forcing it back down through the same gap without the benefit of crank driven force isn’t easy and at that point you realise too how much damage it’ll do to your chainstay.

As well as my note above to clean the QL before undoing it, if really stuck you can free off the crank bolt(s) and pull the driveside back out a bit to create the space. Easy-ish on a HTII, not so easy with others where you either need tools (old days particularly with octalink and sq taper) or self extracting bolts and maybe a big allen key.

True-ish; but I assume he got it sorted somehow and isn’t still sat there waiting for the magic answer 😉 Now he wants advice on undoing a QL in general.
I’ve had this happen before and usually the chain actually goes up through the gap between inner and chainstay and then sits there rather than specifically jamming in the gap – so you can feed the chain through if you are careful to be able to access the QL if needed, but forcing it back down through the same gap without the benefit of crank driven force isn’t easy and at that point you realise too how much damage it’ll do to your chainstay.
As well as my note above to clean the QL before undoing it, if really stuck you can free off the crank bolt(s) and pull the driveside back out a bit to create the space. Easy-ish on a HTII, not so easy with others where you either need tools (old days particularly with octalink and sq taper) or self extracting bolts and maybe a big allen key.

That’s exactly what happened. It jammed THROUGH the gap and was freely movable inside. To get the chain back out I wanted to split it, rather than force it back through damaging the paint work even further (in the end that’s what I had to do).
I like the look of the levers above with tools, but how do they stand up as levers? I have a tendency to break then when fitting tight tyres.

Here we go, someone has incorporated one into a multitool. And it’s those clever eggs from OneUp

Hopefully, the rejoin would be as easy as Whitestone suggests..

I didn’t buy the levers to use as levers, rather as a cheap, light and easy quicklink splitter which can sit in my seatpack/back pocket on my road bike in case, or into a pocket for short pack free MTB rides.  For big days out I still tend to go tooled up so carry a pair of QL pliers, among various other things that hopefully the mere action of carrying means I’ll never need (aside… having broken a seatpost on a ride one time leading to a long stood up hack out of the hills, I even used to carry a spare post!!)  That said, they do seem pretty sturdy, although when it comes to tyres YMMV*.

The rejoin is as whitestone said, dead easy by just using the cranks. Although as another aside, do make sure it’s on the top run……. i spent a fruitless 5 minutes bouncing up and down on the pedals trying to get one to close before realising that doesn’t tension the bottom run! Fortunately, no-one saw me so the world is unaware what a numpty I am.

* if we’re doing tyre levers, this is the daddy for that

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/var-tyre-levers/

Although as another aside, do make sure it’s on the top run……. i spent a fruitless 5 minutes bouncing up and down on the pedals trying to get one to close before realising that doesn’t tension the bottom run!

Never done that, no not at all, can’t think why you think I have😳

Worth noting that KMC ones are way more difficult than SRAM. I’ve never had a problem with the latter on the trails as long as I don’t try to keep my hands clean.

Whitestone’s triangle on the chainring method does work on NW rings. It is a bit more fiddly to set up, if it doesn’t work on one tooth combo, use the neighbouring one. I don’t have quick link pliers, just use this method all the time, tap it with a little hammer in the workshop,tap it with a stone if it happens out on the trail. #TLS