I’ve got the Park Tools MLP masterlink pliers for home, but I wondered if anyone has heard of a smaller, more portable (but still reliable) version carrying around in yer Camelbak?

Cheers for looking. 😀

You could buy a cheap/generic version of this leatherman style and use a dremel/file a couple of indents into the plier jaws to grip the chain rollers – i may even try that on my leatherman style if i can find it

For taking a link off?

Use kmc links and your fingers?

dont dismantle your chain while your riding ? i find my fingers get stuck when ever i try

I carry a bit of bent coathanger wire that works pretty well – certainly better than cold fingers on a muddy chain. I know at least one person who intends to use brake cable but not sure he’s ever tried it when out & about

Chain breaker and spare link? You’ll still need a chain breaker and you could probably carry about 50 links for the weight/bulk of a quicklink tool.

^^ +1, hard to imagine a situation where you would ever need to undo a quicklink on a ride…

Wipperman connex link and a spare one in bag. Finger on and off. Best link in the land.

Another recommendation just to use the KMC ones. You can undo those easily just using your hands with a bit of practice.

^^ +1, hard to imagine a situation where you would ever need to undo a quicklink on a ride…

Trying to work out why, every chain related problem I’ve had ends up needing a chain tool to tidy it up before fixing.

somafunk,

I did exactly the same as you. I bought a cheap camping mini tool (trekamtes) & just ground a small groove in the jaws, works a treat & also managed to repair a mates flat pedal that had all but disintegrated on a big lakes ride at the bottom of NanBield, got him going again thankfully.

Another recommendation just to use the KMC ones. You can undo those easily just using your hands with a bit of practice.

Not 11 speed you can’t
And maybe OP doesn’t want to remove a link but install a new one if chain breaks, 11 speed you really need the tool as they are a right bugger to do by hand

An option though is to use a 10 speed link on an 11 speed chain, should work just as well, at least as a ‘get you home’ solution

Any link should just click into place if it’s on the top chain run and you stand on the pedal.

KMC I think vary. There are some that are easier to undo even on 10 speed than others. Some are also not reusable (though I’ve reused them), and some are.

Anyway, as said I can’t think trail side why you’d undo them unless you’d screwed up the length initially.

At home, I use some wire crimps. No need for specialist expensive Park Tools stuff when there’s often an option you have lying around the house anyway and that doubles as another tool 😉

11 speed you really need the tool as they are a right bugger to do by hand

Fit the link on the top half of the chain, hold the back brake on and press down on the pedal, link pops and is fitted.

http://cyclenaturel.com/2015/02/13/tips-tricks-unclipping-a-quick-connect-chain-link-with-a-spoke/

Crude, but if you carry pliers in your bag (like a Leatherman) then it’s a lightweight effective method.

As for putting it back on, as already said, join it as best you can, hold the back brake and push down on a pedal.

why carry more stuff in your camlbak? Chain splitter and spare link, maybe but why faff trying to undo a link? Quicker to fit new link. TBH I haven’t even had to do that with 11 speed in the last 2.5 years.

11 speed are easy as MS above says

Pawsy_bear

For me personally it’s not a weight issue carrying said multi tool gizmo, I don’t have it in the camelbak when riding locally moors dales Dalby stuff but I do in the lakes or other rocky big days out.
I’ve had to chop tyres make patches after slitting them & all manner of running repairs other wise it would of been game over & a very long push home.

I fondly remember a snapped carbon seat post (many years ago) & we fashioned a splint from a branch & ok it was a bodge but we kept on riding.

Thanks for the ideas gang. I’ve never been able to open powerlinks with my fingers and I haven’t achieved any reliable results with needle-nose pliers either.

I’ve ordered the real cheapo Lifeline master link pliers from wiggle. When the arrive I intend to reduce the length of the handles to the minimum that will still allow them to work.

Why did I want to undo the link on the trail? Because I got a branch caught in my mech and broke the mech-hanger with the chain still attached. I wanted to try to single speed it as an emergency but in the end I just removed mech & chain and pushed and free-wheeled for a few miles.

PS. Have you noticed that KMC chains are great value, but the separate powerlinks are about 3.5 times the cost of SRAM?

I fondly remember a snapped carbon seat post (many years ago) & we fashioned a splint from a branch & ok it was a bodge but we kept on riding.

A normal person would have just put the broken bit in the frame and have finished the ride by the time the boy-scouts had fashioned their small rudimentary lathe.

Why did I want to undo the link on the trail? Because I got a branch caught in my mech and broke the mech-hanger with the chain still attached. I wanted to try to single speed it as an emergency but in the end I just removed mech & chain and pushed and free-wheeled for a few miles.

Which is exactly why you carry a chain tool, a chain tool which you would need anyway to shorten the chain is fully capable of re-joining said chain.

PS. Have you noticed that KMC chains are great value, but the separate powerlinks are about 3.5 times the cost of SRAM?

Cheap blister packed ones from Ebay from Taiwan, I’ve used them for years, fraction of the price but you need to be prepared to wait a while for shipping, £2.50 each

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KMC-Missing-Link-11-speed-Chains-For-Shimano-Campagnolo-Silver-/201066194596?hash=item2ed07aa6a4:g:4CEAAOSw6BtVUcfF

Wipperman connex links are reusable 😉

So are the KMC 11 speed ones, despite what they might say, just tricky to remove compared to 8/9/10 speed

STATO

Normal person eh… the post snapped on a 6 hour ride half way in & have you tried riding with a seat just sticking out of the frame, Normal … you might need to take a look at your self my friend but thanks all the same for the comment eh.