What quick links for 12 speed Shimano

New bike coming with 12 speed XT drivetrain and despite a bit of googling I’ve not got a clear idea of whats compatible. Naturally the manufacturers seem to claim it will only work with their own stuff but
– will any 12 speed chain work ok?
– what Quicklinks will work? I notice the SRAM 12 speed ones are a funny shape (flat top). Will any 12 speed quick link work ok?

What about older 11 speed and 10 speed (and for that matter 9 speed) quick links – I seem to have a variety of older ones in stock.

What’s wrong with using a shimano 12spd quick link?

Shimano put a lot of effort into making things work as a system, then the end user comes along and butchers it!

Shimano uses a different front chainring profile, so sram chains dont work. Some aftermarket chainrings do work (Oneup in my experience). Sram chain on a sram cassette, but it does work with a shimano shifter and mech (the sram 12 speed stuff is shite).

Use the Shimano one

– will any 12 speed chain work ok?

Why would you buy an expensive groupset if you only want it to work “ok”?

Using Shimano 12spd XTR groupset. Lost my 12spd quicklink, used a Shimano 11spd quicklink I had spare – Works perfectly with no noticeable difference in performance at all in 176miles.

SRAM or KMC. The Shimano one isn’t great actually as it doesn’t have the same profiling as the rest of the chain so it can catch on the cassette.

https://20twentystore.com/products/shimano-12-speed-quick-link?variant=36177278369944&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1tSIm-iL7gIVyRB7Ch0WSA7HEAQYByABEgJR5vD_BwE

This will do the job, think that’s for 2 sets of links. You are supposed to only use them once weather that’s true I’m not sure. Best to stick with brand I think.

12 sod SRAM won’t work, tried it when it wanted to extend my chain to run longer chainstays and it was all I had in my spares box. Too tight and won’t let chain bend.

SRAM or KMC. The Shimano one isn’t great actually as it doesn’t have the same profiling as the rest of the chain so it can catch on the cassette

Funny that, considering my bike with a full M91000 XTR groupset has a XTR quicklink in the chain and it shifts absolutely perfectly all the time and so fatlr is nigh on 1000km in 🤔

SRAM 12 speed do not fit, KMC might, but they’re not the same profile as the proper and let’s face it, pretty cheap Shimano ones.

What’s wrong with using a shimano 12spd quick link?

They seem to be about twice the price of SRAM links – £6 each.
I’ll then be running 11 and 12 speed on different bikes so need to keep both in the trail toolkit (and I’ve still got 9 and 10 speed links hanging around). Worth knowing whether I can save money, and whether the others work if I’m stuck somewhere or whether the simply don’t work so not worth wasting the Time trying them.

I thought most brands worked with Shimano chainrings, but the issue was Shimano chains wouldn’t run properly on most other 12 speed chainrings unless they had the right teeth profile. The Shimano 12 speed quick link being the main reason for this.

I’ve found Sram chains on my Shimano 12 speed xt groupset run much better in any hint of mud / slop than the Shimano ones. I initially had an SLX or XT chain (forget which) but I was surprised at the difference between dry and wet shifting / noise in general.

I’ve whacked an XX1 chain on there (because oil slick bling) and it’s much happier through all my winter riding so far. And contrary to popular belief my shifting hasn’t suddenly dropped off a cliff because it’s not a Shimano chain on there.

I intend to run Sram chains only going forward and when my HG12 compatible chainring dies (it’s a Northshore billet chainring for HG12 chains) I’m going to replace it with a Sram x sync 2 direct mount alloy ring.

SRAM Eagle quick link works fine on my Shimano 12s chain, have done around 900 miles with no issues.

Thanks Joe/Markoell

I find the Shimano ones last the lifetime of the chain if you’re careful with them. I tend to buy the next chain at the same time and just have the link out of that in my toolkit.