New chain.

Just had a look at the "O" Ring chain that I bought and couldn't believe it
has a spring link. It also has the rivet link. I thought all "O" ring
chains were rivet link only these days. I thought it quite bizzare that it
suggests using the spring lik for off road use only. What's the FOAK's
opinion on the spring link? It would certainly save me a lot of pfaffing
about as I don't have a chain riveter ATM.

 

A spring link is absolutely fine if installed correctly. Due to the
larger risks involved in a chain break, the general rule is to use
a rivet link on high speed and/or high power bikes. Spring links
have done well on bikes up to 50 HP for more than half a
century and have improved over the years.

I'd install a riveted link if in doubt, just to get peace of mind.

Spring links should only be installed by people who know what
they're doing. The same is true for the riveted ones but I guess
the more inept DIYers are less likely to even try this.

To use a spring link on a true off road bike makes perfect sense
to me. These bikes get incredibly dirty and if used hard they
need a lot of TLC so they are often disassembled more or less
into their component parts. And a fucked up chain can be
replaced with a minimum of tools, quickly, in a muddy field.

 

The spring link is handy to allow you to put the chain on and get the
bike down to a place where you can put the rivet link on.

Depends on the bike; I'd not be particularly happy riding a 100+bhp
thing with a spring link, but spring links are fine for smaller bikes.

 

<ding>

Also keep a spare spring clip fastened round the clutch cable, and kept
clean by a bit of tape, in case the original should go AWOL.

Having said that, 'O' ring spilt links are a lot more of a fiddle to
fit, but if you factor in occasional drastic sprocket changes to change
gearing they can make that less of a pain.

In the old days I occasionally ran a chain with a half (cranked) link.
Even the ultimate sin - two split links and one solo link. This was to
achieve ultra low gearing on a very short steep hill, and on a
non-O-ring chain naturally. In fact there's those who say an 'O' ring
chain absorbs power and favour a high quality normal chain properly
lubricated (we are talking sub 50 bhp here),

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| Pete Fisher at Home: |
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| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
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I ran non-O ring on my KDX and replaced it regularly. After a particularly
dirty enduro I cleaned them in paraffin and then immersed them in molten
chain wax - it was very thereputic. Also, ordinary 620 chains were much
cheaper (and lighter) than O ring ones and the spring link could be opened
and closed without a mole grip. I did try an O ring one and it lasted best
part of a season so there's arguements in their favour.

On a road bike I would like to think of the chain being rivetted (not sure
why). A pal with several balers has a big rivetter so it's a zero cost
option for me.

John