Master link... where is it?

[Prof Young]

Bikers:
Hey, I thought a bicycle chain would have a removable master link but can not find one on my Schwin Varsity. (I'm a newbie to this.) Anyway, how I take the chain apart so I can get the old front derailleur off and the new one on?
Live well, be safe
Prof Young

[GeorgeET]

Look at the derailer carefully the bottom should be able to open. Mine have bolts.Check this site repair guide.

The chain master link has a clip on one side. If your does not you may need to break it open with a chain breaker and install a master link.

However try to open the derailer first.

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

[Prof Young]

GeorgeET:

Yea, I inspected the derailer completely. It was all riveted together. No screws or bolts. I'd bent it up so badly that I just cut it off the chain. The part that actually moved the chain seemed to be made of pretty flimsy aluminum.

A chain breaker. Okay. I'll look into that.

Thanks.

Prof Young

[nfmisso]

PY;

If you purchase a slightly better FD (around $10-$15 on Amazon and up) it will have a screw as George describes, and thus no need to break the chain. Then you can just cut off the old FD.

the tools are often called Chain Tool in the USA.

For example: http://www.amazon.com/Lezyne-CHAIN-DRIVE-Chain-Drive/dp/B002SJX2II/

[xerxes]

(08-08-2012, 01:26 PM)nfmisso Wrote:  If you purchase a slightly better FD (around $10-$15 on Amazon and up) it will have a screw as George describes, and thus no need to break the chain.

It's not only the cheaper front derailleurs that are riveted together. I recently fitted a Deore XT front derailleur and the cage on that was riveted together and I had to break the chain to fit it. It seems to vary from model to model.

[Bill]

Yup even the better ones have em that way. I like the separable ones.

[dochoot]

Just took my S Varsity chain apart with the chain break tool. Not too hard to take apart and put back together.

[Bill]

Awesome and congrats, your learning is rather fast paced!