Best Chain Riveter

I bought a £25 eBay jobbie from China and works just fine. Instructions in Chinese are a little tricky but hey, was cheap

 

Sadly you only get the quality you pay for. I have tried several styles at the price point you are looking for and after rogering yet another soft link on a new chain by inadvertently overtightening it, I finally stumped up for a DID KM500R. Great bit of kit, kicking around in the tool box in its little plastic box and it has been used by me and others a good number of times both at home and in the pit lane and it shows no signs of wear. Buy right, buy once. Andy

 

DID KM500R are, as Android rightly says "the best".

 

as Andy says, you can't go wrong with the best tools as they are an investment but if you feel you will be only doing a dozen or so (soft) links then the following is more than adequate :-
https://www.louis-moto.co.uk/artike...saito/10002556?filter_article_number=10002556



This design of riveter is flooding the market hence the low price and I have used one on over 10 chains so far. Forget using it to remove a link though as the precision required on anything other than a bench isn't worth it. If you are going to get a similar one, make sure it goes right round the chain instead of a G clamp type affair.


chain riveter - Google Search

 

@Chris,
Your link opens up a whole page of riveters. Not sure this is what you intended?

 

I use something like those previously stated, it looks like what the manufacturers of the bike engine races cars use.. I think my one is a cheaper version from Demon Tweeks or another online seller.

D.I.D. Racing Chains and DirtStar® Rims
?> Warrior Heavy Duty Chain Riveting Vice | Demon Tweeks
?> D.I.D KM500 style motorcycle chain link extractor & riveter tool with spare pin

The descriptions have some useful info in... I grind the pins on my old chains to remove them. I watched someone doing this in a bike shop. Never had any issues to date.

 

Mine is like this. Taken 2 chains off so far and 1 back on with no issues. Yet.
Look at this on eBay Cam Chain Splitter Breaker & Riveting Rivet Riveter Tool Kits Motorcycle Bike | eBay

 

This is by far the BEST chain tool on the market, there is nothing that can distort, etc.
Whale Brand Chain Riveting Tool Chain Tool | Demon Tweeks

 

excellent I have one not cheap but it works

but a lot cheaper than a chain failing

 

Why would the tools make a difference on the chain failing? You just push it together and splay the ends. They all do that.

 

A cheap chain tool does not have the tolerances that a good quality one has, also the person using the tool has to use it correctly, or the chain will be riveted to tightly and will cause a very tight spot on the chain and this will lead to the chain failing.

 

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If the chain link end plate comes off (because it was not fitted right) the pins in the link that hold the chain together with bend, and the chain will snap. So it must be a good job well done.

I personally think the operator has some responsibility for this... and the manufacturer of the link if it's a bad one.

That whale looks well made but I doubt you'd distort a good DID one if it's all lined up.

It's thicker than the more heavy duty RSJ steel... perhaps 8mm, and such a small surface area all connected together to form a box with rounded edges.

I'd use it as a shackle to lift 2 tonne no problem... the bolt might perhaps push 2 tonne if you are lucky before becoming impossible to turn but only if it's pushing against a dead end, more likely to bend the pin in the tool or the damage the link before the tool bends (my one anyway)

I've used mine on stunt bikes that like to stretch chains and on cars at 410kg > 180Bhp at the rear wheel and no slipper clutch 0-60 less than 3 sec's, launched at 10'000+rpm from the start line via 10" wide slicks. The weight of the car, is less likely to hop on down shifts than a bike, more likely to blow the engine. They take some real crap more than in a bike and some of well known bike people are involved.. that's where lots of the info comes from.

If you know what your doing you don't always need the best kit but it makes life easier.

 

Not all tools that do the same job are the same. The tool I was using before I bought the DID allowed you to over tighten the soft link. The DID tool has pre set slot that means unless you are the Hulk or the Jolly Green Giant, you are very unlikely to get it wrong. As has been said, if you know what you are doing you could probably use any tool but I do it too infrequently to get good so I bought the no brainer tool for a simpleton. Andy

 

ever had a connecting link come out ??

it does happen and it does a lot of damage

fortunately there are good alloy welders out there to repair such damage

a good tool makes it a lot easier to do a decent job

 

I would expect far more chains break due to poor maintenance, bad adjustment, poor fitting or poor quality than the tool that is used to press the link together.

 

I've have a cheap ebay one like @Cream_Revenge and found it easy to use. You'd have to want to over tighten the link to do it as for some reason the strength needed to turn the tool rises remarkably once they've spread enough (0.5mm per DID if I remember correctly). I did have to put the tool on again once when I hadn't spread the pin enough but other than that it's been easy. I've only done 2 chains with it but as it'll probably only average one a year it'll do for me.

As in the past I've seen chains changed with a hammer and drift perfectly acceptably I think sometimes cheaper tools are OK as long as they're used sensibly.

 

I've done it before by grinding the rivet away then riveting with a small ball bearing and a good modelling sized vice.