ooops

I'm putting on my first chain myself. I read to be very careful and not cut the chain too short, cause that sure sucks. So I was very careful, I measured one two three four five times. Good boy. Only thing is, I didn't really pay attention to where I was shortening it, and I'm left with a roller on one end and just the outer plates on the other, and it appears the master link needs 2 rollers to connect. So I appear to be one link short-or maybe its a half link, I'm really not sure about any of this yet. But I'm short. :blush: Fortunately its a cheapo chain, just in case of this sort of happening.

Whats my best solution? New chain? Half link? I happen to have 2 master links, so I could use one to reattach the piece I cut off and the other to close the circle (after breaking it at the right spot this time). But I'm guessing having 2 master links isnt desirable, even on a small cc machine like mine (305)

its not a major high horsepower bike,id try the 2 master links and piece it back together since its a brand new chain.
youve got nothing to lose

Is this the missing link story? :laugh: Sorry it's not funny. I think maybe I'd get two rivet style master links and use them or at least one rivet and once c-clip one. Not sure if I'd use 2-c clip. ones. I made a nice chain riveter using a c-clamp and a pipe flaring tool. Makes chain riveting a breeze.

Any chain I broke wasn't at the master link. I'd just run two clip links and call it a day.

I change chains all the time, I just lay both chains on the floor and line up the links. No need to count or measure.

I'm converting a belt drive so there's nothing to measure except my mistakes, and those are immeasurable. :laugh:

I consider this to be a test anyway. I dont have much desire to need for a dedicated rivet tool but I do have a Harbor freight chainbreaker which supposedly can be used to rivet. I'll just use the 2 master links to see if this conversion works, then I'll either rivet one or get a better chain and keep this for spare.

I'm still not exactly sure how long to make this, but I think I'll make it one link longer than the shortest I think will work, then see if that's too long. I could make it snug with the wheel all the way forward, but adding one more link seems to introduce a lot of slop. But I dont want to go too short again!

Just out of curiosity, why did you decide to ditch the belt? I really like mine, its maint free, good low torque, lasts forever, and less mess in general... i'm really surprised the belt hasnt gotten more traction in the bike market.

Last time i checked there were 3 used belts available on the planet, and I didn't like the look of any. New ones are $350+, and they are still 25-30 year old rubber. I dont use 25 year old belts anywhere else....Its an experiment; i can always go back if I find good belts somewhere but they aren't getting more common.