Campy 12 speed chain - peen or quick link?

[radsmd]

Building up bike with Campy Record 12 speed and wanted to see what experiences forumites have had regarding the chain. Manual says it needs to be installed with the special pin and be peened, but I do not have a peening tool and hoping not to need to purchase one.

Anybody have any experience with a quick link that would be compatible with the campy drivetrain? I see SRAM has one for their 12 speed eagle drivetrains. I think KMC also has a 12 speed chain, but have not found a source for just the quick link.

May be worth it to bring it to the LBS to have the chain installed, but concerned about their fluency with Campy speak.

[ultraman6970]

NO idea about campy 12 but if i had one group I would go with the missing link just because if you need to remove the chain you can do that in a second. I do not even know why campagnolo still make pins, nobody use them at all. Personally never used one all the way up to 11 speed.

[bfd]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

I do not even know why campagnolo still make pins, nobody use them at all. Personally never used one all the way up to 11 speed.

Doesn’t Shimano use chain pins too? I know they have a master link, but the pins are still available:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...yABEgI-E_D_BwE

Personally, I just get a KMC with the master link and be done with it!

[Joxster]

The 12spd chain uses the same 11spd chain tool, Campag will never go for a quick link as they view it as a weakness in a chain

[Dave]

The sram 12 link would come closest to a proper fit. When 11 speed first came out, I got by with a wipperman 10 link. It was too wide, but never caused a problem.

[ultraman6970]

I did the same.. used 10 speed missing links with 11, got tad noisy at times but worked fine. No idea how an 11 missing link will work in a 12 speed chain tho

[radsmd]

Can’t find the KMC missing link for 12 being sold separately yet.

I have a couple of old Park chain tools, but none that have the peening capability. Hate to spend $60+ for a tool that I’d use so infrequently.

Looks like I’ll be calling up to Campagnolo NA to see if they have any recommendations on good wrenches in the San Diego area.

[Dave]

You could just buy a KMC 12 speed chain and use it.

https://www.jensonusa.com/KMC-X12-12-Speed-Chain

KMC claims compatibility with SRAM and Campy 12.

Here's a source for the links, alone.

https://www.amazon.com/KMC-Missing-L...SIN=B07MTPYX49

[radsmd]

Originally Posted by Dave

You could just buy a KMC 12 speed chain and use it.

https://www.jensonusa.com/KMC-X12-12-Speed-Chain

KMC claims compatibility with SRAM and Campy 12.

Thought about that but I have a brand new record chain just sitting here in front of me.

[Dave]

See my revised post.

[bigbill]

I've peened all my Campy 11 chains with the campy chain tool for the past ten years, at least a dozen chains, never had one fail. I've been carrying the same KMC 11 link in my tool bag for a decade.

My gravel bike has Shimano 11 and the replacement chains have all had links instead of pins.

[radsmd]

Originally Posted by Dave

See my revised post.

Thank you. My google-fu failed me this time.

[lhuerta]

...just buy the proper tool. It will pay for itself in spades and assist u in getting the job done correctly. U can find it for less than $150 from UK outfitters. I assume u just spent $2K on ur new 12 speed gruppo...why skimp on THE most important part of ur drivetrain..??

[Dave]

I have the campy tool but never use it anymore. I much prefer using a quick link, so I can remove the chain for cleaning. I also use at least 3 chains in a rotation to avoid ever having new-chain skip. I never toss a chain prematurely in an effort to prevent chain skip.

I've used campy chains for 6000 miles that have little elongation, but the rollers were severely worn down and the side clearances twice that of a new chain. Using a single chain that long will cause new-chain skip, even though the chain has less than .5% elongation.

[zmalwo]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

NO idea about campy 12 but if i had one group I would go with the missing link just because if you need to remove the chain you can do that in a second. I do not even know why campagnolo still make pins, nobody use them at all. Personally never used one all the way up to 11 speed.

maybe under a very coincidental situation like a quick link stuck between a big front ring and a FD cage while pedaling would undo the link when installed in certain direction, but for us everyday mortals it would probably never happen.