Connex Link - 11-speed (steel)

I recently converted from typical grease/oil-based bicycle drivetrain lubrication to wax This implies swapping the chains much more frequently for cleaning / rewaxing and I'm not sure I'd do it if these quick links weren't available. It is so easy to take a chain on or off with just your hands, no tools required. Also, I had a mild concern about perhaps having a failure in the link or its installation in a sprint or similar - I'm not a huge person but I generate about 1000W in a sprint - and I can say I have done more than a hundred sprints on chains with these links - including a couple race victories in real life - now with zero chain breaks. That's a pretty good sample size.

The 11 speed was the thing until 12 speed came along. Now it’s a matter of time until the 11 speed parts will begin to fade to the hard to get world. This connection link seems stronger that the chain so I use it for several chain changes. Easy to install and remove by hand. Be sure to orient it correctly. Other “quick links”are supposed to be one time use but lots of riders reuse them. Risky and sometimes ok but this Connex link is no doubt strong enough to give confidence in multiple uses. Never heard of one of these breaking. They are not absolutely necessary since you can clean the chain while on the bike and can easily just break the old chain off to put a new one on with the one time links. I still like the ability to add or remove by hand with the reusable link. Also pretty expensive now. But still good to pick up a couple to extend this convenience 11 speed use until the end of those days. These may still be available for a while or maybe not. Such is progress.

Fiddley to install. I nearly tried to return them after spending an hour trying to get them installed on my bike. Honestly I followed the directions that were included with them, but they just didn't fit well. Then - I took the chain off and played with them and my chain on my kitchen table and figured out how they worked. The key for me was to hold them together in the middle between my index finger and thumb, then swivel them downwards. Perfect! The connex link worked correctly. No tight chain links. No tools needed. My chain is a new Shimano HG701 11 speed, new Shimano XT CS-M770 9 speed cassette and new Dixna La cranks and chainrings. Also no noise going around my 11 tooth small cog either. I wax my chains and these links are worth the money!

Works as advertised. 5,000 miles on it so far!

I clean my bike weekly; averaging about 200 miles per week. Ride all tarmac, but since I ride in the morning often had dew on roads and morning sprinklers so my bike gets fairly dirty. I hated using the Park Tool chain cleaner because degreaser gets everywhere with a lot of times overspray getting on rotors and harder to clean cassette and front chainrings. Gave this quick link a shot on my 11s Ultegra R8000 groupset and have been very happy with the ease and ability to disconnect and reconnect the chain without a tool or having to replace the quick link. I have a 52/36 | 11-30 setup and have no noise, shifting or issues with the quick link. I put down over 1000 watts on sprints and hold 600 watts on hills. The quick link has not failed and I have now about 600 miles on it.

I bought this link for road use. I installed this link in a KMC chain on an 11-34 tooth Shimano 11 speed Ultegra cassette and immediately went out on a100 mile road ride. I had absolutely no issues with it. I had read the reviews about it skipping under load on the small cog, and I tried to make it skip, but it ran smooth and straight the entire day. The directions do say that it is directional, so I wonder if people who had issues were putting it on backwards. It was very quick and easy to install with no tools. My only issue is that it is very expensive, but I did buy it, so I guess I should not complain. Based on my experience, I would recommend this product if you can justify the cost.

I purchased this link to facilitate easier removal/installation of my chain for waxing. For that purpose it works great! I've used Whipperman links in the past, and this engages/breaks apart in the same way. Super easy to install and remove once you've removed tension from the chain on your bike. My main gripe with this link is that under load in the hardest gear (SRAM 11 tooth cog), it will skip where the link contacts the cog. In the instances where I'm applying sprinting efforts on my trainer (while using Zwift), or are using that cog outdoors under a hard effort, the link causes an aggressive "popping" effect, where the chain is skipping in the spot where the link contacts the cog. I tried two different cassettes I own when I was troubleshooting, and both had the same "skipping" effect; which leads me to reasonably believe that this is due to the link. It's also worth noting that this didn't appear to be an issue for the first handful of rides. I think as the link/chain began to settle in together (roughly after 600mi or so), the skipping became apparent. It's not terribly surprising that an aftermarket link doesn't work 100% as I'd hoped with a different mfg's chain. Often times mixing and matching different mfg's parts can lead to odd issues like this one. If you never apply a hard, sprinting effort in the smallest (11t) cog, or rarely ever spend time in said smallest cassette cog, you'll likely be just fine using this link. Unfortunately for me, I do need that gear to be usable without the skipping. I'm currently considering reusing SRAM links (in spite of the brand's warning), or getting some YBN links that can be reused for a certain number of times. I hope this is helpful for anyone else considering purchasing this link.

These are amazing, especially if you have a waxed chain and/or different wheelsets that you swap in.