Shimano Bike Chain CN-HG40 116L 8S

As my headline says, I bought this chain for my Cannondale H400, which has a 24-speed Shimano HyperGlide drivetrain which Deore rear derailleur and Alivio front derailleur. It's most likely the same chain that came with the bike 20 years ago, and I have no reason to think it will fail to perform or last to my expectations. I'm on my bicycle almost every day, and it typically takes me a year or less to put 1500-2000 miles on a chain, at which point I replace my chains in order to extend the life of my cogs.I marked this chain down two stars for poor installation instructions and a Quick-Link that's next-to-impossible to use. The Quick-Link consists of a chain link with two pegs and a fastener plate with a slot that has a very slightly rounded section near one end. To install it, the instructions say to insert one peg into that slightly rounded section, then slide the faceplate over so the slightly rounded end is over the other pin. Then you're supposed to "loosen the chain" - a physical impossibility, accompanied by a nearly incomprehensible diagram - and slip the second pin into the slightly rounded spot in the slot. Grr.I quickly got frustrated trying to follow the printed instructions, so I turned to good ol' YouTube for assistance. I quickly found several videos showing how to install the Quick-Link, some of which included narration that I could understand. Unfortunately, these still did not help much. It seems that by "loosen the chain", Shimano means you're supposed to bend the chain toward you while holding the Quick-Link faceplate in position, until you are able to slip the second pin through the slightly rounded spot in the slot. I found this quite impossible to do. When trying to bend the chain towards me over my thumbs, which were holding the faceplate in position, the second pin would pull out of its hole, and I'd have to start over again. If I adjusted my grip so that I could prevent that from happening, the faceplate would slip out of place, and I'd have to start over. Understand also that this takes considerable strength in one's hands and arms to accomplish; bicycle chains are designed to stand up to side-to-side flexing. At the same time, I was afraid that if I tried to do something to improve my leverage, like bend the chain over the toe of my shoe instead of over my thumbs, I'd damage the chain. GRRR...After about an hour of complete frustration, not to mention two sore thumbs, I gave up completely, replaced Shimano's pathetic Quick-Link with a KMC Missing Link that I had saved from a previous chain, and used that to install my new Shimano chain. I realize, of course, that reusing an old Missing Link is not the ideal way to install a new chain, but it was either that or pay a bike shop to put this @#&$@ new chain on.Next time, I will buy a SRAM chain. They've never disappointed me in terms of performance and wear, and they're relatively easy to install, even you're not Superman.

Chain as advertised. You may need to remove extra links to get the size right. It includes a single quick link but it was harder to install than the style I'm used to on my 11spd bike. After about 10 minutes, I finally got it to pop into place.

easy installation, smooth ride, quiet, reasonable price.

Mon vélo de montagne Giant Rincon