One of the more frequent questions I get on my “Tech Q&A" column is why Campagnolo changed its 10-speed chain and eliminated the PermaLink and, therefore, the tool to install it, now requiring the purchase of a different chain tool.

In late July, I visited Campagnolo in Vicenza, Italy, and I got the answer to this question directly from Mario Meggiolan, the engineer who designed the new chain tool as well as the carbon Hyperon wheel.

Campagnolo first supplied the PermaLink with 10-speed chains because that was the best way it could see at the time to make such a narrow chain strong enough. When a chain is assembled in the factory, the ends of the pins are mashed out bigger than the holes they went through so that they hold the side plates well.

If you push one out and then push it back in, it widens the hole to the point that the retaining force has dropped to a fraction of what it originally was. The PermaLink allowed the consumer to close the chain with a link as strong as the others, but it was expensive, different, required a special tool and was not universally well received.

The pin

Photo: Lennard Zinn

As a result, Campagnolo developed a system similar to Shimano’s with a special pin to close the chain. The beauty of it is its greater simplicity and a normal chain tool with only slight modification.

The new pin is designed to improve on the approach taken by Shimano. The Shimano pin has a bullet-shaped nose designed to line it up and slightly stretch the hole on tiny ramps at its tail. It then necks down to a diameter that can easily be snapped off with pliers after installation, followed by a pin with some raised edges to retain the plate.

Campagnolo’s pin, on the other hand, is two pieces: a hollow pin and a leading tip with a thin tail that inserts into the hole in the pin and is easily pulled out after installation.

Meggiolan has measured the retaining force of the pin and claims it to be higher than Shimano’s and almost as high as the original chain pins. He thinks that Shimano’s pin, by necking down, allows the hole to constrict again after being stretch by the flared leading tip, while his damages the hole less with its smoother, gapless transition from leading tip to pin. The pin bore is sized differently at each end, so only the end with the proper transition bumps accepts the leading tip.

Besides the pin, the new Campy system requires the mechanic to ensure that the assembly pin is installed only into virgin plate holes. One end of the chain has a zip tie through virgin end holes with the instruction that the chain is only to be shortened from the other end.

Meggiolan has found that the retaining force drops by nearly half if the pin is inserted into a link that has already had a pin pushed in and out once. If you ever want to remove your chain and re-install it, this creates an obvious problem. Campagnolo will not sell a single pin; it sells two assembly pins with a set of four links with virgin holes on both ends. If you want to re-install the chain, you remove a set of four links from it and install this new set.The chain tool differs from a normal one in that it has two wire prongs that are pushed into it after the chain ends are placed into it. The prongs hold the chain down to ensure proper alignment of the pin with the holes.

I assembled mine with a Shimano chain tool, which secures a longer section of the chain than a standard one. I pressed down on the links with my finger to make sure they were lined up vertically as well. It seemed to work fine. I also found that the leading tip can fall off, and putting a little grease on its tail held it to the pin better as well as getting all over the pin so it slid in easier. Unfortunately, that PermaLink tool so many shops and individuals bought is now useless except perhaps for cracking nuts. Aside from the new pin, the 10-speed Campagnolo chain remains unchanged.