Chain Breaker/Rivet Tool Review- Ebay Tool vs. D.I.D. Chain Tool KM500

[soundmaster31]

I couldn't find a suitable spot in the "review" forums for this so I'll post it here.


I just bought and tested this no-name chain rivet/breaker tool I bought here:

Tool on Ebay


The first reason I bought this is because it is a clone of the expensive D.I.D. Chain Tool that I've used twice before and had good results. You can see it here:

D.I.D. KM500 Chain Tool


The Ebay tool cost $30 plus s/h. DID Tool costs $145 plus s/h. So there's the second reason.

First Thoughts: The build quality seems fine. The tolerances on the U-shaped part's rails seemed a bit off but it slides fine after a few uses. (I should note that the D.I.D. tool slides easily and needs the pin to hold it in place. HOWEVER, it may slide so easily from being used often as it is a rented tool and older than dirt.) The holding pin seems like it'll work fine to hold the U-shaped bracket in place when you need it. It has the same spring loaded ball bearing design as the D.I.D. tool. The main pressure bolts threads seemed to catch a bit about 3/4 of the way in, but a quick squirt of WD40 and it spins 100% free now. The pin that pushes out the rivets looks the same as the D.I.D. part until you remove it from the pressure bolt. The ebay tool's pin has an o-ring around the middle for a nice snug fit in the pressure bolt(see photos). I thought this was kind of a pain at first because it really sticks in there, but a dab of lube and it slides in out easily, but won't fall out like the D.I.D. tool tends to do. The pressure bolt does have a small hole drilled into to allow for pressure changes when you install and remove the pin making life easy.

The Instructions: I laughed when I saw the instructions because the pictures look like they were copied and pasted from the D.I.D. tool's instruction page. Text was also similar if not exactly the same as the D.I.D. tools text. The only difference here was that the layout was vertical instead of horizontal compared to the D.I.D. tool

My verdict: works great so far. I removed two pins from an endless stock 530 chain I had laying around without grinding the rivets or anything. The Ebay Tool pushed them right out. No problems whatsoever. (It was a pain doing it on a loose chain though flopping all around as opposed to cutting a chain that was mounted to the bike. Any chain tool would be more difficult to use when the chain isn't mounted)

I don't have any spare rivet links to test the rivet function(put a new chain on when I rented the DID tool two weeks ago). The real debates have always been about whether or not you can cut a chain successfully with a tool and I doubt that there would be any problems riveting with this tool. It has the same rivet pin design as the D.I.D. tool and I haven't any trouble with that design in the past.


I WILL SAY THIS: Pin placement is the number one reason for pins breaking. You have to make sure it's 100% centered in the tool. If it's not, you could catch the edge and then you're just putting all the breaking force straight into the tool's pin instead of the chains rivet. It's a safe practice to check the pin's placement a few times until you're positive that the pin is in fact going through the rivets pin's hole and not catching on the edge.


Tools Needed: You need a 27mm closed wrench and a 19mm wrench. I used a multi size tool for the 27mm bolt and 3/4" socket(haha) for the 19mm. I like this setup because it allows for better leverage compared to some of the other tools I've seen that use hex-keys to turn the pressure bolt. My hex-keys are pretty short. F-that.

Here are some photos from my test:

Ebay Tool Laid Out:



Ebay Tool's Cutting Pin showing the O-Ring:



Ebay Tool's Rivet Side of cutting pin:



Tools I used: 3/4" socket, multi wrench, and pliers. (used the pliers to remove the cutting pin from the pressure bolt. However, after I lubed the o-ring, it could be removed from the pressure bolt easily by hand.


Make sure the cutting pin is centered:



Make sure the opposite side is lined up with the hole so it can be pushed out easily.



View of entire tool with the pins I removed from the stock 530 endless chain. (note that the included side plate press piece is in the tool for storage)



Front Page of Instructions:


Rear Page Instructions:



Some More Photos showing how much of a clone it is to the D.I.D. Tool KM500



Plate for pressing the link plates on before riveting



Reverse side of plate for pressing the link plates. The rivet side of the breaking pin presses against this.



Screw/Bolt with ball bearing and spring to hold the tool's U shaped slide.



The finish on the tool looks pretty good.



For more info/another review/how to on changing the chain and sprockets check out member Dudealicious's write up in this LINK HERE.

[Scubalong]

Thanks for a details write up.

[mello dude]

Nice write up - I guess the question is--- would you buy it again?

MD

[soundmaster31]

Nice write up - I guess the question is--- would you buy it again?

MD

I'd totally buy it again. I used to be able to rent the D.I.D. tool for $10 bucks with a refundable deposit of $100. That has since been raised to $25 rental fee and $150 deposit fee. F-that. So for $37.50 all in to this tool...I can't complain. I'll get a few bucks from a friend for letting him use it as well and that will cut my costs even more.

As long as the pin holds up and does its job, I'll have no complaints.

I'm going to check one thing on it still tonight, and that is to make sure the riveted pins fit into the little divits of the U-shaped slide piece when pressing a plate or if I'll have to drill them out some to do that. But it works great so far for cutting a chain. Works just like the D.I.D. tool. I'll even check at my local dealer whether or not the D.I.D. pin is interchangeable with this one. If it is, then it's definitely a no brainer. I'll keep you updated, but the weather looks like it's going to get cold again here in Michigan and I might not make it to the dealer quite that soon.

[olddudesrule]

Great pics and text too! As you know, I'm in the process of tackling this task, and while it's not a very difficult one, having info like this is a GREAT help!

Thanks again..

[bitterpil]

I am in the market and this write up was great .. I am very interested in teh rivet capability of the tool.

Thanks again

[Gatekeeper]

Yet another case of reverse engineering. Let some one else absorb the cost of development and then build a knock off and sell it cheap.
How much you wanna bet that DID has some legal action against that mfgr?
Being on the end of having mechanical designs AND software ripped-off/cloned, I'm very sensitive to the issue. A group of 3 of us spend 4 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars designing a CNC machine to be affordable for small shops and home users. 6 months after it is on the market. Some other bastage has China cloning it with inferior quality for 1/2 price. Even the PC board in the controller was cloned.
The end result is both companies are gone now!
Now, if someone can build a NEW design inexpensive chain breaker, I'm all for that!

OK, I'm off my soapbox. I feel better. I can go for a ride now.

[soundmaster31]

Yet another case of reverse engineering. Let some one else absorb the cost of development and then build a knock off and sell it cheap.
How much you wanna bet that DID has some legal action against that mfgr?
Being on the end of having mechanical designs AND software ripped-off/cloned, I'm very sensitive to the issue. A group of 3 of us spend 4 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars designing a CNC machine to be affordable for small shops and home users. 6 months after it is on the market. Some other bastage has China cloning it with inferior quality for 1/2 price. Even the PC board in the controller was cloned.
The end result is both companies are gone now!
Now, if someone can build a NEW design inexpensive chain breaker, I'm all for that!

OK, I'm off my soapbox. I feel better. I can go for a ride now.

I feel for you in your situation. I'm curious as to what patent procedures you went through?



However, in this situation D.I.D. charges a RIDICULOUS amount of money for their tool! $150 bucks? ARE YOU SERIOUS? No Thanks.


If anyone has a spare rivet master link for an EK 530 chain or DID chain I'd be glad to try out the riveting aspect and document it. I don't have one laying around right now. I have spare x-rings and o-rings and the spacers for pressing plates on...but no rivet link or spare link plate.

[soundmaster31]

Check out member Dudealicious's write up on this product and changing of chain and sprockets at this LINK HERE.

[olddudesrule]

Did my front sprocket (-1 15 tooth Driven Racing) and EK 530 x-ring chain replacement today, and used that chain break/riveter from eBay. It worked awesome! I grinded off the heads of my old chain before pushing the pins out, and they came out very smoothly. When I was shorting the new chain, I decided to see if it was as smooth without grinding, and it was really just as easy to get the pins out. I did it three times, since this was my first time doing this type of job and I wanted to "measure twice, cut once" so to speak.

For the $$$, this tool works great. Press fitting the outer link, and riveting the pins was just as easy. The instructions were definitely written by a non-English speaker, but the procedure is pretty much plug and play.

Throwing it back together in a few, and can't wait to see the difference the new front sprocket makes. BTW, I considered replacing the rear with a stock 43 tooth, but after removing the chain and inspecting the sprocket (original Honda part), it looked fine. I saw no noticable wear.

Thanks again to Soundmaster31 for his finding the tool and posting the initial info on it.

[porcupine73]

Nice writeup. Just ordered one as I also need it for my ATV.

[gwolever]

I used the same tool last year when I did my new chain/sprockets. Worked great. My neighbor borrowed it for his bike and he loved it too. I am very impressed with the performance for the price.

[eddie cap]

Hi Soundmaster, Very good write up. I need to look at the condition of my old one
I think a few small parts are either broken of missing. eddie

[game]

Hello Friends, Was searching the internet looking for an inexpensive riveting tool. I came by your thread. First of all thanks for writing up such a detailed review, secondly... do you remember what seller had this tool for sale? I know this thread is almost a year old by now but im looking to purchase the exact same model/ manufacturer.

Thanks so much guys!

[porcupine73]

The seller I got it from was sportingforless. I don't know if he is still listing the chain tool, but here's the items he has for sale:
eBay Seller: sportingforless: eBay Motors items on eBay.com

[game]

The seller I got it from was sportingforless. I don't know if he is still listing the chain tool, but here's the items he has for sale:
eBay Seller: sportingforless: eBay Motors items on eBay.com

Thanks so much! Lets hope he still carries it.

[game]

The seller I got it from was sportingforless. I don't know if he is still listing the chain tool, but here's the items he has for sale:
eBay Seller: sportingforless: eBay Motors items on eBay.com

This seller doesn't carry it anymore, any chance there's an other ebay replica worth purchasing? I've been looking for the same replica (D.I.D) with no luck.

[daveyto]

I have an old Taiwanese chain breaker from 20 years ago..Still works like a charm...Looks like an old bicycle chain breaker. I personally would rather support the main company, DID than some counterfeit MOFO in china but I understand your dilemma of price vs. value/. BMW charges stupid prices for stuff as well...$200 bucks for a fog light..it's also the middle man's greed...they think they can make 150% on everything...

Perhaps this is one reason why the economy is in the state it's in...not to mention cheap loans!!!!!!!!!