On Sun, 11 May 2008 18:59:33 -0700 (PDT), Owen <xem...@gmail.com> may
have said:

Pin B is a used pin that was pushed out with a chainbreaker; both ends
appear peened.  It should have been discarded before the chain was
sold to you.  Pin B is a Shimano use-once pin, and yes, you insert it
and break it off.  Trying to re-use B will likely damage the chain;
don't do it.  

Although there are premature wear issues with some of them, I prefer
to use snaplinks instead of Shimano's pins precisely because they
usually can be reused.  Since my preferred method of cleaning a chain
is to remove it and solvent-wash it in a 2 liter plastic bottle,
having to buy a new pin each time seems like an unnecessary waste.
The snaplink manufacturers all say that their links work only with
specific models of their own chains, but I have enjoyed wide lack of
symptoms of any compatibility issues as long as I have kept to the
appropriate width of link for the chain.  Apparently, there's a great
deal more standardization than is admitted.

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