Should I use a master link? I just ordered a new KMC X10SL Ti 10 Speed chain for my bike.  And I am wondering if I should use a master link or not. 

In the past I have had much trouble with them.  I used to use them on my 9 speed mountain bike, and the master link would fall of often.  It turned out that how the suspension compressed it pushed the chain backwards and the master link would pop out.  

Now I'm changing the chain on my road bike for the first time.  It's 10 speed.  And it doesn't have any suspension.  Should I use a master link, or not?

My bike is a Scott CR1, it's their entry line carbon bike.  I ride it about 150mi/week.  A am concerned that using a master link on a chain like the one I ordered will be a problem because it may wear faster then the rest of the chain.  Is this true?  Or am I just paranoid?
The ones I've seen shouldn't wear any faster than the rest of the chain because the wear surfaces are the same - what's different are the side plates (and the notch around the end of the pin). If you look closely at how the powerlink is built it has the same elements as the rest of the chain, they're just held in place differently. The only time I've had problems with them was the old 8 speed ones when I used to regularly reopen them and they've become steadily easier to open until they were useless.

I found one report of faster wear here and a discussion here where Sheldon Brown actually measured things and concluded it wouldn't be a problem. The latter also features some good advice: 


  Don't worry about it. Just enjoy riding your bike. Too many people get
  caught up in the most minute of details and for some reason I tend to
  think they spend more time thinking about what's wrong (or what could
  go wrong) with their bike than they do enjoying it.