Bicycle Mechanics - chain tension

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shaggy
08-19-03, 05:25 AM
I am converting my mountain bike with vertical drop outs to single speed, but i am unsure how much tension the chain should have. the way i have done it is to take out as many links as i can and then put the tensioner on and extend it till it's all tight. But how tight or slack do i want the tensioner??? Any advice would be great thanks

shaggy

urbanking
08-19-03, 11:52 AM
Buy a singulatro, take out enough links so that the chain isnt on the ground, and your good to go. The tensioner does the rest.
a2psyklnut
08-19-03, 12:10 PM
I was fortunate enough to find the right combination of gears with what was in my junk box that I didn't need a chain tensioner.

However, I almost bought on and from what I learned about it, you should find the shortest length of the chain with some slack and then add two full links (4 total pieces of chain). That will put enough sag for the tensioner to do it's thing without overstressing it.

However, I'm no SS expert, so I'm probably way off base here!

L8R