brett jerk

Everytime I ride I pump my tires and tighten my chain so that it has about 1/2" of play. Every bike ride (even if its just to school and back, which isn't very far) causes this to loosen to about a full 1" of play. I haven't really experienced any problems, but there's virtually always play when I'm trackstanding (I can move my crank a little without moving the chain/wheels). I feel like I tighten the nuts on the bike as well as I can (with a monkey wrench). The only x-factor I can think of is that my frame is vintage and had really awkwardly sized wheels/hubs. As a result, I am bending the frame (the back triangle, where the hub sits in the drops, and only very slightly) when I tighten the nuts.

Is this normal?
Is there a quick/cheap fix I can implement?

(For reference, it's a '67 Raleigh Grand Prix, 25.5" frame, with Velocity Aero Rims)

Serendipper 

See thread about slack chains being good, or get dutret to feel on your your chain for you.

brett jerk

that thread is what inspired this. I'm trying to make sure I don't drop my chain on a downhill, because vermont hills + city traffic + college kids - a chain = bad news bears

cc700

if you had a brake you wouldn't have a problem.

vee_dub

Heyy experience that beforeee, the main thing is ur axle keep moving forward as u pedal. Hence:

1) Axle nuts is not tight enough - tight it
2) Dropout/axle-nuts have grease on it - degrease it
3) Surface of dropout too slipery - sand the dropout abit

thats all i could think of. But for my situation was that the dropout have some dirty grease.

brett jerk

wait they make brakes that can drag a dropped chain out of your wheel now?

UTJeff

What is the dropout spacing on your bike? If you're using 120mm wheels with a 130mm spacing and just bending it then tightening it, that could be a problem, the hub would be inclined to slide forward because they are have uneven pressure distrbution along the bottom of the nut.

brett jerk

I'm pretty sure this is what's happening (I don't really bend it physically, just tightening the nuts moves each side of the back triangle about .5") is there a fix for this that doesnt involve a new hub/wheel?

Serendipper 

No.

Zombie Carl

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

ta-da!

dirtyphotons

dude, pinching your dropouts and having your wheel slip have nothing to do with each other. if the chain is actually loosening when you ride, you didn't tighten your track nuts hard enough (or your track nuts/locknuts suck).

make sure the locknuts (the things that press on the inside of the dropout) are screwed tightly onto the hub and crank down on the track nuts when you tighten them.

barba

A '67 Raleigh is not going to have 130mm spacing unless someone set it to that recently.

You may want to try getting a new set of track nuts for the rear wheel. What do you mean by "monkey wrench", brett jerk?

crushkilldstroy

Yeah, You didn't actually say what kind of hubs you have, but I'd be willing to bet that your track nuts suck balls. I'd pick up a decent set of nuts and an actual 15mm wrench, assuming that you're using a monkey wrench instead of just using the term "monkey wrench" very loosely.

Zombie Carl

Maybe he's a plumber?

crushkilldstroy

[hardware store nerd]If you want to be really exact, a true monkey wrench looks like this.



They haven't been made in quite some time, mainly because the adjustable (crescent) wrench came onto the scene and did what the monkey wrench did, only better and easier, due to the one handed adjustability.



Nowadays monkey wrench is a term that basically means any kind of adjustable wrench, although you never really hear anyone in the business say it because it's confusing as ****.

[/hardware store nerd]

brett jerk

ok so my plans are to first clean and lightly sand my drops (they are a little bit oily) and if the problem continues, I'll go pick up a new set of track nuts. either way I'm planning on getting a 15mm wrench next time i'm near home depot (I'm using an adjustable wrench, not a monkey wrench, I'm not really sure why I used the latter... but either way it's a p.o.s.)

crushkilldstroy

Instead of Home Depot, go to an Ace or True Value. They're gonna have very similar pricing on things like individual wrenches and ****'s easier to find. Bonus points for giving your cash to a local business instead of throwing it into a big box.

brett jerk

Yo I live in Vermont, and the only hardware store in my area is Home Depot.
Believe me, I am ALL about giving my money to local businesses.
Vermont is all about sustainability and buying local. The local grocery store carries like 1,000 local items, and even tags them on the shelves. (As a result I eat at least 1 locally sourced meal a week)
UVM actually has a dorm building that eats virtually only locally sourced/vegan products.

el twe

Definitely use a real wrench. Crescent wrenches are pretty good at ****ing **** up.

vee_dub

i always carry a Sidchrome adjustable wrench..

*new*guy

another thing you can do is score the inner face of the track nuts (the side that touches the dropouts). if you have a dremel with a cut off wheel just clamp the nuts in a vice and make a bunch of shallow lines in the material.

FazeOne

It seems like no one on this thread has mention a chain tensioner. correct me if im wrong.
You can check out the surly tuggnut or i put on some cheap bmx tensioners that i got from my lbs for a buck each

doofo

bottom bracket is slipping

try riding hard up a hill backwards and see if that helps