Don't worry too much about it. Go buy yourself a half link, and set it up with the gearing you want.

Try it with the half link, and without the half link. Use whichever gets into the dropout and has the better chain tension.


This is the chain tension on my single speed, which is absolute worst case scenario (rear hub would barely get into the dropout without half link, but chain was absurdly tight, so 100% of half link contributed to the slackness). I've ridden it many hundreds of miles with no issue whatsoever.