Originally Posted by wetjett01
here's the prob... trying to make a bike with vertical drops out into a single speed. i have a 38 tooth ring up front and a 16 tooth cog in the back. i've tried it with some crappy singleator imitation that i got from Nashbar but it's not working because i can't change the spring tension in the singleator. i think the tensioner spring is broken or something. so, i've tried to remove a couple of links in the chain and not use the tensioner but that makes the chain too tight to insert the rear axle into the drop outs. i'm about ready to get the Dremel out and make my own horizontal drop outs and solve the problem real quick-like . but before i do that i was hoping someone else had run into the same issue and had a good solution. also, just to let everyone know i also have a 15 and a 13 tooth cog to try on the rear. would that possibly work without making the gearing too low? any thoughts or advise would be much appreciated thanks much
Having trouble adjusting the spring tension in the "Singulator"? Have you tried using an 18mm cone wrench on the thin wrench flats on the back of the pivot bushing? (That's the ONLY way to set the internal speing tension!!) You need to thread the singulator's main pivot bolt onto the derailer hanger loosely, THEN hold the 18mm wrench flats in place with an 18mm cone wrench to set the desired amount of internal tension and THEN tighten the main pivot bolt tightly. If you simply thread the singulator's hex bolt onto your derailer hanger WITHOUT using an 18mm cone wrench to pull back on the singulator's wrench flat section to set the internal spring tension....well, there just won't be any spring tension inside the thing and your chain will be droopy.
Do you have an 18mm cone wrench? You
need one to install singulators correctly.
They look like this:
If you still have trouble, pop off the clip on the back of the singulator and open it up. Check to make sure the ends of the internal spring are seated inside the little holes that keep it in place.