Originally Posted by
SquidPuppet
If an axle is 10mm in diameter then you have 10mms of room for adjustment. 5 in front and 5 in back theoretically.
5mm is ~.2 inch. For every tooth added to, or subtracted from the drive train, you need to move the axle 1/8th inch, or 3.175mm. So you should be able to dial it in without an eccentric hub or bottom bracket.
+1/2.
Adding/removing a tooth to the sprocket is only half the story. You're also bound by chain length increments of 1" which mean 1/2" in wheel position. So it's entirely possible that your desired gear combination will take the axle to the extreme position within the dropout.
Of course, using a 1/2 link, will allow 1/2" chain length increments, so only 1/4" of axle travel is needed.