Originally Posted by
Mr. Spadoni
so in inches, how low is a full bikes worth of chain? Counting links doesn’t seem like the way to go, given different link sizes
This is not exact but will get you in the ballpark:
Take the chainstay length of the frame and double it, example 17" x 2 is 34"
Take the teeth in the chainring and divide by two, example 26/2 = 13
Take the teeth in the rear sprocket and divide by two, example 10/2 = 5
Add those numbers, example 34 + 13 + 5 = 52". The real length will be slightly more than that. (The formula is exact when the F & R sprockets are the same size, which is almost never the case. Different sizes F&R requires a longer chain.)