Aha! Looks much less crazy up close. Nice work! Maybe I'll look at that tensioner when I look into converting my bikes into hubs - bit by bit I'm abandoning derailleurs.

M.

That's hot.

I have been commuting mostly SS since last March on a Fantom Cross Uno at 39x16. It was great in the Bay Area and it is still pretty good on the hills here in NC. of course, now that I have worn through the brake pads, I am wondering if I can find a coaster brake hub :D

My son and I pulled together a ss with a double crank up front, FD and tension-er. So, now it's both a fast ss flatlander and headwind/hill climber. It actually worked out great and feels like a pure ss.

Edit: Now that I think about it, we used an old 6 speed RD, locked in the correct chain-line position, as a tensioner vs. one of the new tensioner components. A cheaper alternative.

Look at the Soulcraft Convert tensioner as well as the Surly. I like it for a few reasons:
1) It's super quiet because it uses a grooved urethane roller on very quiet bearings. Same roller/bearing setup that many MTB chainguides use.
2) You can use it as a push or pull tensioner. Push being the setup shown above, where the chain is pushed up toward the cog to create the tension, pull is where the chain runs around the outside of the tensioner.
3) It's a set & lock design, instead of spring tension. There's a push-rod lock, you set the tension adjustment when tightening the fixing bolt to the derailleur hanger, and then to release the tension for wheel changes, you click the release lever and swing the device out of the way. If you're riding road, this isn't much of a concern. If you race cross or MTB, a spring tensioned device can take a lot of bouncing around and you run the risk of throwing your chain.

The best SS tensioner you can get is a re-purposed road derailleur.

32x18 works out to a 48" gear. That's mighty low. The fact that you can average such a high speed is very impressive. You must be a great spinner. That's good for long term health. On flat terrain, if I had to choose one ratio, it would be a 66 to 72" gear. I understand you need something lower for climbing, and you made a good choice, but I guess I wouldn't do SS for a hilly area.

My current SS roadie is set up with a 42/17, which is about 67 inches. I find that it works well for the kind of sustained mid-grade (5 - 9%) climbing that I find out here in western Washington.
With it being a singlespeed, I don't have to worry about the sustained downhills the way I did when I was riding fixed. Not much sucks worse than trying to control your spin on a 67" gear on a mile long 9% descent.

I used to run 81 gear inches on my fixed gear and on long steep descents I would often exceed 160 rpm and often spin at 180... I had a brake because slowing down the cranks and the bike at that speed with your legs is brutal.

^ this. I got my first FG at 55 y/o, it's never too late.

I bought a dingle cog a few months ago. Still haven't installed it. It looks great, fixed two speed.

Spin it to win it!