MKS Chain Tugs
 

Ok, so I've seen tons of threads about these chain tugs and I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy them from John@Business Cycles. I have a KHS flite 100 and the tugs fit perfectly, no shaving of paint or anything, slipped right on there like it was made for the frame.

Anyways, My question is for those of you using these tugs, do you guys mount them on the inside or outside of the dropouts? I tried mounting theminside so I could get the MKS logo to show on the outside of the dropout, but had too much difficulty getting the whole wheel/tug assembly into the dropouts without possibly knocking the rear of the frame out of alignment since the vertical clearance of the dropouts was a tad too small and the tugs don't freely slide in the dropouts.

So, I decided to mount them on the outside of the dropouts and the logo doesnt show since they now face inside towards the hub, but it seems to hold just as well and the washer on the tugs actually keeps my track nuts from touching the dropout, thereby saving the paint.

Now my nuts are not touching the frame, is this going to affect my axle position as I ride? I'm guessing no since the chain tugs are pretty snug and secure I shouldn't pull the axle and the nuts are tightened down enough to prevent accidental loosening. I just feel rather paranoid about running the tugs this way since most of these applications I have seen have the tug mounted on the inside of the dropout rather than the outside. Is this setup going to affect my rear axle staying in place/staying on the bike?


ps: this originally started as a way to let Flite 100 owners that these tugs do work quite well with the dropouts :)

I just ordered the same MKS chain tugs from John on Friday.
I want the chain tugs because I think they help hold the axle in place without torqueing the axle nuts down to the point where it shortens the life of all the associated hardware.
We'll see.

I mount mine sometimes on the inside because I have those Phil's chrome domes which are giant machined washers. pointless if I mounted it on the outside. they're nice but I don't feel $35 was worth it for two tugs and you're only using one. there should be a "purchasing MKS chain tugs, who wants to go dutch?" thread somewhere.

has anyone had any success putting mks tugs on a bianchi pista? do they fit over the track ends? i've got a 2001 and have consistently had problems keeping chain tension. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

They need to make a fatter one - my old one doesn't fit on the beefier Soma drop-outs. Not that I really need them so far with the Phils. Lots of skidding and I haven't had to adjust at all yet aside from the chain breaking in a little.

From an aesthetic point of view, I just can't bring myself to buy or try any other kind of chain tug - the MKS are so minimal and beautiful.

The MKS fit fine of the Pista's dropouts since they're slim enough. Do it.

yeah, i wish they were a little fatter to fit over thick forkends. i somehow ended up with three, yes three, mks tugs. a pair of the newer 10mm bolt kind and one older allen key kind. none of which work, the forkends on the spicer are too thick, and the paul hubs i have on the steamroller wont work with the tugs, the washer on the axle bolt is too wide to fit in the tug's hole. i was thinking about dremling the hole out, but i had one of those generic tugs from businesscycles that i used. so i was thinking about building a whole nother bike around the chain tugs i have one of these years, maybe an all NJS bike? btw, if anyone wants to buy a tug, i really have NO use for three of the things. just pm me if anyone is interested.

i've got mks tugs on my pista and they pretty much rule. i put em inside the dropout with the little step facing out(between the dropouts). you should be able to just loosen em way up and flip the tug part over to show the logo if you want. i could never get the perfect tension before i got em, but i'm kinda lame so...

excuse me...i meant "inside the track end" and "between the track ends". see i am kinda lame so...

pm sent.

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so is the general consensus that running the Chain tug washer on the outside or inside of the track end doesn't matter at all?

when i ran tensioners on my bmx bike, i ran 'em on both sides of the wheel...

do people generally only use the mks tugs on the drive side? i'm confused...

I think you can get away with only one on the drive side since that's where the pull is coming from.
i've seen a few bikes with chain tugs that only allow the nut to thread about 3/4's onto the axle.
does it matter if the nut doesn't go ALL the way onto the axle?

the word (or rumor) is three full threads are needed for a nut to work.

I’ve been riding them about a year with the washers on the outside. I never even thought about doing it the other way until last week when I saw the Kalavinka site with frames spaced at 113 and 123. every other tug I’ve ever ridden or seen for that matter has the washer on the outside so I don’t see how this could cause a problem with the MKS’s.

I ride two and would recommend riding two. I use mine as much for getting the perfect chain tension as I do for fear of the wheel slipping in the dropout. you kinda lose the chain tension part if you only have one on the drive side. and in theory if you’re stretching your dropouts a tad by putting the washers on the inside, then you should probably do it on both sides. but it’s only .75mm so it probably doesn’t make a difference.

for those of you with both styles of MKS tugs, are the newer ones any better or worse? I really like the older style.

I’m 99% certain you can’t do this. maybe with the newer style, not with the older. when I machined my surly dropouts to fit the tugs, I had to machine the inside in order for the tug to work the way I thought it was supposed to. (with the washer on the outside) I now know the way I thought they were supposed to work was wrong. nonetheless, I wouldn’t do it the right way because it seems pretty dumb to make a frame that required the use of tugs. for Keirin, it makes sense. for everything else, I’m not buying it.

potus, most informative post regarding the MKS chain tugs I have seen in a while. Awesome.

Outside the dropouts only 120mm spaced frames / hubs, logo facing in. they do work with phils and pauls. thin dropouts only. they are a little sketch when your wheel is all the way forward on long dropouts. i love them. they are the small option!

what can I say? I've got too much free time and I love the tugs. it's a dangerous combination.

here's mine on my pista. inside the ends, logos out. maybe it's only the new ones, but the first time i removed the wheel and put them back on i spent a few minutes struggling to get them to fit till i realized i had them outside the trackends. swapped em inside and they slid right on. anyway, these things rule.

sweet! leave it to bianchi to have enough room between the hub and drop out! 122mm spacing!