DeafLamb

Just my .02

I've found that getting my chain tension good in my new bike equipped with track dropouts is a lot easier than it was in my conversion with semi-horizontal drops.

Bikkhu

You forgot the goat sacrifice

jim-bob

I thought you were vegan.

What do you people sacrifice at times like this?

666pack

dear dave,
thanks for the compliment, but i really don't see how this is a hard issue or how sheldon makes it too complicated. it really is as simple as putting the wheel in the dropouts, putting the chain on the cog, pushing / pulling the wheel back and tightening down on the nuts.

if you can't seem to master this simple motor-skill i'm sure your local bike shop would be more than happy to tension your chain for you. either that or maybe simple, fixed gear riding just isn't for you.

GLAD TO HELP!
love,
erik

mander

It isn't obvious how to tension a chain properly; otherwise there wouldn't be so many bikes on fgg with either super droopy chains about to fall off, or incredibly tight chains that make bb's cry. OTOH it's not an amazing accomplishment to learn how to do it, and certainly nothing i'd want to be smug or elitist about.

noisebeam

As others have pointed out it is in principle easy.

But I have also found that experience makes it easier - I have a double sided fixed hub and flip wheel a few times a week - and have found with each new bike there is a mini-learning curve to adjusting tension most quickly and correctly. All this meaning that it is a skill that can be improved upon, but these 'tips' on doing it best are more by feel gained thru experience vs. something that can be explained.

Al

caloso

Al, don't come in here and start posting commonsense, reasonable posts like that. What are you thinking?

noisebeam

I'm thinking I'd rather be riding. Thats pretty much all I think.

al

Bikkhu

Teddy bears?

davidmcowan

It is probably that simple,fixed gear riding isn't for me. I mean if you aren't born with the knowledge then it is likely you were never meant to have it, right? What is it about riding a fixed gear that elicits such elitism?

The reason I'm trying to figure out my wheel thing is that it appears that at times there is a heavy clunking. Some folks in the Bike Mechanics forum suggested that perhaps it could be related to chain tension or a sticky link. I've been throwing my wheel on in the way that I interpreted Sheldon Brown's How-to for roughly a year but now I'm wondering if maybe I've been doing it wrong and as a result there is heavy clunking. I just can't locate the source of this damn sound!

p.s. The BB appears to be in firmly and as well as the pedals. The clunk only happens when I spin without circular motion or apply too much force trying to speed the bike up. Could it be the chain snapping taut? I love my fixed gear but this noise is driving me crazy!!

mander

Clunking eh?? Could it be that your cog and lockring are loose? I don't know what "too much force" could be but i do know the feeling of your cog disengaging from the lockring and slamming into the hub, and it feels "clunky". Another thread about this issue came up just today.

davidmcowan

It would be unlikely. The cog is loctited/JBwelded on and there is no lockring. Crappy setup, I know, but I've got new wheels with lockring and cog once the snow melts.

davidmcowan

p.s. checked my second set of pedals after getting home and it appears they are a little loose. Same thing happened with the old one. Is it possible the cranks are stripped at the pedal?

sers

how frequent is the clunking?

if it occurs once or twice every rotation of the crank, it could be that your chainring isn't centered on the spider and there's not enough slack at the tightest point of the rotation. as the chain makes the transition from overly taut to loose, it might be enough to make a sound that resonates through the frame.

40x14

I might know exactly what clunking noise you're talking about, feels like it rocks the whole frame and it definitely comes from the rear cog or front chainring. Cause: Poor chainline.

I'm to tired to explain how it can be improved but the main ways are by changing which chainring you're using inner out outer if riding a conversion, changing or adjusting the bottom bracket, and respacing + dishing the rear wheel. YOU could open a whole 'nother thread on just this topic (chainline on a conversion), or try searching the forums.

ps. How can you spin without circular motion?

roadfix

Once you get the hang of it, it is not as complicated as you originally thought. I often flip my flip flop wheel during the middle of a long ride, for instance, and it takes about one minute to remove the rear wheel, flip it, re-install, and align....

40x14

I don't think the problem is OPs ability to adjust the rear wheel in the dropouts. In one of his earlier messages he writes, "I've been throwing my wheel on in the way that I interpreted Sheldon Brown's How-to for roughly a year but now I'm wondering if maybe I've been doing it wrong and as a result there is heavy clunking."

So maybe he's getting the right answer to the wrong question.

megatron

All I can say is do it by feel... if you dont have it right, you will know.

Hocam

Can't I just use a chain tensioner?!?!?!?!!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!!!!?

noisebeam

I've done with and without.
One can obtain an adequate if not perfect tension without a tensioner.
One can easily over tension if one does not know what they are doing with a tensioner.
I find tensioners convienient and it lets me get tension and wheel alignment just right before tightening wheel.

Al

Hocam

I think the multiple ? and ! were suppose to hint at something.

noisebeam

how careful/accurately do folks line up the wheel to the frame? How much does misalignment affect performance including chain smoothness and tracking?

Al

noisebeam

backwards circle are easier with a crooked rear wheel.

I was mainly getting at how obsessive folks are about wheel alignment. Approximate? Eyeball it with one eye making sure equal amounts of frame gap show on each side? Measure?

I just eyeball it lining up wheel between frame, as seat stays are angled in, the gap forms an open triangle on each side and one can very accurately align making the triangles equal in height.

I dunno, maybe as I flip my wheel so often I think about alignment more - on cold dark nights (say after a flat) it can be harder to see if alignment is good. Does it really matter if wheel is off so there is 1/4" on one side and 3/8" on the other?

Al

veggiemafia

Stop being ******bags on the internet.

davidmcowan

Edited by Moderators

Back to the original post, after using these tips and readjusting the wheel the clunk is much less frequent and I can't feel vibration in the pedals. I put on the new wheel at the end of this month and hopefully it will be a cross between a wannabestraight chainline and a maladjusted wheel so that all will be well come the end of the month.