I put a Pro 2 on the front of my IRO Mark V over the weekend. I wanted to check the rear tube that has a slow leak but then I noticed that the chain was short so that with the chain tension perfect, the hub was essentially 1-2cm from the front of the drop out. I was in a hurry and didnt really look at it long. I guess this is great in case the hub slips forward for some reason, but it allows no room to loosen hub from frame, slide hub forward in drop outs, and allow enough slack to get the chain off the rear cog to remove the rear wheel... which is how I thought you normally changed flats on a FG.

Is there something I'm not seeing about getting the rear wheel off? Should I add a few links to make the chain longer and have the hub sit midways in the drop outs? Should I add a "quick link" so I can disconnect the chain with a flathead? Should I leave the hub where it is and buy+carry around a chain-tool to disconnect the chain everytime?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I just didnt see a real easy way to go about changing a flat tire on the rear of my Mark V. I commute on this thing, so I can't exactly take 30 minutes to change a flat on the rear should I ever have one.

The first paragraph doesn't make much sense, but...

You should have enough room to slide the wheel forward, remove the chain and rest it on the exterior of the seat stays and slide the wheel off. You could also patch the tube by removing the tire while the wheel is still mounted, patch the tube and put it back together. The later choice is much more bada$$.

There is only enough room to slide the wheel forward 1-2cm but not enough to get the chain off the rear cog.

For speed's and difficulty's sake, I would rather patch a tube with the wheel removed than try to fight it with the wheel mounted. Is this what everyone does?

Here is a pic to show the wheel position all the way forward (except for 1-2cm for chain tension):

You should be able to "walk" the chain of the chainring(not the cog), just push the chain to the side before the chainring and spin slowly derailing the chain. But yeah fix the flat with wheel still on is the way I normally fix a rear flat.

be careful with those fingers!

If you have to replace the tube and don't want to settle for a patch, maybe consider a master link so you can just pop the chain off to remove the wheel.

pay 60 dollars to a mechanic

^ what he said! You can get a bad pinch or even lose a fingertip if you **** around there. Like sheldon says, give that part of your bike the same degree of attention that you would to a running circular saw.

That said, that is the place to derail the chain for removing the wheel when clearance is tight.

Thanks, I'll try that tonight. I tried doing that with the cog last night while looking for a quick disconnect link that was possibly installed from IRO.

Oh yeah, using a masterlink for this purpose is probably a bad idea unless you want to replace it a lot, just because you will be changing flats fairly often and they do start to get worn from frequent use.

If you let IRO assemble your bike they make the chain lengths super tight to the rear drop-outs, it's almost silly how tight they get them (all that is needed is 1 or 2 more chain links). The problem is even worst if you change the rear cog up from whateve ryou ordered.

Regardless, loosen the rear hub andpush the chain off the chainring. Use your finger like a front deraileur and push to the inside. It will run off with a little bit of effort. IRO makes them tight, but not so tight that you can't push it off. To reset the chain just catch one or two teeth on the front chainring and the chain will run on with little effort...THEN tighten the rear hub.

Move the rear wheel slightly forward and simply derail the chain off the chainring.

+notrocketsurgery.

No.....much easier to leave the wheel on as mentiond previously.
Try it !! Pop one side of the tire which will be real easy now thats
its flat, and since you already pre-marked where the stem was on
the tire when you built your wheelset, right , you will know where
to look for whatever snuck your tube. Really though....you dont even]
need a wrench.....it is the easier way.
Yer widdle hands dont get as icky either !

The word you're looking for is mm, not cm. 1cm is more than 1/3 of an inch and easily enough to get the chain to clear the teeth.