Chain tug question
 

Thinking of getting a chain tug for use on the Slinghsot (semi-horizontal dropouts about an inch long). Anyone used them on these types of dropouts? Also which are best?

Dave

i don't remember who makes my chain tensioners, but i've attached a picture of them on my iro. i had considered grinding a flat spot on the back of the stamped drops on my peugeot fixie where the piece that rests on your dropouts would go, but never did. i would think you would need a flat area for them to stay on there properly. i would be afraid of them sliding off of the radius on the back of the dropout. redline also makes some nice ones. they're aluminum and light. you might be able to mill out that stopper piece to match the curve of the dropout... on the redlines, the piece that rests against the frame is integrated with the 10 mm hex bolt you use to tighten it. some chain tesionsers have you tighten two bolts right against your frame, which seems like a bad idea, as it would scratch the paint and frame. hope that helps...

Are your dropouts on the Slingshot rear facing?

No. More along these lines, \

The only reason that this keeps popping in my mind is that I would like to micro adjust the chain tension and keep it there.

Dave

As far as I know, most or all chaintugs out there are designed to work with rear facing dropouts only, whether they're horizontal or semi-horozontal.

if your bike has those little screws that come out of the back of the dropout, you can use those to position the wheel pretty precisely. but there's no guarantee that it'll stay there once you tighten the bolts down...

excuse my ignorance but what is the point of a chain tug anyway? Surely it can't be to keep the wheel in if both the chain breaks and the axle comes loose. It seems it wouldn't help keep tension in the chain either because it's not stopping the axle from moving forward in the dropout, which is what the chain wants the axle to do. Surely it also makes it slower to change a wheel.

My only thought would be if the hub axle had a hole in it for the screw in the chain tug to pull against. That way it would try and pull the hub back, keeping the tension of the chain up. Is this how it works?

chain tugs/tensioners have a plate with a hole in it with a nut and bolt attached to it somehow, some are welded, others have threads with two tiny nut and bolt combos threaded in.

the plate goes over the dropout and the hole in it is for the axle to go through, and the bolt comes out the back of the dropout. the nut is then tightened down against the rear of the dropout, which pulls the whole wheel back, thus tensioning the chain. some people use two, to keep their wheel properly aligned, other people use on and adjust it on their own. they work really well.

maybe in a race situation, they'd make wheel changing a tricky proposition, but then, most races that could possibly involve wheel changes are road races, and road bike dropouts aren't designed to accept chain tensioners of this sort. track races are too fast-paced to make changing a wheel mid-race not a viable option. and if you're a track racer, and you run tensioners, and have a spare wheel, chances are you could front the extra dough to get another (set) of tensioners for the spare as they are not very expensive. if you're just changing a wheel at home, then you have time and chain tensioners aren't a very big deal.

some people run them, some people don't. i used to have them on a couple of my bikes (a track bike and my BMX) but the one on my BMX got thrashed, and i realised that the one on my track bike was kinda pointless, and the type i was using, combined with phil hubs, made it a TRUE pain in the ass to do any work on my bike. (the tensioner i was using had a little cutout in the piece that goes in front of the nut so it sort of wrapped around the dropout, which meant that i had to loosen it every time i wanted to take my wheel off, which i, for some reason, was doing a lot a few months back, and i have no idea why...).

i have some old JP BMX tensioners that i'd use now if i felt i needed them. they're like the surly ones, and the ones that look like spurs....mmmm....spurs....

Well, you've got the right idea.... A chain tug actually has a plate where an axle end pokes through. Chain tugs are attached at the axle ends prior to mounting the wheel into the dropouts. The set screws/bolts pull the axle rearward and keeps it there, then of course, you tighten the nuts.

My take is as long as you're using quality track axle nuts and washers, these gizmos are not necessary. I always set my chain tension by feel and my wheel never slips.

George