Chain Tesion or the "Right" Chain Length
 

I screwed up. I thought my "Red Rocket" Hardrock had horizonial drops, but it was the "Grey Ghost" Hardrock, and it is already a SS. So the RR has vertical dropouts and I'm stuck with either getting a chain tesioner or trying to get the chain length "get right" with half links and sprocket swaps.

Has anyone "really" had any luck with getting the chain length just right?

Jerry

you can try this hub
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/white-hubs.html
it is supposed to work in vertical dropout bikes.

I really don't want to put another $150 in this bike. I like the frame and all. I already put good 1.5" street tires, fenders, rack and bags, and lighting on it. I still need to replace the brake cable and housing, brake pads, and get a seat that doesn't feel like like I'm getting *****.

I will get a tensioner, if I can't make the chain length be "just right". Sheldon Brown's site had an article on it and he didn't really sound like it was going to be a 100% sure thing.

Jerry

Going magic gear (getting the right tension in vertical drops) is always dicey. Include a half-link and it double the chance of hitting it right. Try two cogs that differ by one tooth, and you now have a total of four chances to hit it right. Try two rings that differ by one tooth, and you now have eight chances.

Are you willing to judiciously file the dropouts? If so, this probably doubles your chances again to 16. Alternatively, you can file flats on the axles to get the same effect.

Good luck, they don't call it magic gear for nothing.

jim

Thanks for the tips! I think I'm going to try the gear swapping and half link route first. But I have a tensioner on standby.

Jerry

one thing to worry about with a magic ratio is chain stretch. once that chain stretches, it's kinda worthless.

if it were me, i'd just run a tensioner to save my self the headaches.

tensioners look funky and from what I've been reading around here break fairly regularly. If your planning on commuting or screwing around the city, get a tensioner. If your going to be out on trails, suck it up and use the ENO hub.

just a thought.

by the way, I use an ENO on my commuter Panasonic and really enjoy it.