vertical dropout problems on my SS project
 

just so were clear, i have read sheldon brown and taken his advice, im still a little confused

i recently bought a 2008 motobecane le champion SL on ebay for $27. it has "semi-vertical' dropouts with a removeable derailleur hanger that i have removed. since there isnt any room to move the rear wheel, the only thing i can do is add a chain tensioner? id hate to have to add a tensioner because i enjoy the look of of a straight chain with no 'interference'

any advice, please? :)


btw, im new today.

find the "magic" gear. But it will probably not end up being the gearing that you might want

A half link might solve your issues. Hard to tell with out a picture.

-If it has semi-vertical dropouts then there will be a small amount of front-rear adjustability in there. Maybe you have fully vertical drops.
-A half-link stands a chance of getting the axle in the dropout, especially paired with a magic-gear experimenting.
-Keep in mind that the chain does not need to be so tight on a SS (compared to a FG). Too tight and it is hard on the freewheel. So you don't have to get the tension perfect.

jim

27?!

thanks, so far, ill upload pictures of the situation when i get home!!

if you read the sheldon brown page you would have known to use an eccentric hub.

your options:

-magic gear/half-link: this might work, and is the cheapest route, but you have limited options on what gear you can run
-tensioner: works great, cheap, doesn't "look as clean"
-eccentric hub: can run any gear ratio you want without a tensioner, expensive by comparison

Don't worry too much about it. Go buy yourself a half link, and set it up with the gearing you want.

Try it with the half link, and without the half link. Use whichever gets into the dropout and has the better chain tension.


This is the chain tension on my single speed, which is absolute worst case scenario (rear hub would barely get into the dropout without half link, but chain was absurdly tight, so 100% of half link contributed to the slackness). I've ridden it many hundreds of miles with no issue whatsoever.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4...e5bde58d64.gif

thanks, ill try the half link and see where that takes me.

dsh - for some reason, I couldn't stop watching that gif...like I was waiting for something else to happen. You should add an explosion or something.