Singlespeed - what do I need to do?

[MJN]

Until you have a 'jewels' moment,then you tighten it properly If you're so obsessed about running with no tensioner get yer hand in yer pocket and get a ss frame

 

[richi78]

A half link chain (or a half link) will only compensate for +/- 1/4" of chainstay length, so is no guarantee of being able to run without a tensioner, plus as the chain wears from new you will have no way of taking up the slack. You might get lucky, the only real way is to try it....

What a half link will do is get you close enough to use a tensioner (in push up mode) when otherwise you would be a little short or have too much slack. Don't bother with a half link chain either, just use a normal 3/32" SS chain (KMC Z-610HX is a good choice) and add a half link ( from Charlie the Bikemonger) if you find that you need one. As the sideplates of a half link chain have to be "joggled" they will stretch far more noticably than a conventional chain would and tend to be heavier too.

You might want to keep an eye on this too -

http://www.forwardcomponents.blogspot.com/

Does the same job as the Trickstuff Exzentriker (which I use) but is rumoured to be cheaper when it becomes available.

Wouldn't I be able to take out as many links as I need to get the length of the chain just so? and by having Half Link chain, I can do this 1/4" at a time?

 

[MJN]

No cos you take 2 half links out and its the same as taking one full link out.HALF LINK,geddit :?:

 

[Harryburgundy]

Until you have a 'jewels' moment,then you tighten it properly If you're so obsessed about running with no tensioner get yer hand in yer pocket and get a ss frame

Or an Eno Eccentic hub

 

[MJN]

Yeah ENO hubs are quality

 

[Andy R]

Wouldn't I be able to take out as many links as I need to get the length of the chain just so? and by having Half Link chain, I can do this 1/4" at a time?

A 1/2" increment (which is the smallest adjustment you can make to total chain length) makes a huge difference to chain slack. Too much to be useful without some other means of tensioning, unless you are very lucky.

 

[daj]

I have to admit I just took a random length out of the chain until it seemed right??

 

[Andy R]

I have to admit I just took a random length out of the chain until it seemed right??

Well, that's all you can do, but even if you use a half link the smallest adjustment you can make will be 1/2" in chain length.
I didn't put this very clearly before, I know, but this 1/2" in chain length has the same effect as moving the wheel forwards or backwards 1/4" (approximately). Now, as with a typical chainstay length/ring size combination something like 1/8th inch of wheel fore and aft adjustment alters vertical chain slack by nearly 3 inches, you can see that a half link will only get you "in the ball park" but not guarantee a perfectly adjusted chain.

With respect to anyone who runs lots of chain slack (and gets away with it ! :roll: ) I absolutely would not do this or recommend it either. With your bike on a work stand I'm sure that you could run it like this for ever, but in the real world where a slack chain is going to be slopping about sideways as well as vertically it's a risk not worth taking, for the sake of your testicals, your face, whatever..... :cry:

Sod the aesthetics (a slack chain isn't aesthetically pleasing either, mind you) and run a decent push up tensioner or use an Eno rear hub or an eccentric BB adaptor. You only need to buy them once and it would be money well spent for the extra peace of mind.

 

[hamster]

A broken face is probably aesthetically worse than a tensioner....

 

[cchris2lou]

run a Surly top push and you hardly see it .

I would run it if using the bike off road .