Chain tension and tensioning a chain

Slack, but consistently slack is where it's at

I want a slack chain, but how can I achieve it without it falling off?

oh and to will:

I just realised if your chainline is out, and your chain is fairly tight, you will get a tight spot at your crankarm point, or you may have bent the chainring slightly.

I am selling these lightweight small chain tugs on the bay today.

Can anyone give me advice on buying a little device for keeping the tension on my chain ?
Has anyone used one of these ?

I use wheel nuts...

Surly singulator is the way forward, worth the extra over the many inmatators

http://www.surlybikes.com/parts/singleator_pop.html

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=5887&src=froogle

SS or fixed??

do you mean tensioners:

or tugs:

?

ss bike and its tensioners then that i need .
Thanks for the website link vinylvillain.
Does anyone have a tensioner and if so do they do the job ? From your experience ?

ooh another whole thread all about chain tension.

think I'll go have a shit and see if it's still here when i get back.

might have a piss as well, why the fuck not eh? it's all in the same room

Hey just a beginner here give me some slack !!

I'm fairly new but spotted the 'Search' button, seek and you shall find without getting flamed by sarky forum members.

Hey just a beginner here give me some slack !!

I thought you wanted tension?

The surly one works fine, had mine for a year and as long as it is correctly installed no probs

I thought you wanted tension?

Yep I did :)
Cheers again for recommendation vinylvillain

the surly ones do work well, providing you follow the instructions to the letter.

i have a couple for sale actually

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread10879.html

So is it right that the less tension I have the more easy the pedalling but balancing that with not untensioning the chain so much that it's too slack, i.e. too much play when track standing

Main problem with slack is the chain jumping off. This would leave you in A World Of Pain if this happened at speed on the streets of London.

Main problem with slack is the chain jumping off. This would leave you in A World Of Pain if this happened at speed on the streets of London.

Yes. This is A BAD THING. I now have good chain tension.

I'm having a basic problem that it is really fucking me off. I can't seem to get the chain tension on my conversion right, or even close to right. when i tighten the wheel nuts it seems to push the wheel forward in the dropouts making it really difficult to keep any kind of tension in the chain. I have done it ok-ish before but I really can't get it working today and I want to go for a ride and so have managed to get myself really frustrated and generally pissed off.

should i be doing one side up first then the other? should i have the bike upside down or the right way up? I know I'm missing something obvious as it really can't be that hard and I'm not completely incapable.

also, what are the little screw things in the drops for? as far as i can see they just seem to get in the way, but maybe that's just because I'm in a bad mood now...

I need to get it sorted before the morning as I've got to ride over to the show at earls court (scored a free ticket which is a result!)

Any advice much appreciated. Cheers.

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Hard to tell from the photo but it looks like the tension screw (the little screw) is pushing your axle forward. Which could be why you can't get it to stay/sit in the back of the drop out.

Try unscrewing it and see if that does any good?

If not, Sheldon usually helps.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html

Sheldon says:

Chain Tension

he chain tension on a fixed gear is quite critical, and is regulated by moving the rear axle back and forth in the fork ends. If the chain is too tight, the drive train will bind, perhaps only at one angle of the pedals (chainwheels are not usually perfectly concentric). It should be tight as it can be without binding. If the chain is too loose, it can fall off, which is quite dangerous on a fixed gear.
Set the rear axle so that the chain pulls taut at the tightest part of the cranks' rotation. One at a time, loosen up each of the stack bolts, and tighten it back just finger tight. Spin the crank slowly and watch for the chain to get to its tightest point. Strike the taut chain lightly with a convenient tool to make the chain ring move a bit on its spider. Then rotate the crank some more, finding the new tightest spot, and repeat as necessary.

This takes a little bit of your hands learning how hard to hit the chain, and how loose to set the stack bolts, but it is really quite easy to learn.

Tighten up the stack bolts a bit and re-check. Tighten the stack bolts in a regular pattern, like the lug nuts on a car wheel. My standard pattern is to start by tightening the bolt opposite the crank, then move clockwise 2 bolts (144 degrees), tighten that one, clockwise 2 more, and so on. Never tighten two neighboring bolts in a row. You may prefer to go counterclockwise, but try to get in the habit of always starting at the same place and always going the same way. This reduces the chances of accidentally missing a bolt.

Once you have the chainrings centered and secured, adjust the position of the rear axle to make the chain as nearly tight as possible without binding. Notice how freely the drive train turns when the chain is too loose. That is how freely it should turn when you are done, but with as little chain droop as possible.

I always have real tight spots and real loose spots. I just don't worry about it now.

I would take the screw out completely. Pretty sure it's useless, or a hindrance on a fixed conversion. You need as much space in those forward facing drop outs as possible.

EDIT: when tightening the bolts I do it with the bike upright and sort of grab the front of the back wheel near the seat tube and pull backwards while keeping it aligned to the frame. Then with your other hand tighten each bolt a bit each in turn until there both really tight.