• The bike shop I bought mine from sorted me out with a couple of extra links. I added one, installed the chain and was surprised at just how slack it was, considering that without the extra link I couldn't make the ends meet with the back wheel in the frame. The plates were touching, but there wasn't enough overlap to get the pin in.

    I had a 4-Jeri tensioner handy, but it became clear that I wouldn't be able to use it to push up because of the way chainline had worked out: the chain would have been rubbing against the chainstays before all the slack had gone. Rather than settling for a setup where the tensioner was pulling down, I decided to experiment and took out the extra link. The chain was almost the perfect length when it came out of the tin, so I thought it'd be worthwhile joining the ends with the wheel out, then forcing the axle back into the dropouts.

    This clueless faffing about is how I stumbled on a magic gear!

    There's a terrible temptation to tell people it was all planned using one of those magic gear calculators. :-)

    Credicott, you might be able to get away with a Slink chain, a 42x16 gear ratio, and no extra links. It'll depend on the bike. If Skinnygav speaks the truth and Charlie will send extra links for nowt, I'd definitely buy from him. He posts stuff out really quickly.

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