Vertical Dropouts

so i'm considering buying a beater road frame off Dwayne and doing some hardcore puppy killing.... but it's got vert dropouts.
i've only ever had track ends.
i'm not keen on magic gears.
anyone had any experiance with vert dropouts and a half link chain?
tension any good?
is your face still intact?
enlighten me.....

and yes... i did use the fucking search.

get one of those hubs that lets you tension the chain with the dropout, or file out the dropout. I tried a magic gear for a while, with a half link, but while it was fine for a bit the chain stretched after a week and it was too slack for me. You could be really lucky with the magic gears though, try the spreadsheet (you need to know the chainstay length).

key word is beater.

i aint forkin out for an eno hub.
but thanks for the advice.... i thought the chain might stretch.

key word is beater.

i aint forkin out for an eno hub.
but thanks for the advice.... i thought the chain might stretch.

yeah sorry about that...filing the dropouts can give you 5-10mm of movement usually.
Its cheaper to get track ends put on by a mechanic than to get an eno hub...

suck it and see, cock lover

You know there are quarter-link chains, right?

Mines 1/8...

go for a track end conversion. i hear superted at fgl does them for like £80

yeah i know.... i'm trying to build a bike that won't brake my heart if it gets stolen though.
minimal £££'s

if i start doing stuff like that, i'll end up turning it into another bike i can't leave locked up anywhere.

and i think he's pretty damn busy at the moment.

I use a half link chain on vert drops for my polo bike. It's fairly easy to get the chain length right and get good tension to start with but they do stretch a fait bit.

First chain has lasted 3 months before need a link removed and I've also been running a tensioner to keep it nice and tight.

Bearing in mind that the polo bike takes a lot of thrashing, hard acceleration and lots of skidding, a road bike should last up to 6 months before you have any need to re-tension the chain, especially if you're using a front brake.

You using a tensioner fixed alockett?

48 x 18 seems to be a common, gear for verts

http://eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu.php?maxRing=53&minRing=34&maxCog=20&minCog=13&stayLen=42&wheelDiam=26.16&isMetric=1&display=png&useHalfLink=&stretch=0&axleAdjust=vert&sortKey=Stay_length[URL="http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://steelturman.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/hens_teeth.JPG&imgrefurl=http://nontimeosedcaveo.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/jacob-and-lotte-another-hens-teeth-post/&usg=__JnQqji03r8M90oQuZ5eHRHt6CGU=&h=265&w=187&sz=9&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=iDZVnXJXXCby2M:&tbnh=112&tbnw=79&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhen%2527s%2Bteeth%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den"][/URL]

You using a tensioner fixed alockett?

Yep !!

Just used it to take the slack out a bit. Didn't find it a problem at all as the rear cog was a 21t. Not sure I'd run it on a smaller cog as the chances of it jumping would obviously increase with less teeth to grip on.

http://eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu.php?maxRing=53&minRing=34&maxCog=20&minCog=13&stayLen=42&wheelDiam=26.16&isMetric=1&display=png&useHalfLink=&stretch=0&axleAdjust=vert&sortKey=Stay_length

good man

@ alockett Cool. I've heard it said it was a nono, but I see what you mean about more teeth helping.

Spagbol: Good point about not wanting end up with a nice bike out of what started out as a beater. Though about gears? You can coast home when you're pissed.

gears scare me.

although i would like a nice geared bike, but not for riding round town.

Chain tensioner on a fixer and skidding!! you got any pics? what make tensioner you riding with Lockett?
I am with Skully - i thought it wouldn't hold up

always N+1 bikes hoops.. always

i have a girlfreind who prefers N-1

and you live with fiddy.... which is akin to a crack head living with Tara Palmer Thompkinson... or whatever her fucking name is.

Chain tensioner on a fixer and skidding!! you got any pics? what make tensioner you riding with Lockett?
I am with Skully - i thought it wouldn't hold up

Not sure of the make (could be a surly) but it's a bolt on version, not sprung, so it's very rigid. It fits over the axle and is secured by both the wheel nut and a seperate bolt so you can get the tension nice and tight.

As it's only taking up about half a links worth of slack, the chainline isn't too far out. I think it only pulls the chain away from 1 tooth at the most on the rear cog.

If it twas me, I'd have a beater singlespeed. Easier to get off it while its still going for ghost rides. Surely beaters are made for chipped paint and ghost riding.

Not sure of the make (could be a surly) but it's a bolt on version, not sprung, so it's very rigid. It fits over the axle and is secured by both the wheel nut and a seperate bolt so you can get the tension nice and tight.

As it's only taking up about half a links worth of slack, the chainline isn't too far out. I think it only pulls the chain away from 1 tooth at the most on the rear cog.

where does the other bolt go?

It's still got the gear hanger on, so the bolt goes into that.