# "Chain's a bit tight there mate" (fixie)



## swee'pea99 (31 Jan 2010)

I know loose chains on fixies are a running joke, but can you have it too tight? It's a bit of a struggle to get mine right, and I thought I'd got it just right, but I'm a bit concerned that I might have overdone it. It's taut - and makes a slight chattering noise. It doesn't cause any problems with the ride - on the contrary, it works really well. But I'm a little concerned that I might be straining the chain - could I be in danger of snapping it?


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## palinurus (31 Jan 2010)

If you lift the back wheel and spin the pedals and the rear wheel spins for a fair time you're probably fine, if it stops after a few revolutions it might be a bit tight.


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## MajorMantra (31 Jan 2010)

I don't know how likely snapping it is, but you'll wear things faster if it's really tight. The noise is pretty annoying too.

Matthew


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## youngoldbloke (31 Jan 2010)

See Sheldon Brown (as always ....) http://sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html#tension


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## ASC1951 (31 Jan 2010)

I had my chain jump off at full pelt - luckily somewhere I was able to somersault into a hedge - and I would rather risk excessive wear.

Despite Sheldon's advice, it is difficult to get the tension spot on because standard chain rings, even good ones, aren't accurate enough. Mine has definite tight and loose sides.


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## MajorMantra (31 Jan 2010)

ASC1951 said:


> I had my chain jump off at full pelt - luckily somewhere I was able to somersault into a hedge - and I would rather risk excessive wear.
> 
> Despite Sheldon's advice, it is difficult to get the tension spot on because standard chain rings, even good ones, aren't accurate enough. Mine has definite tight and loose sides.



It's partly a matter of luck. I've had a chain come off twice on my Pompino because it has a standard chainring meant for gears which has some lower profile teeth to ease shifting. Tightening the chain seemed to prevent this but I was never completely happy about it.

I've never shed the chain on my Genesis which has a proper fixed chainset.

Matthew


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## Ian H (31 Jan 2010)

My rule is that, at the tightest point, you should be able to 'spring' the chain half an inch.


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## ASC1951 (31 Jan 2010)

MajorMantra said:


> I've never shed the chain on my Genesis which has a proper fixed chainset.


Mine was a proper Miche track set, too. In fairness it only happened once.

More of an issue is getting a properly round chainset i.e. correctly centred as well as circular. No-one would say they could supply one unless I wanted one hand made at a cost of £150 or so, which seemed ridiculous.


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## swee'pea99 (31 Jan 2010)

Ian H said:


> My rule is that, at the tightest point, you should be able to 'spring' the chain half an inch.


Thanks for all responses. Tried spinning it on the stand today - it seemed to 'run on' reasonably well. I'm intrigued by this 'rule'...could you please explain a bit? I'm not clear about what you mean.


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## buddha (1 Feb 2010)

My pompino went through 3 chains and a chainring until I read Sheldon re. centring the chainring and getting the "1/2 inch pull" for tension. Since then the one chain has done around 8000 miles and is still going strong.


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## Ian H (1 Feb 2010)

[quote name='swee'pea99']Thanks for all responses. Tried spinning it on the stand today - it seemed to 'run on' reasonably well. I'm intrigued by this 'rule'...could you please explain a bit? I'm not clear about what you mean.[/QUOTE]

In other words, tensioned so that it doesn't sag at all, but so that, midway between ring and sprocket, it can be moved up and down without much effort, about half an inch from a straight line.


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## swee'pea99 (1 Feb 2010)

Ian H said:


> In other words, tensioned so that it doesn't sag at all, but so that, midway between ring and sprocket, it can be moved up and down without much effort, about half an inch from a straight line.


Sweet! Thanks for that. That's about what I've got - and after I spent half an hour or so out in the cold yesterday cleaning grit and crud off the chain, chainset and sprocket yesterday, then re-lubing everything, it's running sweet this morning. 

Thanks all.


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## alecstilleyedye (1 Feb 2010)

MajorMantra said:


> It's partly a matter of luck. I've had a chain come off twice on my Pompino because it has a standard chainring meant for gears which has some lower profile teeth to ease shifting. Tightening the chain seemed to prevent this but I was never completely happy about it.
> 
> I've never shed the chain on my Genesis which has a proper fixed chainset.
> 
> Matthew



chainrings designed for gears are designed to allow the chain to slip off easily when using the front mech, and as such are really a bad idea for fixed.


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## MajorMantra (1 Feb 2010)

alecstilleyedye said:


> chainrings designed for gears are designed to allow the chain to slip off easily when using the front mech



I know, that's what I said. 

Matthew


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## RedBike (1 Feb 2010)

I have mine set just tight enough so that I cannot deliberatly de-rail the chain (pushing it off the chainring while slowly tirning the pedals) without using excessive force. 

I figure this way the chains unlikely (but not impossible) to come off. 

When my chain has come off it just (luckly)rests on the axle and allows the bike to 'freewheel'


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