Proper Road Bike Chain Tension

A slackened chain will decrease your ability to transfer energy to the pedals of your mountain bike. For example some derailleur bike chain could only be 51 52 53 inches etc. All multigear mountain bikes are equipped with a high tech component known as the rear derailleur.

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There are 2 ways to tension your chain on a set of horizontal dropouts.

Proper road bike chain tension. Know it all i did not want to have to ask this question but now i feel compelled. Don t worry about alignment just yet. Your shoes can easily get caught in a loosened chain during hairpin turns resulting in painful slide outs on the trail. I bought a vintage atala road bike that had a drooping saggy chain.

A loose chain is a fast chain. If you re really lucky your frame will have built in tensioners or sliding dropouts. I walk through the steps to diagnose and fix the problem. The chain sagged to the point to wear it was hitting the chain stay.

Correct chain tension is crucial to maximize the efficiency and life expectancy of your fixed or singlespeed drivetrain and i know you want maximum efficiency and life expectancy. Rotate the wheel and feel the slack in the top half of the chain with a screwdriver until it s at its tightest point. Chains cannot be cut to 52 1 4 53 1 8 or even 52 1 2. The proper technique for getting proper chain tension is to pull the wheel back in the dropouts and tighten the nuts a little past finger tight.

It is possible to determine chain length from industrial drive train equations and then cut the chain before installing it on the bike. It was then i noticed the rear derailleur wasn t taking up the slack especially in the smaller cogs on the rear. Regardless of the system the end goal is a perfect chain tension. New chain and cassette and the chain was slipping badly and i had a tell tale stripe of oil over the chainstay which indicates lack of chain tension.

For the second time now since i have subscribed to dirt bike you have posted a piece regarding loose sprockets and chain tension on ktm husky bikes your responses have made perfect sense to me because i am a former engineer and i read my owner s manual before making adjustments etc. One is to walk your wheel into place and the other is to use chain tensioners of a different style from above. Here s an easy.