I had a bike shop that didn't know what they were doing try to convert my vertical dropout road bike to a single speed which lead to catastrophic fail. I then had a Surly chain tensioner installed which works great, but me coming from a BMX background, I just miss that direct feel of a true single speed. So, I'm going with an eccentric bottom bracket. Sure, it's expensive, but so is the frameset I'm using so it's well worth it at which point "expensive" becomes a relative word. The "magic gear" is a unicorn. It will tell YOU what gears you can use instead of you choosing your gearing and sizing the chain to your needs. In my personal opinion, bikes should be built around the rider's needs. The rider shouldn't have to conform to the bike. The same goes for fit. If your gearing preferences match your magic gear, wonderful. You're lucky. But honestly, to get a non-horizontal dropout bike to be a legit SAFE single speed/fixie, it's going to have to be an EBB or a eccentric hub.
great video thank you, very informative! i went the derailleur route, you can remove one of the springs in it to limit the pivot point, and it creates more tension on the remaining spring (made a video if anyone is keen). works quite well for me!
I fitted the DMR DTS to my single speed MTB conversion a couple of years ago and it has worked really well. There is some whirring noise but it isn't too bad. It's good that you pointed out the need for a quick release to use this DMR product though. Good review - thanks!
My experience with dual pulley tensioners is they drag too much energy from chain movement. Remember that a single speed setup can save 7-9 watts compared to a rear derailleur. The problem I've found with single pulley ones is spring not having enough torque to keep chain properly tight. I have had some chain skips while pushing on a bumpy terrain. I think single pulley is the best solution (for frames without horizontal dropouts) when paired with a semi-magical gear combination. This is, chain is loose but not loose enough to skip a cog and pulley is there only to keep chain preloaded.
@Lt_Henry thanks, good points 👍 my single pulley tensioner worked excellent for 3-4 months, then it started dropping the chain here and there (mostly on bumpy terrain, never under torque). I totally agree that single pulley need to be close to magic gear to work well. I really like my new ISCG mount chain guide though, it looks a lot more cleaner and feels sturdier than my single pulley, but time will tell 🤞
@@lt_henry820 Nope, can't say I have, mainly because all the available chainrings I can find are NW (at least the ones that match my 96bcd asymmetrical crank arms)
Honestly the cheapest and easiest chain tensioner is an old 7 speed derailleur and secure it with a shifter cable so that you can adjust it for an optimal chain line. It’s called “dingle shifter” an advantage of this besides from its low cost is your chain wont drop compared to a cheap chain tensioner.
I have used the Gusset Bachelor SS Tensioner which is similar to the DMR DTS only 30% cheaper. I have had it for over 5 years with no issues and use it on an old Saracen hardtail MTB. Great presentation! I would be interested in knowing which roller material in these types of tensioner is the best for noise levels, durability of material and bearings etc?
@@MrALFRUNNERThanks for sharing, glad you liked it 👍 Personally I prefer the rollers that are made out of nylon/plastic since they are less noisy, in terms of bearing I guess that a sealed + steel bearing should be solid for durability
@@ssmtb ok I see where you are coming from.. to clarify, I am not proposing that the STS is compatible with through axles, just that the component of the STS assembly that captures the skewer of the quick release is unnecessary. Of that I am sure. I have never tried fit-up with through-axles.
What are the best chains to use for chain tensioners? I’ve tried so many but they PC1 from SRAM is the only one that doesn’t skip when pedaling, but this chain is expensive, any recommendations? I used the surly singulator
in my opinion the sb one g3c is the absolute best tensioner for mountainbikes, if you have no budget, but if so the reverse sb one collab is the best for around 60€-80€
i tried the ztto chain guide you tried from this video, the adjustment on the pulley wheel seems like a good idea but it moves under high load so then the chain is slack, did you find this or a solution?
@@MTBstuart are you sure the chain line is OK? also make sure the chain is as short as possible so it wraps the rear cog and engages more teeth You could also try to use a tip tie or a spring to push the chain up to gain more wrap (I didn't have much skips when I used it but it wasn't as bulletproof as the ISCG tensioner type)
@@ssmtb turns out actually the chain snapped! It may be because I'm running an oval chainring so I have to get it fairly tight in one area and less tight in the other
Using a cheap derailleur as chain tensioner requires no der. hanger or claw in the dropout as it bolts straight on the rear axle. But their cages are too narrow to run a single speed chain. Is there any hack/solution to this problem?
You mean it's too narrow for a 1/8 wide chain? IMHO I'd go for a non dedicated single speed chain, like shimano/sram/kmc 8 speed (3/32 wide), lots of people are running these on SS
this is two years old. but take the jockey wheels out and fit some washers between the roller bearing area of the jockey wheels and you can use that to space the cage wider
I have a kindernay vii on my eMTB. I originally purchased a tensioner directly from Kindernay with my order. It looks identical to the "da bomb rlx". Except without the branding. It is a total PoS. In less than a few hundred kilometres, the plain brass bushings in the pivot of the arm totoally wore out. Causing the entire arm to tilt over sideways. I would avoid Kindernay tensioner, (and Da Bonb if it is the same) at all costs. Because they are extremely powerful quality crap.
The Kindernay tensioner also doesn't have any way if adjusting "b-screw" type adjustment. And it no good for rear cogs larger than 18t. Even though kindernay will happily sell you a 22t rear cog...
@@BramBiesiekierski thanks for sharing! I've heard some good things about da bomb, so maybe that kindernay isn't manufactured so great 🤷♂️ For me the ISCG has been really bullet proof
@@ssmtb I haven't seen the "Da bomb" in person. But it looks like near identical construction to the kindernay item. I suspect they are manufactured at the same OEM factory. (Probably in Taiwan.) And simply ordered in bulk and resold. As is the way things are done with so much consumer products, not just cycling stuff. There is also another company that also use a near identical looking tensioner. Called "problem solvers". You can look at them yourself and tell me if they look the same??? So no doubt in my mind, they are all sourced from the same component factory. Kindernay use Aligator brand hydraulics which are also a Taiwanese manufacturer. So its no surprise if they outsource the manufacturing of the tensioners. And even on the original shipping/invoicing info on the kindernay delivery box's, they specify some parts as from Taiwan. I think declaring this info must be an EU tax law or something along those lines????
@@ssmtb Right now I am looking at options to replace the worn out tensioner on my bike before it totally self destructs. Which is how I came across your video (thankyou). Full suspension eMTB with IGH and single speed chain, is a slightly different beast than a typical single speed commuter bike. And it does seem to require a very robust design. Also with a strong tension spring (and even damper) to over come the chain slap on off-road / MTB use. I am looking at using either the SB One, or Reverse Components Colab. As they both look very promising. What makes my particular setup interesting and difficult is that I use a comparitively high power mid-drive motor. Which due to the very high torque load, means I need to use a very large rear cog. Currently I run a 44t front, into a 22t rear, Into the 7 speed Kindernay. It's a 2:1 ratio. But I need the large rear cog to get sufficient chain wrap or chain teeth interface, so as to not skip teeth when under full power use. Unfortunately most of the limited number of commercial options available that are tailored to MTB use, tend to be designed for small rear cogs, like 13/14t etc. As they tend to be designed around downhill MTB / bike park / dirt jump MTBs. And not odd ball high power eMTBs like my bike.
Actually. I am mistaken. The Da Bomb RLx is a slightly different design than that of the Problem Solvers and Kindernay. The cage is a slightly different shape. And the upper link is also a slightly different design aswell. So maybe totoally unrelated. Or maybe an "updated" version of the others???
Hi, thanks for the question! I'm actually not sure about that since my riding is mostly off road I don't have much exprience with coaster brakes, if I see something will let you know
Yea, those EBBs never really resonated with me, they seem like a lot of faff while offering fairly limited chain adjustment I know some SS riders really like theirs, so go figure 🤷♂
That's a good Q- I didn't think about it during the making of this video I assume it wouldn't be optimal with a full suspension, may not work at all depending on the amount of travel (IMHO a rear der is probably the best solution for a full sus)
Yea, usually goes together with simplicity, but basically I find that a lot of people ditching gears also want to ditch the rear mech for clean looking bike
