Singlespeed tensioner

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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Steve Curtis
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:20 pm
Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

I'm looking for a lightweight single speed chain tensioner.
Any suggestions ?

Most are around 100g which is too much for what they are.
Thanks

by Weenie


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fivethirtyonepm
Posts: 127
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:45 pm
Location: New Forest - UK

by fivethirtyonepm

if you get a bit creative, you can make something pretty light.

if you are using a rear qr skewer, turn it round so the lever is on the drive side. if you then point it forwards and down, this can provide sufficient pressure upon whatever form of arm & sprocket you decide to use without the need for a spring system. i reckon a couple of bits of moulded carbon and a kcnc jockey wheel would do the trick quite nicely.

it's a bit difficult to describe, but i discovered the above method quite by accident when my ss tensioner spring died. as a trail-fix, i swapped the qr round to push the tensioner down and it quite happily stayed there through all type of riding. best of all is that it makes it very easy to remove the wheel as there is no spring to work against.

taking it one step further, i reckon you could even fabricate a qr skewer where the handle doubles up as an arm on which the tensioner jockey wheel can be mounted.

BmanX
Posts: 3841
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:31 pm

by BmanX

Surly Singleator - I was able to get Fibre-Lyte to make me two carbon guides and of course carbon pulley with ti bolts I was able to get this pretty light.

I think is someone was very creative they could make one that works very well and very light.
BIG DADDY B FLOW
AERO & LIGHT is RIGHT for 2 decades

Steve Curtis
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:20 pm
Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

I can't find anything off the shelf so it looks like I'll get creative.
I have plenty of kcnc jockey wheels to use :D

I use the controltech non qr skewers so you can get some serious clamping force if required.


My previous single speed ran a magic ratio, unfortunately it's not an option on this bike :( ah well
It's still under 14 lbs :thumbup:

GripShifter
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:24 pm
Location: Maine USA

by GripShifter

I had good luck with the YESS Labs ETR-V tensioner and it runs around 70 bucks or so. Weighs around 110 grams without any tuning and they are great to work with. I think they also make one for full squish as well.

BmanX
Posts: 3841
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:31 pm

by BmanX

The YESS Labs ETR-V tensioner is good and I have been in their facility as I live in Surrey Canada. Great guys to deal with and it was nice that they allowed me to visit. I own the YESS Labs ETR-V tensioner as well but you can not tune it as much as the Surly. It does work very well however.
BIG DADDY B FLOW
AERO & LIGHT is RIGHT for 2 decades

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2002maniac
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:16 pm
Location: Utah, USA
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by 2002maniac

The YESS tensioner looks nice, but 100g is crazy heavy. A true WW tensioner should be doable at under 40g I should think.

BmanX
Posts: 3841
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:31 pm

by BmanX

I agree. Half the weight would be good.
BIG DADDY B FLOW
AERO & LIGHT is RIGHT for 2 decades

by Weenie


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Steve Curtis
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:20 pm
Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

I have a few ideas to make a sub 50 gram tensioner. I'll have a try at the weekend and post my results if successfull.

Agreed, off the shef tensioners are rather porky - absolutely nothing available

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