Do I need chain tugs?

"Mark" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Just built (literally) a frame with horizontal dropouts. Planning to
make this a fix-gear for training, maybe a little commuting and just
for fun, but it's unclear to me whether I need to buy chain tugs to
tension chain. Assuming I can tension it ok without them and then
tighten the track bolts very thoroughly, is there really any benefit in
having these as well?

No, you don't generally need them. They can help in cases of limited bite
between hub and dropout, and they can make precise chain tension adjustment
a little easier. They also slightly complicate wheel removal - you have to
slacken the tug to get enough slack in the chain to derail it in order to
remove the rear wheel.

I use one on the drive side on a bike with stainless track ends, a
quick-release hub, and a small chainring where wheel pull has been a
problem.

James Thomson

James Thomson said:

"Mark" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Just built (literally) a frame with horizontal dropouts. Planning to
make this a fix-gear for training, maybe a little commuting and just
for fun, but it's unclear to me whether I need to buy chain tugs to
tension chain. Assuming I can tension it ok without them and then
tighten the track bolts very thoroughly, is there really any benefit in
having these as well?

No, you don't generally need them. They can help in cases of limited bite
between hub and dropout, and they can make precise chain tension adjustment
a little easier. They also slightly complicate wheel removal - you have to
slacken the tug to get enough slack in the chain to derail it in order to
remove the rear wheel.

I use one on the drive side on a bike with stainless track ends, a
quick-release hub, and a small chainring where wheel pull has been a
problem.

James Thomson

You have quick-release on horizontal dropouts? Wow. Now, I wouldn't
have ever dared to that 🙂

Mark said:

You have quick-release on horizontal dropouts? Wow. Now, I wouldn't
have ever dared to that 🙂

I have that on my MTB (a '97 EBC Contour 400) 'cause that's how it came.
The couple of times it's been a problem over the (almost) decade
I've had it it hasn't been a /big/ problem because the tyre drifts
gradually into the chainstays /long/ before the axle comes adrift (I'm
not sure it could come fully adrift without quite deliberate
intervention, there just isn't the room). It's no worse than a bit of
unintentional braking, and since the torque needed to defeat the QR
isn't going to happen downhill it's irksome rather than Bloody Dangerous
(and easily avoided by doing up the QR properly).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Agreed. My fixie came with tracknuts for the front and rear, but
having read around a bit (mostly on Sheldon Brown's site) it seems the
commonly held belief that only tracknuts will stand up to the forces
generated on a fixed gear simply isn't true.

He does point out that you should have a good QR as opposed to a budget
one though.

Peter Clinch said:

Mark said:

You have quick-release on horizontal dropouts? Wow. Now, I wouldn't
have ever dared to that 🙂I have that on my MTB (a '97 EBC Contour 400) 'cause that's how it came.

The couple of times it's been a problem over the (almost) decade
I've had it it hasn't been a /big/ problem because the tyre drifts
gradually into the chainstays /long/ before the axle comes adrift (I'm
not sure it could come fully adrift without quite deliberate
intervention, there just isn't the room). It's no worse than a bit of
unintentional braking, and since the torque needed to defeat the QR
isn't going to happen downhill it's irksome rather than Bloody Dangerous
(and easily avoided by doing up the QR properly).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

In article <[email hidden]>,
Duncan Smith
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Agreed. My fixie came with tracknuts for the front and rear, but
having read around a bit (mostly on Sheldon Brown's site) it seems the
commonly held belief that only tracknuts will stand up to the forces
generated on a fixed gear simply isn't true.

He does point out that you should have a good QR as opposed to a budget
one though.

I find that tracknuts make it easier to adjust chain tension - you can
tighten the non-drive side then use the wheel as a lever to position the
drive side while you tighten it. With a QR you have to get the wheel
straight and the tension right at the same time.

Rob Morley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
Duncan Smith
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Agreed. My fixie came with tracknuts for the front and rear, but
having read around a bit (mostly on Sheldon Brown's site) it seems the
commonly held belief that only tracknuts will stand up to the forces
generated on a fixed gear simply isn't true.

He does point out that you should have a good QR as opposed to a budget
one though.

I find that tracknuts make it easier to adjust chain tension - you can
tighten the non-drive side then use the wheel as a lever to position the
drive side while you tighten it. With a QR you have to get the wheel
straight and the tension right at the same time.

As well as putting the axle and dropouts under bending tension.

With nuts it is possible to tighten them fairly-loosey-tight [TM] and
and then knock the wheel into final position before nipping the nuts
up pretty-damn-tight [TM]

This is somewhat harder to do with a QR but not impossible.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"