Singlespeed chain tension question

[allencb]

Background info:

Bike: Klein Pulse (rear facing, short horizontal dropouts), 32x17 drivetrain with Salsa chainring up front, Shimano DX freewheel on one side and Surly 1/8" 17t track cog on the other side. Chain is a Bell 1/8" chain (Wallyworld special). No tensioner.

When I first set the bike up, I was using an old 9spd chain (couple hundred road miles on it). Chain was on the snug side, but worked fine. When I added the track cog, I had to replace the chain with a wider model. While using the track cog, the chain is about perfect, but when I flip over to the freewheel, the chain seems a tad slack. It doesn't make noise and didn't cause any problems during my 10 mile Wakefield ride Sunday. I can probably move the wheel to the rear enough to take out the slack, but that would leave the back end of the hub's nuts hanging over open space rather than fully engaging the dropouts.

So, if the chain isn't causing any problems or making odd noises, is it a problem to have a bit of slack?

Chris

[jabberwocky]

As long as it isn't slack enough to drop the chain when riding I think you'll be fine. You always have the option of removing a link and sliding the wheel forward to get more tension if you need to.

[allencb]

There's not enough slack to remove a link and if there was, then it would be too tight for the fixed cog as that is perfectly tensioned at the moment. I think I'll be fine as it doesn't drop, but I'm new to the SS thing and wasn't sure just how much tension it should have.

Chris

[jabberwocky]

There's not enough slack to remove a link and if there was, then it would be too tight for the fixed cog as that is perfectly tensioned at the moment. I think I'll be fine as it doesn't drop, but I'm new to the SS thing and wasn't sure just how much tension it should have.What I meant was that by removing a link, the proper tension could be achieved with the wheel further forward in the dropout (for both the fixed and free side). If the dropout is too short though this might not work.

I've never had any trouble with the chain slightly loose on any of my fixies/singlespeeds. In fact, on my commuter the cheap crankring is somewhat elliptical, so the chain is snug at one point in the rotation and fairly loose in another. I have close to 5000 miles on that bike and have never had any trouble.

Be careful though; dropping a chain on a singlespeed can be painful if it happens while climbing.

[allencb]

Ok, sounds like I'll be ok then. The possiblity of dropping the chain while climbing is what made me ask the question, but it didn't even come close to doing that Sunday, so I should be fine.

Thanks!

Chris