my near complete single speed

Nearly got me a whole bike
I need a chain and tensioner of some sort[i hear good things about surly and bad things about dmr :? :? ]
And im beginning to dislike the cook cranks[thinking a nice middleburn would have done
While we're at it im not too keen on the Ti h/bars ,bit too flexy prehaps?And i may change to a 7 speed block on 1 chainring if my skinny legs cant take the Glasgow hills :roll:
In the second pic ,dont worry about the saddle angle ,its not set up totally yet
*forks suit this frame me thinks*

Can't beat Surly

or a half link chain then no tensioner needed.

Tell me more of the half link ,thats the one ive went for ,i cant remember the make but it came in a flat round tin like shoe polish , the lbs is trying to push a tensioner on to me saying i 'must' have 1 to set it up properly.
Another point im looking for some views on, is where on the rear[ :roll: ] is the best position for the sprocket...i mean can it be shimed one way or the other to line up the chainline, or do you change the bottom bracket and line it up from that end,keeping the sprocket in the third or forth position on the hub
None of what this shop is saying to me makes much sense,its not precision engineering,my bike tools in 1992 included a piece of scaffold pole and a ball pein hammer

What rear hub are you running?
If it is SS specific with a screw-on freewheel, to my knowledge you can't space that to get the chainline right. You may need to change your BB to get the correct line.
Re;chains, I have used this one http://tinyurl.com/6qupym on a number of singlespeeds. Very strong and much lighter than BMX type chain. Charliethebikemonger has in the past also sold 1/2 links to match this chain.
Personally I would still use a tensioner if you don't have sliding drop-outs or an eccentric BB. The chain will stretch, then you will have to go through the whole rigmarole of getting the right chain length again.
I'm, of course, prepared to be contradicted
Cheers, Carl

OK ,
The hub is a c/king from a bonty racelite ,not ss or screw on ,just the standard cassette hub type,with a 16t cog on the hub with 7or8 spacers

:shock: Its just that,i cant believe my lbs would fit the size of bb for triple chainrings ,knowing that i wanted to run SS,unless he was intending to shim the cog to get the correct c/line
Yup i like the look of the 3/32" chain but im not sure that isnt the one he recommends
Tensioners- :?
these seem to run from £10 - £35 ,i havent a clue which is best ,as a rule i usually go for the most expensive,but i dont throw cash at it if its expensive crap ie the dmr has terrible reviews but costs £35,im thinking on the surly 1 as its pricey and has good reviews

Any more headaches from this ss buisness and im throwing a seven speed cassette on and making do with that

with the half link i set the chain up fairly tight initially the chain slackens off after about 2 miles its then perfect as the chain is a single speed chain perfect alignment is essential ive run them as far off as 10mm no problems. as for spacers etc if your using a cassette hub with conversion shims you can get perfect alignment anyway. As soon as ctbm started doing these chains ive used them and havent touched a tensioner since it makes a ss look so much cleaner and just works better as the chain cant come off no matter how determined it may be!

here's a strong opinion against the 1/2 link...

in my experience, they're just not up to the extra torque of a single-speed application. after i broke the third, i swore them off.

a fixed (ie: not spring-loaded, which *will* let the chain bounce off) tensioner is a fine solution. i like the rennen rollenganger.

a white eno eccentric hub is the best solution.

The gusset half link chain looks like it could pull the QE2, and made for BMX so should be up to the job. Gotta say though not the total answer, mine was a touch slack so removed a half link and then it was too tight. It has eased off a bit but not quite slack enough yet. I'm gonna chance it and see what gives first, hopefully the chain beds in.

If you are interested fella, I have this http://tinyurl.com/5dom68
Despite the missing bits it works fine.
Carl