I know someone is probably going to report me for a crime for what I have done to this vintage Masi. I set it up 44/17 and I have tried two different 17t rear sprockets and look how close I am. This chain has some miles on it.
Here’s my question- if I drop 1 tooth in the rear to 44/16, is my problem solved regarding chain tension? I am good at math but not that good. Would I need better off going 1/8” and using a half link? I already have a 1/8” 44t chainring that’s a lot better than this piece of garbage I bought on Amazon. I’d need to buy or scrounge a 16t sprocket no matter what.
I’m putting this together for my girlfriend or out of town guests to ride around town though I used to ride this bike a lot. It has been gathering dust for many years. And yes those are long pull mechanical disk levers with short pull road calipers and they seem like they’re going to work fine.
by BenjyIn406
6 Comments
Did you think of putting a halflink?
If you’re running SS, why don’t you use a chain tensioner or rear derailleur? Or for extra steeze, use a ghost ring. Magic ratio is really only necessary on fixed gear setups
Just to clarify, have you tried connecting the chain as is with the wheel off and then putting the chain around the cog and putting the wheel back in?
I feel like trying to pull links together to see if something fits can be kind of hard. Although I guess the zip tie looks pretty tight.
I think a chain link is 1” right? So 2 teeth is 1”, 1 tooth is 1/2”, but divide that by two since we’re talking about half the cog being used, so 1/4” would be the difference?
I think? Haven’t done magic gear math in a few years. (Actually that reminds me there used to be online magic gear calculators if you know your chainstay length, try googling that?)
I used calipers, a chain and some sprockets and I came up with this – reducing the rear cog by 1 tooth yields .4” of additional length. I could be off a little and I am sure there is a formula
If you want to find the magic ratio or an alternative ratio that might be better – use a online calculator!
Just like this one
https://eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu
This gives you all the options 😉
Half link chain (full chain) if you don’t want to file dropouts. Half link chain come in 1/2×1/8 and 1/2×3/32(narrow) is kinda the perfect route for what you’re doing