First half of the crank its slightly too loose and the next half its too tight!
there has been a bit of maintenance on it recently with a new chain and chain tensioners but both were fitted by a bike shop. Today I had to repair a puncture which i was fairly confident i could do myself, the wheel is straight and I cant loosen it anymore than it is as this new chain is set up reeeeally tight for some reason so maybe thats why. If not I guess its the chain ring but that also looks good to me!
any ideas I would love to hear them, thanks!
Single speed chain tension is irregular
byu/Ok_Chicken_9353 inbikewrench
by Ok_Chicken_9353
9 Comments
Completely normal, especially for a cheaper chainring, you can move your wheel forward slightly if you think it’s too tight but if it works fine I’d just leave it be
This will happen as the chain ring isn’t perfectly round when mounted on the crank.
Set your chain to tension at the tight spot, and you will have a slightly looser tension at the loose spot.
As long as your chain line is good, and the loose spot isn’t too loose, it won’t go anywhere. Set the chain taught at the loose spot in the rotation will cause it to be too tight and prematurely wear the chain, cog and chainring. It can also cause premature wear of the bottom bracket as well since it puts more strain on the bearings (although this will be slower wearing than your drivetrain).
Do not to worry about this
As others have noted, some chainrings are far from perfectly round.
You could try **centering the chainring**. There’s a procedure for it but I haven’t done it in a long time so its best to look it up.
Could also be the cog, I’ve seen a big brand with enough eccentricity to cause this.
Make sure the tight spot isn’t tight. It needs a bit of slack too. That’s the only good way to adjust it.
You could try turning the chainring and maybe get it better. Mark where it’s tight and go from that.
That noemal because of maufacturer tolerances. Can´t do nothing
This is normal. It’s a bit too tight now.
Find the tightest spot and set the tension there. Better the loose spot is loose than the tight spot is tight.