I am convervting my old Orange Evo back to a geared bike – rear only – and was wanting to see if anyone had any advice on whether I will need to use a chain device to maintain tension as I am only using a single ring up front. I am using an old ish road cassette and chain to keep the gear ratios on the quicker side with the old middle ring on the front.

I have a square taper BB and as the bike will only be occaisional use dont want to sepnd much….so dont want to have to change much to use a tensioner.

Any thoughts on whether this should work ok?

Your rear mech will sort tension.

You’ll need a top-only style device up front to stop the chain coming off.

The derailleur will act as a tensioner for the gears but unless you use a chain device or thick /thin chainring you may suffer from chain drop at the front.

Any recommendations for chain tensioners?

or device up front

the Superstar top only guides ones will probably be enough.

Try it without first, when I’ve run 1xwhatever gearing I have never used a chain guide.

APF