Been looking at half links for a SS set up – but can’t find one for less than £3.50…but a complete half link chain can be head for not much more than a tenner.
If i buy a half link chain (which i know are prone to stretch and fail) then would that give me a life times supply of half links or am i missing something?!

In my experience half link chains are a total ball ache, I’ve never had much success with them, proper individual half links are expensive and hard to get hold of and the actual chain doubles in length every ride. I wouldn’t have thought using a half link chain for spares would work well, as you’ve said they stretch like bugger.

I now use normal chains and a little front tensioner to take out the slack.

yeah, ideally i won’t need one as have horizontal drop-outs but in the past i’ve found chain length either too long or too short when removing/adding a whole link and prefer the look of not having a tensioner.
What fron tensioner are you using out of interest?
cheers

Half links are generic by nature which is where they fail for me. Ideally you would need a half link specific to your chain (made by same manufacturer etc,.) as although all 3/32 should be equal they never quite join up as perfectly as the existing links.

Also obviously can’t use a narrow wide chain-ring which is another negative for me as most of the direct mount options are narrow wide.

I’VE got all my half links by using left overs from people’s chains. No problems.

I was using a DMR tensioner similar to the Blackspire Stinger but have seen people run the bottom half of more normal chain guides.

Chain needed tensioning every now and again but its a simple job and a nice neat solution.

Unfortunately can’t run front tensioner as no mounts, so stuck with rear or half link…or hopefully neither if I’m lucky.

I didn’t have ISCG mounts, it clamps between the BB and the frame

I bought a Clarks half-link chain for next to nowt about five years ago and just nab another link out of it whenever I need one. This is for SS duties. No problems whatsoever.

I didn’t have ISCG mounts, it clamps between the BB and the frame

Hmmm, didn’t realise that was possible, doesn’t tightening mean having to remove crank then?

Sjs cycles do kmc halflinks in 3/32 & 1/8 sizes for £1.99. These fit perfectly on the kmc chains. Like you I have sliding dropouts but either the chain is too long or too short so I use a halflink as I dont want a tensioner. I always gef them from sjs as they are the cheapest, but dont expect fast delivery.

I have about 6″ of half link chain I cut off when fitting a new chain.

Email in profile if you want it.

The roller slides along the arm to tension the chain, you only need to take the cranks off once to fit it. Just make sure you have the chain at its tightest and the tensioner at its slackest when you fit it.