Please help me as I’m contemplating seeing just how far I can sling a Cotic Soul down the road!!!!

I know I should just get a Simple but it’s a long, convoluted and ultimately boring story, the upshot is that I’m trying to SS my Soul using a DMR tension seeker thing.

I reckon I’m probably just being thick but these are my problems.

• To get the chain in line with the ring the sprocket needs to be right on the outside of the cassette but when bolted up the tension seeker arm holds the chain too far in board.
• The drop down skewer mounted bracket when mounted in the dropout is thicker than the dropout itself, so the wheel can’t be clamped in properly.
• The groove in the roller is too narrow for the chain a SRAM ss specific.

Hopefully I’m just fitting it wrong.

Please help me and / or post nice simple close up pictures of your set up before I implode in an undignified mess of tears and snot… thanks ever so…

What ratio are you trying to use? It may be possible to run it SS without a tensioner if you can find the right gear and a worn chain. I think the Mk1 souls worked as 34:17, from memory…

Get a Surly Singleator. Ok they ain't the cheapest out there but they can run any chain, have both an up and a down spring and you can adjust the chainline of the jockey wheel roller. The original (AFAIK)and probably the best.

I was, from memory, one of the first to SS a Soul (and, much to Cy's horror iirc lol – long before the days of the Simple). Thus:

I found 34:18 worked. It started off pretty tight:

but I dropped it out of the dropouts a couple of mil and i ended up sweet:

as the chain grew slack i could drop it back in those extra couple of mil to re-tension it 🙂

EDIT: Tensioners are ugly buggers; it is possible to avoid them.

I think your best bet might be to buy a 7/8 speed chain and the narrow half link from alans bmx.com

Add the half link if you cant get the tension right, then after a few weeks/months of riding when the chain has stretched, remove it. Or vice versa

Also, I used to run a dmr chain tensioner and thought it was shit. Dont think the surely ones are much better. I think the on one ones with the orange roller are meant to be ok and they tension upwards to.

Dont get too het up about getting the chain line exactly straight, Ive run loads of single speeds before, with a wonky chain line and they've all been fine

34:18 with a slightly sh@gged chain works perfectly on a Soul – how mine was set up until Cy was looking for a test hack for the Simple dropouts and it got cut'n'shut.

Where are you running your chin ring? In normal big ring position or normal middle ring? The latter is more usual and will probably line up better with the tension seeker.

I singlespeed my Mk 1 Cotic Soul.

I think you might be putting your chainring on the outer side of the spider – it should be the inner. Or your BB might be too long. My sprocket sits nicely in the middle of the freehub.

I use a DMR tension seeker and find it fine.

I also find that 34:18 is the magic ratio (for the very early souls).

I seem to have started every para with the word…

I

Well, you could really improve your lot by using something other than a DMR tension seeker.

I made the mistake of buying that once because it was the cheapest of its ilk. It turned out to be as shit as a shit thing from shitland.

thanks everyone, you may have saved my sanity…
lernings wot you have lerned me;

i was running the ring on the outside of the spider. on the inside makes a load more sense

dmr things are ****

34:18 may be the perfect ratio (how to shag a brand new chain without riding it??), however i can't find my chain tool and rather than slip into a foaming at the mouth rage as i search everywhere and still not find it i have decided to drink wine…

there's always tomorrow…

to be continued…

ps thanks again.

ps that orange really was one of the best ever colours… mine is now a wine bottle (spot a theme?) mettalic green, but that orange still looks fine.

the other thing to take away is that so called 'magic ratios' will probably work for about three rides before the chain gets too slack to ride with…

That's a slight exaggeration Del. 34:18 starts a teeny bit tight (don't put the axle in all the way) and then I can get away with a couple of months before putting the perfectly OK DMR tensioner on (push up mode). And I'm a mighty 98kg.