Considering getting a swiss cross in the summer but really enjoy riding single speed on my cross bike. Currently on a cross check so dead easy to run ss or geared and my experience with tensioners means I’m considering a magic gear. Is it daft though, should I just stick with the cross check?

EDIT: someone recommended an alfine tensioner, anyone used one for ss?

Get used to clattering your knees and pushing your bike

They are crap.

Had to tighten my chain twice over te course of the puffer this weekend . How you propose. Doing that with your magic gear ?

Ive used a floating sproket sucessfully before 😉

I run a magic ratio on my ss mtb/road bike, my old Indian Fire Trail frame from 94. The ratio at the moment is 47/18 but the chain wears rather quickly being an ss as i have to grunt it up all the climbs round here, i have a selection of front chainrings from 46 to 52 and a selection of rear sprockets from 16 to 19 and it’s a bit of a faff to get the chain just right to start with but i’ve done it this way for years and i sorta know what will work for when it begins to have a bit of play – it would be far easier to just fit a tensioner but i like the clean lines so i guess i’m a tart.

Just about to head out in the howling wind/pissing rain on it….just one more espresso first, been out on the mtb and got muddy/filthy for the past couple days and it was not fun so gonna try this t’day for a change.

Cantu or disc? If Canti get a WI Eccentric Eric hub, great piece of kit.

Push up tensioner which increased chain wrap is what you want. That and not running your chain too tight.

You could try filing a flat on the axle if it’s a regular steel axle.

That gives you a few mm of adjustment which might then be just enough. More information here:

http://sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html

I’ve got 38×16 as a magic gear on my On-One.

Might try magic gear but i’d forgotten about the eccentric hub!

or run a phil woods “philcentric” EBB converter. Turns a normal frame into a single speed elegantly. White Industries Eccentric hubs can be a pain in the bum at times from experience.

Yeah I posted a while back about those but the responses were equivocal, have you used/know someone who uses one?

used a philcentric in a slinky light scandiyummy frame. Brilliant build quality, smaller range of adjustment than a big hoofer of an EBB so gear choice is slightly limited, but no more than the EBB on things like a singular pegasus. If you want big cogs for slow bimbles not so good, want tight racey ratio, then no problems at all.

Bearing life is really good too.

main issue is getting a special tool for the installation, but can be ordered from the states.

I know a couple of users if the trik stuff exentricizer as well, One loves it one got very knobbed off with it (but he is a caveman and subtle adjustments are not his thing!)

Hmmm think 39×18 be ok on a cx then?

worst comes to the worst, you have have to sneak a half link into the chain, but charlie and other good singlespeedy establishments have them and they are as cheap as chips.

very true, hmmm just need to save the cash for a swiss cross now

Charlie had stopped selling half links last time I asked because in his words “they’re crap” (the bent side plates straighten under the thighs of steel).

My magic gear wasn’t voluntary, I set off around Cannock with a tensioner (the usual pull down sort) and the chain jumped every pedal stroke, so I had to remove a link and force the wheel back in. By half way round it was perfect, and has stayed that way for a while now 🙂

Yeah I used one for ages on my commuting bike. I did the sheldon brown file the axles down thing. Worked ok with a qr done up tightly, but I’d have to put a tensioner on after ~1000 or so miles on the chain

I remember now why I got a cross check!

Alfine tensioner is fine for SS and works better than any single jockey wheel design I’ve used. It needs to be spaced with washers as there’s no built-in chainline adjustment, and it won’t keep the “clean lines” merchants happy, but they’re brilliant bits of kit.

Half links were always pretty crap as the side plates were too large for normal ss chains such as the sram pc1 or similar – they were very poorly made, prob ok for your mums shopper bike but on an mtb they used to pop open at the most unfortunate times, usually .5 seconds before your bollocks hit the stem or top-tube.

A tensioner aint pretty but they are pretty fool proof and work,

A bb mounted one would be a cleaner look.

I don’t mind the look *too* much but my experience of tensioners is that they get tired and floppy then the chain starts bouncing about

The spring loaded jockey wheel type of tensioner are as good as nowt. The fixed push up tensioner such as
works much better.