I'm prepared to be blasted
#1
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I'm prepared to be blasted
Two simple questions:
If you can get the chain tension right, why must single speeds have horizontal drop outs? Why are vertical drop outs taboo?
Fire away.
If you can get the chain tension right, why must single speeds have horizontal drop outs? Why are vertical drop outs taboo?
Fire away.
#2
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Because H dropouts make it much easier "to get the chain tension right".
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#4
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#5
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Vertical dropouts aren't "taboo". A taboo is something that is forbidden or unacceptable for no rational reason other than social convention. Vertical dropouts are less versatile than horizontal when it comes to adjusting the chain. Why have vertical dropouts and make it difficult for yourself?
#6
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Thank you for your responses. It appears that ease of adjustment is the biggie. The English lesson wasn't needed since taboo can be a noun, verb or adjective and sometimes words are used to get a point across whether accurate or not.
#7
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My SS bike has semi-vertical (or is that semi-horizontal?) dropouts: they are angled downward (in a forward direction) to allow the rear wheel to be removed easily even with fenders (which can be a problem with horizontal dropouts), but they are still horizontal enough to allow me to get enough chain tension by just pulling the wheel back while tightening the locknuts. There's not enough fore-aft adjustment to allow me to change the freewheel size without sizing a new chain, but that's fine - I have never felt a need for a change in gearing.
Last edited by Koyote; 01-08-20 at 04:57 PM.
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I have friends who use a vertical dropout (roadbike frame). Cant get the good chain tension..
Sometimes when we r riding around (high speed) the chain would come off
Sometimes when we r riding around (high speed) the chain would come off
#10
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For comparison, there is a group of people who seem to treat having brakes on a fixie as taboo: a breach of some sort of code, or ethos, or whatever they might choose to call it.
I don't think anyone is "against" vertical dropouts for that type of reason, but rather for sound practical reasons.
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#12
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Thankfully we can discuss this out in the open, without judgement and without shame, because this is not a taboo subject; it's simply a matter of practicality.
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Myself, I have a few single speed bikes. A couple of them have the horizontal dropouts but another is a conversion with vertical dropouts. I use this tensioner from Bike Nashbar. It works great.