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Chainline, what can you get away with?

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Singlespeed & Fixed Gear "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

Chainline, what can you get away with?

Old 12-01-18, 06:44 PM
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Shinkers
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Chainline, what can you get away with?

Hello,

So I'm building up my fixed gear mountain bike with a Paul Components 142 fixed hub. The threaded side is within 1/2 a millimeter of my crank's chainline of 52mm.

I'm going to be only running a front brake, and am planning on running a 6 bolt cog on the disk side of my hub as a sort of emergency gear in case I need something lower. The idea is that I'd seldom if ever use it, but have it just in case.

The chainline for that cog is 53.5mm. Can I get away with 1.5mm of deviation from crank to cog? It's a bit more than I'm comfortable with, but it also seems to run fine when in the stand (not any more noisy or anything like that). Sighting down the chain looks straight, but the measurements don't lie.

Ironically, if I watch the chain on the cog, the teeth line up toward the inside of the narrow links on the chain. As if the cog is too far inboard rather than outboard. But again, the measurements are what they are.

If I had a front wheel, I'd just go ride the bike around, but I don't so here I am.

Thanks for any input.
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Old 12-02-18, 03:35 AM
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Getting proper measurements can be quite tricky, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your measurements are off a bit. No major deal, unless you’re a perfectionist. I assume you’re running a 3/32 chain not 1/8? I would say 1.5mm is perfectly fine. You likely won’t notice any excess wear, and you’re not in danger of throwing the chain, as long as the tension is proper. Happy riding, cheers.
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Old 12-02-18, 10:06 AM
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I'm going to remeasure to be sure, but I think you're right.

Cheers!
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Old 12-02-18, 01:02 PM
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Agree. 1.5mm is unlikely to be a problem.
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Old 12-02-18, 03:26 PM
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I've remeasured with calipers and it looks worse than I thought. On my threaded cog, I'm within 1/2 a millimeter. Chainline on the crank is 51.5 and on the cog it's 51. With the disk cog it's 53.5 so I'm actually trying to cover a 2.5mm variance.

I might still try a bottom bracket spacer. If I add my .7 mm spacer I will be within ~1.2 mm on the cog that I plan to use the most. On my back up cog, I'll be within ~1.3mm.

So I can either have not perfect chainline on both cogs, or perfect chainline with my current cog and ditch the back up.
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Old 12-02-18, 04:31 PM
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What do bikes with derailleurs get away with?
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Old 12-02-18, 04:37 PM
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It would be hard to imagine a cog bolted to the disc rotor mount, being within a reasonable chainline with your crank. In fact, it be surprised if it was. I’m also not surprised that your initial measurements were off. Even with callipers it can be real tricky to get an accurate measure. However, if your rotor mounted cog isn’t meant to be used regularly, but as a ‘backup’ or ‘bailout’ option, then I don’t think that chainline will be an issue. I would never recommend that for everyday use of course. If you are running a 3/32 chain, then you have more than enough lateral flex to utilise such a mismatched chainline. But again, that’s if it isn’t used as your normal everyday drivetrain. My general recommendation is anything up to 2mm is perfectly fine. In fact, in general use, it probably won’t be any different from technically perfect. This is a bit different of course, with a 1/8 chain. Particularly a track chain. Anything over 2mm though and I would recommend against it. That’s not to say it’s dangerous, I just wouldn’t recommend it. Others might feel that line sits more at 3 or 4mm. My comfort is at 2mm. My chainline is off by 0.3mm, but I run a 3/32 chain, so it makes exactly zero difference.

my advice is to adjust your drivetrain, so your main cog is as near to perfect as you can achieve, and not worry about the chainline of the rotor mounted cog. It’s pretty hard to derail a single speed setup with proper chain tension. Practically impossible at the numbers you’re looking at.

Last edited by seamuis; 12-02-18 at 04:48 PM.
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Old 12-02-18, 07:12 PM
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I checked multiple times with calipers using different methods, and am pretty confident in my numbers this time around.

I think you have a good point, I will be using the rotor cog sparingly so I might as well not worry too much about it. It's still usable, just not perfect. Meanwhile, I can get my primary cog withing .5 mm which is dead-nuts as far as I'm concerned.

I appreciate the insight. Thanks!
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Old 12-02-18, 10:24 PM
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You can get away with pretty much anything. I doubt a chainline that is slightly off will make a huge difference. I would personally recommend having two brakes front and rear especially for a fixed MTB. You can go with a Surly Dingle Cog and have two gears on one cog and that will allow you to have a place for a disc rotor. Pair that cog with a White Industries Double Double crank and you have a total of 4 gears for all sorts of "oh shiz" moments or just different trails or if you are one of those people who rides to the trailhead on say a road (go you!) If I were ever building a fixed gear MTB that is the setup I would probably go for, though I might do a flip flop hub and linear pull or canti brakes on the rear and run a WI Dos ENO freewheel for a total of 8 gear combinations but all still fixed/SS because why not!
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