Steev

Hi all,

I have an idea for making a chain tensioner that will work with fixed gear drive trains.
I just wanted to test the waters to see if people would be interested in such a device.
It would be about as complex as a single speed tensioner so I guess it would come out somewhere similar in cost.
If such a thing was marketed, would you buy one?

Thanks

TejanoTrackie 

No.

HandsomeRyan

No. but I'd be interested to see what you've devised anyway. I find it hard to believe that there is a safe way to retrofit a tensioner onto a frame that wasn't designed for it. ENO hubs, Eccentric BB's or just accepting that you need a frame with horizontal dropouts or track ends have all worked fine for years.

91MF

breaking news: backwoods ontario develops way to defeat simple physics principles.

vw addict

I'm sure if you made one, and it worked, people would buy it. Do you think Edison asked for permission?

streetdude

Nope, he just stole **** from Tesla.

Cynikal 

^Truth.

Steev

I am keeping the exact implementation quiet in case this does seem commercially viable.
I personally want the device to convert an old road frame I have and like and the ENO hub is too spendy for me, but you know how often this comes up in the forums so it seems some would be interested.


Why would I do that when working with basic physics principles yields functional devices?

TejanoTrackie 

Unless you file for a patent, the Chinese will steal it the first day it is released, and flood the market with cheap knockoffs.

91MF

good luck with your functional device.

Steev

The possibility of patenting it is why I'm not revealing details.

hairnet

time to kill

rustybrown

This again?

Why?

Good luck in your pursuit, OP. I thought that international patents did not apply, or would not deter the Chinese factories from making knockoffs. Unless you have a legal team like the large corporations.

Steev

Ghost rings have been part of my thinking, but a lot of people don't seem to like the idea of them.

rustybrown

All that solution needs is the right marketing. $$$. Get the mash guys and the blogosphere on it.

I know you're thinking of a clamp on the chainstay that would hold it in place.

91MF

they already market something that will make them way more money - they are called bike frames with horizontal dropouts/track fork ends.

i promise you guys, if this was an idea worth pursuing, someone would have already done it.

ianjk

Plus they don't really work that well...

They still move up and down based on which way you are applying force to the drivetrain, plus when they fall out, you are hosed.

The only plausible tensioner would have to be fixed, which really isn't an option as it would have to be attached to the chainstay, which would have a hard time taking stress.

CaptainCool

People do mount rigid gears to their frame. See retrodirect drivetrains and certain recumbents. But none of them clamp on on the drive side of the chain, as far as I know.

Why have I never seen a fixed-gear bike with two spring-loaded tensioners? Same slack as a ghost ring without the risk of anything falling out.

ianjk

Because the slack would really suck. I'm all about some play in the chain, but running double tensioners is an overkill solution to a problem that does not exist.

Scrodzilla

Maybe when they don't sell you can approach Bikes Direct about picking up the whole lot of them for pennies on the dollar and incorporating it into some sort of wack Kilo model.

Cynikal 

I think 5-6 years ago there would have been a market but now there are so many cheap frames out there. It may not make sense to buy a $150 way to convert a frame when you can buy a new frame for the same price or cheaper.

lz4005

Not that there will ever be a workable fixed tensioner, but a patent won't stop that from happening.

TejanoTrackie 

As an engineer, I've always found that the simplest solution is always the best, i.e. the KISS principle. For over 100 years, the track frame with its rear facing horizontal dropouts (aka track ends) has withstood the test of time as the best and simplest solution for a fixed gear bicycle. The second best solution is forward facing horizontal road dropouts, which have drawback that if the wheel hub axle slips, the wheel can fall out of the frame, creating a dangerous condition. For this reason all of my SSFG bikes have always had either track or horizontal road dropouts, and I've never bothered to convert any of my old bike frames with vertical dropouts. The fact that something complex and expensive can be done, doesn't mean that it should be. The whole appeal to me of SSFG bikes is their inherent simplicity, so it makes little sense to then complicate them with elaborate work arounds due the use of an inapproprite frame design.

Scrodzilla

The KISS Principal:

cal_gundert05

Since no one seems interested in this, how about you share some details?