Originally Posted by
rickpaulos
The looser the chain, the faster it all wears out. You only have 1 link/tooth at a time taking the pedaling force. Just short of binding and many links are sharing the load.
Biggest problem is cheap bikes where the sprockets aren't running round. The chain goes slack then tightens, and repeats for every pedal revolution. Most common on chinese made bikes with 1 piece cranks. When the chain binds, it puts tremendous pressure on the bearings and destroys them pretty quick. On those you find the tight spot and adjust from there.
I beg to differ. The tighter the chain the quicker the BB and rear hub (and/or freewheel/freehub) bearings will wear out. The tension set up you suggest will only share chain roller/tooth sharing (of the stress) until the chain wears and then you're back to where only one tooth/link sees the stress. I'll also speculate that when the chain is under tension (with no pedal forces) it and the cog are both wearing even when soft pedaling. So in my experience a too tight chain has more friction, wears faster, makes more noise and the only possible redeeming advantage is it won't tend to derail when raggedly powering the bike. Andy (waiting for the flames to start
)