peabodypride

I can't get my rear wheel extremely tight because it's QR. Haven't found any allenskewers the right size for it, and I'm not finding chain tugs either. So I have your stereotypical fixie chain "Droop." Maybe 1" slack in either direction at the loosest point.

Straight chainline; picked it up and pedalled at all types of weird angles with no dropped chain yet; can trackstand with the slack fine.

So is it true... do I never go back? :X

mander

I like slack but not that much. I like just enough slack that the chain goes "dink, dink" when i'm track standing, but no more. This promotes good spin and a healthy drive train.

What kind of dropouts do you have? You should get a tensioner figured out quick if you're having axle slippage. That's a much bigger problem than slack.

Can you derail your chain by hand? (careful, no amputations)

llalagen

as long as you have horizontal or semi-horizontal dropouts, trying haning the bike from the rear wheel with the qr loose then when you have the wheel centered tighten it up... i've never had to do this myself but some of the other mechs in my shop have done it with relative success.

mander

Wouldn't that get the chain much too tight?

illogique

how a QR change something? just pull the wheel back and tight the QR??

llalagen

i suppose that could be an issue, but i think it might be worth a try until the qr can be replaced with allen... maybe hanging it would be easier because you could try to pull the bike up to make it looser rather than trying to pull the wheel back to make it tight enough,... this is by no means meant to be a definitive answer... just an idea that might help,...

peabodypride

I can tighten the QR lever to my heart's desire but still it will loosen up after a bit of trackstanding or backpedalling. Almost always to the exact same amount of slack. And I mean I'm tightening the lever down HARD. Starting to think maybe it's a chain thing. Maybe I'll make a mark on both sides of the semi-horizontal dropouts of where the axle is when taught, then trackstand and see if it actually has shifted at all.

And mander, no derailment by hand.

peabodypride

I already bought a set of allen skewers but the rear skewer has about 1/4" of non-threaded axle sticking out when it's in there, so that doesn't work. And the front one is too short.

peabodypride

I should add that in about two weeks of riding the axle has never slipped (if it even really is slipping) to a critical level or anything remotely close to falling out of the dropouts. Never comes loose. It just slips to that ONE pont and nothing else ever happens. Really quirky.

This riding has included a pretty rigirous critical mass, about 2+ hours riding fast in the front of the group.

illogique

get something like this
https://www.webcyclery.com/product.ph...cat=405&page=1

abeyance

The Con has stolen all our Slack.

Igneous Faction

1" of deflection in both directions? Sounds like a recipe for total disaster.

Hirohsima

what kind of QR do you have? The Allen key ones w/ aluminum ends will likely not hold the wheel much better. I had Salsa QR's that slipped,... now have Campy and Supebe Pro QR's that never slip. I SS, but when I stand on the pedals at a stoplight or full sprint, I still get zero movement.... You may just need a better QR.

666pack

maybe it's just fate's way of telling you to dump that janky disk wheel from your road conversion...

MrCjolsen

When you run fixed with a quick release, the lever should be on the drive side. That makes it easier to take up slack.

Better quick releases will not slip. Crappy ones will slip. I found this out the hard way with my geared Surly Crosscheck.

Allen skewers will not make things any better.

peabodypride

Gotcha guys. I'll keep looking for better skewers.

Should I also look for chain tugs?

mander

I say yes but i'm a big fan of tugs. If your dropouts are horizontal forward facers then you can probably mod them and/ or a tensioner to work great.

peabodypride

Mine are semi-horizontal, pre-80s/90s style. I'm looking for the exact same ones posted above in a link, but locally.

Guess it's another trip to Philly.

Aeroplane

The "spur" style tensions from danscomp work well with horizontal drops too, and the Surly Tuggnut also... in fact, the Tuggnut comes with an insert that is designed to work with a QR.

baxtefer

You want an older style, steel QR with and internal Cam.
They're stronger.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html

zacked

My polo bike does the same thing, seemingly no matter how much I tighten it, it slips to the same position. I'm guessing there is just a groove worn into the dropout or somesuch. I can get it tighter, but then the chain binds.

Actually since I went down to clown gearing (24x14), the chain actually slaps the stay when it goes slack, but with good chainline I've never dropped a chain.

On my real bikes I still like a good amount of slack, though, tight chains are overrated.

I Like Peeing

Is fixie chain "droop" stereotypical? I have no idea. Maybe I'm a more uncommon case, but I'm against any "droop" whatsoever and like my chain pretty darn tight.

I Like Peeing

haha I can't stand the "dink, dink"

Re-Cycle

-use a steel QR thats not worn out
-jam a screwdriver handle or board between your rear tire and seat tube
-clamp down that QR

-when it slips next, buy a frame with track ends, get a bolt on wheel and use a chain tensioner. I'll never go back

caloso

I like the dink-dink myself.