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Best chain tensioner for single speed full suspension bike?

20K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  458156 
#1 ·
Can someone tell me what the best chain tensioner is for a single speed freewheel? My bike fits a normal rear derailleur.

From my research it seems the best is the Yess ETR/D full suspension chain tensioner.

ETR/D Full Suspension Chain Tensioner | Yess Products Ltd.

Am I right that this is the best one, or is there a better one I am missing?

Thanks.
 
#7 ·
I have a Speedgoat Asylum, basically a titus 29er, that I have run for years with a SRAM short cage road derailleur as a chain tensioner. I have made some random modifications to it over the years, and am now using it with a NW chainring. Silent and no drops.

I saw the YESS products at interbike several years ago, and they looked great, but just never bought one. That giant trance looks awesome with it.

I revalved a fox RP3 for my bike, because while the tensioner worked great, the FSR design works best in the saddle for climbing. So I added several spacers under the poppet spring to make pro pedal crazy firm for climbing. This made a huge difference, and if you have a very active bike and plan to keep it SS, a custom shock tune really helps.
 
#9 ·
Actually that is what I decided to do. I have custom sized dropouts on my bike and I wasn't sure if I would be able to easily line up my chain.

So I saw the zee derailleur was a clutch type and also very short. So I said for $68 dollars why don't I just buy this as it is cheaper than a lot of the single speeds, plus I get to line up my chain perfectly and easily, and being a clutch type it may just hold the chain better for my 10 inches of rear travel.

I didn't want to buy a single speed tensioner to find out it doesn't work or requires a lot of adjustment to make it line up with my freewheel.
 
#11 ·
Tyrone, thanks that is very helpful. I was considering the Yess ETR/D. I even contacted them through the website about this but never got a response back.

Tyrone, by any chance do you know roughly how many mm of adjustment the Yess ETR/D allows from side to side to adjust to the chain line?

Do you think the ETR/D will work with 10 inches of rear travel?

Thanks,
 
#12 ·
Tyrone, thanks that is very helpful. I was considering the Yess ETR/D. I even contacted them through the website about this but never got a response back.

Tyrone, by any chance do you know roughly how many mm of adjustment the Yess ETR/D allows from side to side to adjust to the chain line?

Do you think the ETR/D will work with 10 inches of rear travel?

Thanks,
Traveling at the moment but I can measure the adjustment for you. As for if it will work for a 10 inch travel bike, man I don't know. It really works perfectly for my Trance but that is only a 140mm travel bike. Yours is twice that....maybe contact Yess and ask?
 
#13 ·
I tried contacting Yess and they don't seem to have a phone number or reply to their webpage contact.

Tyrone, if you can also do me a big favor and measure from where the yess attaches to the outside of your derailleur hanger to where the Yess would be centered on its adjustment. This would give me an idea if it would work for me, where my chainline needs to be.

In the image below you can see the two points I am talking about marked in red.

That's not my bike, its just an image I found to help show the points.

Thanks

 
#15 ·
No skipping at all on my end. The Yess gives a ton of chain wrap and it runs really smooth. Climbing with it is more of a function of the bike you're on and not the tensioner itself really IMO

Speeder - i can't take that measurement above that you ask because i already converted my Trance back to gears. It was a temporary thing for me for that bike for a specific race
 
#16 ·
Tyrone, do you still have the Yess tensioner? Maybe you could just measure the distance from the yess tensioner side that would touch the metal derailleur hanger to where the pulley is centered on the pivot?

I don't need anything perfect, just a rough idea about where the chain should be.

With knowing that, and how much adjustment the pivot has, I could determine if it would work for my bike.
 
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