Shimano Alfine hub

[mcb2080]

Sorry for the very long winded post but to sum it up here I am looking for a chain tensioner for a horizontal drop out frame.

Hi, looking for some advice please regarding a SG S500 Alfine hub.

I have this hub on a Ridgeback Nemesis, which has a horizontal drop out frame.

I like to take the wheels off when washing the frame so as not to get any liquid into my hydraulic disc brake pads.

My problem is when I am putting the rear wheel back on I can never seem to get the chain tension bang on, I can get the wheel on straight and I try and give the chain between a half to one inch slack but it just isn't right when I next take the bike out. Every so often the gear will take a wee while to change or the chain sounds as though it is going slip off the front chain ring (or I think that's how I would describe it)

Soooooooo

My question is, is it possible to use this http://www.petracycles.co.uk/s500-alfine-chain-tensioner-black-p-14079.html

Now this says that :Alfine chain tensioner for use with vertical drop outs

I know that I have horizontal drop outs, so can this some how be used or is there an alternative that I can use to tension my chain.

Thanks

Mark

Phew

 

[mickle]

Is there a mech hanger on the frame? If so then yes. However (and Spandex this problem with his Paddy Wagon recently) I think there is something amiss with the drop-outs because it shouldn't be difficult to get the wheel located properly.

Either your drop-outs aren't straight (ie parallel) or they are deformed in the area where the nuts and lock nuts meet the frame. Spandex's drop-outs became deformed because his legs are so massive that he had to over torque the axle nuts to prevent the RH wheel nut from moving. Whenever he replaced the wheel it would pop into the indents however hard he tried. And he has steel drop-outs, it's even easier to knacker the faces of an aloonyman drop-out. We ended up filing the face of the drop-outs inside and out and installing a chain-tug on the drive side to reduce the amount of torque required to hold the wheel in place.

 

[Steve Austin]

A chain tug could work, but as you need the specific locking nuts for the alfine hub (to stop the axle rotating) they may not be any good...

I'll come back to you on this

'sneaks off to garage to look at alfine hub'

 

[mcb2080]

Is there a mech hanger on the frame? If so then yes. However (and Spandex this problem with his Paddy Wagon recently) I think there is something amiss with the drop-outs because it shouldn't be difficult to get the wheel located properly.

Either your drop-outs aren't straight (ie parallel) or they are deformed in the area where the nuts and lock nuts meet the frame. Spandex's drop-outs became deformed because his legs are so massive that he had to over torque the axle nuts to prevent the RH wheel nut from moving. Whenever he replaced the wheel it would pop into the indents however hard he tried. And he has steel drop-outs, it's even easier to knacker the faces of an aloonyman drop-out. We ended up filing the face of the drop-outs inside and out and installing a chain-tug on the drive side to reduce the amount of torque required to hold the wheel in place.

Scratches head, information overload

Thanks mickle for the reply, I think the problem must be that I am not setting the wheel back in the same place that I took it off, as when I look at the position of the looking nuts in relation to the frame there are lots of different tighten marks (if that makes sense)

I think the best thing for me to do is to push the wheel as close towards the pedals as possible, I can't push too close though as they are some sort of cap that the axle nut screws onto rather than making direct contact with the frame that stops me getting to close to the angle in the frame.

Once I have it as tight towards the pedals then I think I will just try and adjust the chain using a half link as necessary.

I thought that by having some sort of tensioner would take the guess work out of it.

I don't know if I am simplifying the situation as there maybe a technical reason why this won't work (come to think of it, that's probably what mickle is saying but that is way over my head)

 

[mcb2080]

A chain tug could work, but as you need the specific locking nuts for the alfine hub (to stop the axle rotating) they may not be any good...

I'll come back to you on this

'sneaks off to garage to look at alfine hub'

Is the locking nuts the bit that the axle nut tightens on to and presses against the frame?

I just called them caps in my last post as I didn't know what they where

Ps, cheers for the reply

 

[mickle]

Are they horizontal drop-outs or track-ends? Coz a chain tug won't fit horizontal drop-outs.

 

[mickle]

Wheel nuts on the outside of the drop out tighten onto the axle securing the wheel in the frame, (bearing cone) lock nuts contact the inside of the drop out. I think its those 'tightening marks' which are preventing you from placing the wheel where you want it because the nuts are slipping into them.

 

[mickle]

Bring it in to the bike shop in Bristol and I'll sort it for you.

 

[mcb2080]

Bring it in to the bike shop in Bristol and I'll sort it for you.

LOL, will only take me a few weeks to get there and that's if my chain stays on

Here are a couple of pictures just to make sure I am describing the right thing

 

[mcb2080]

Wheel nuts on the outside of the drop out tighten onto the axle securing the wheel in the frame, (bearing cone) lock nuts contact the inside of the drop out. I think its those 'tightening marks' which are preventing you from placing the wheel where you want it because the nuts are slipping into them.

Rereading this post again, I haven't being actually trying to get the wheel in the exact same spot, I have just being tighten up the nuts when I think that there is enough slack on the chain.

Is the best thing to do just to push the wheel as tight towards the frame then tighten nuts and just sort a new chain out at this point?

And when it starts to loose tension, just take off a link and put on a half link?

 

[Steve Austin]

You can't use a conventional chain tug, as them little nuts that you fit before the bolts that lock the wheel axle in place 'might' not work

you could try some of these on the inside of the frame

http://www.hubjub.co.uk/mks/mks.htm

it might work. You will probably on need one on the drive side, as thats where its slipping, right?

Of course you could get a frame with a EBB. Then you'll have no slipping

 

[mcb2080]

Steve, thanks very much for the reply and the link, too be honest, I know very little about bikes and certainly wouldn't know how to fit these tugs so it is a trip to the lbs on saturday to see what they say.

If they can't come up with any ideas they I will direct them to this thread

Thanks for all the replies

 

[MartinC]

mcb2080, You won't be able to us the Alfine chain tensioner 'cos you need a rear mech hanger for this (and many other chain tensioning devices) and your frame doesn't have one.

There are other chain tensioning devices that fit to the stay or to the Bottom Bracket. Downhill racers use them to stop the chain coming off. Google around for them.

One other reason why you may have a problem is that the chainring may not be concentric with the BB axle - tolerances in the ring and the mounting holes and bolts. You can sometimes adjust this by loosening off the chainring bolts a little and hitting the chain with a spanner with the cranks in different positions. If I recall correctly Sheldon Brown describes how to do this soemwhere on his website. It's a common procedure for fixed wheel track bikes.

Personally unless the chain is way too loose I wouldn't bother too much about this on a gear hub.

 

[itisaboutthebike]

Much simpler if you have a Jamis exile frame with rearward facing dropout adjusters...............!

 

[skwerl]

I'm having trouble understanding why chain tension would affect the shifting of an internal geared hub. That, after all, is the main issue here. Chain tension's only a problem if it's so bad that it unships when you go over a bump