Advice on chain length

antikythera

Hi folks,

I'm putting together my own track bike. One of the benefits I'm looking for is to be able to swap cogs/chain rings to suite the event.

I'd like recommendations on how to adjust the chain length for the various combinations. Do you choose a longish length and slide the hub along the drop out? Or do you use a couple of chains? Is is there some other track-foo?

I have a Dolan Champion, which doesn't have the screws to adjust the hub placement, would the (hub) bolt force be enough to keep the wheel in place (depending on my power output 8) )

Eddy S

The easiest way is to have 2 chains – you don’t really want to be faffing about trying to add/remove links during the heat of a race meeting. I have both a Track Champ and a DF3 and just have short and long chains for each - funnily enough the short chain for the Track Champ is the long chain for the DF3.

You just need to spend a while working out what chainring/sprocket combinations work with each length. I did that and wrote each combination on the appropriate box for the chain.

Also w.r.t. to holding the wheel in place – a properly set and tightened wheel will stay in place. The state and quality of the track nuts helps with this. I have only every pulled a wheel because the captive washer on a track nut has worn out and failed.

trackworldcup

definitely, mulitple chains is the best option