# Best chain tensioner for single speed full suspension bike?



## Speeder500 (Oct 9, 2012)

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.


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## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

The Paul Comp. Melvin works great. I should have never sold this bike.


Rocky Mountain Element 30 Full Suspension Single Speed by SaddleUpBike, on Flickr


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## dbhammercycle (Nov 15, 2011)

Saddle Up said:


> The Paul Comp. Melvin works great. I should have never sold this bike.
> 
> 
> Rocky Mountain Element 30 Full Suspension Single Speed by SaddleUpBike, on Flickr


You say that about all the Rockies you post.


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## mcoplea (Nov 11, 2004)

Just do this! Rad Ross' Sweet FS Singlespeed - 'Rad' Ross Schnell all set for Singlespeed World Champs - BikeRadar


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## jds2835 (May 22, 2011)

I have a yess ertd on my anthem 27.5. It works great.


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

I just used a Yess EtRd on 140mm travel Trance and raced Downieville All Mountain world champs on it without any issue. I put gears back on this bike but it was damn smooth and silent with the Yess


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## MarcusSommers (Sep 11, 2008)

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.


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## Saul Lumikko (Oct 23, 2012)

Just an old rear derailleur works very well. You can fix it in one position with the high and low screws. Might need longer ones, though.


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## Speeder500 (Oct 9, 2012)

Saul Lumikko said:


> Just an old rear derailleur works very well. You can fix it in one position with the high and low screws. Might need longer ones, though.


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.


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

Speeder500 said:


> 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.


Probably a safe choice going with the derailleur as you did (especially for a bike with 10 inches of travel)...but for what it's worth, the Yess ETR/D is very easy to adjust chainline with. There is a tiny little screw on the bottom of it's pully wheel and loosening this bolt allow the pulley wheel to slide back and forth to dial in chainline. Then you just tighten the screw. Takes 20 seconds and is very easy. Just in case you ever decide to go the tensioner route down the road.


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## Speeder500 (Oct 9, 2012)

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,


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

Speeder500 said:


> 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?
> 
> ...


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?


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## Speeder500 (Oct 9, 2012)

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


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## 458156 (Sep 13, 2009)

Are any of you guys noticing any skipping at all? I'm really interested in doing this. Also, how is climbing with it?


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## Tyrone Shoelaces (Nov 6, 2006)

imiller said:


> Are any of you guys noticing any skipping at all? I'm really interested in doing this. Also, how is climbing with it?


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


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## Speeder500 (Oct 9, 2012)

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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## 458156 (Sep 13, 2009)

I agree that a more efficient design will climb better. I only asked because I had a couple tensioners on a hard tail before I got my big unit and the tensioners would skip under heavy load.


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