Fixed gear bike chain tension?

Question

how do you get the correct chain tension on a fixed gear bike? what are the steps you use to do this? ive read many methods online but all are different and sometimes confusing

Answer 1

What i do is i first take a look at the current chain tension. Chainrings are not perfectly round, so at some point in the cycle the chain will be looser. When i find that point, i unscrew the rear wheel nuts and set the cranks to be at that place where the chain is not as tight.

My method in getting just the right tension is basically grabbing the wheel with my legs/knees while keeling behind the bike. I then push the bike away from me with my thumbs on the dropouts and index fingers on the wheel nuts.Then i finger-tighten the right nut as much as i can. After than, use a wrench to make sure it stays there while I move the wheel around a bit to get it centered. The idea is to tighten the right nut, but not the left...so you can move the wheel around a bit and center it. This also adjusts chain tension. If you center the wheel but the chain is too tight, start over...

Remember this is the lose part of the chain, so you don't want it to be extremely tight that you can barely move it when  pushing down on it because when you spin the cranks, it will be way too tight in other parts. Maybe like a 5-10mm up/down play on the lose section, and a 5mm on the rest of the cycle.

If your chairing doesn't have a lose spot, then don't worry about where the cranks are when you're moving the wheel back.

Answer 2

Make sure chain is on correct and wheel is aligned straight "assuming you know how to install the back wheel" then just give the chain a little loose play and tighten back wheel. Spin wheel to check if straight.

The key here is a little loose so chain don't bind and break, with wheel centered in frame.

When you think your done then grab the chane and check the play for about half inch up and down