[stino]

I finally made the jump to cassette, and I'm trying out a 24/10 ratio on a Liquid.

When I install the hub/sprocket and use my current chain (KHE collapse, ridden for about a month), I can slam the axle into the dropout and it's a near perfect fit. However a brand new collapse is very very tight. Also the pegs are hitting a little part of the weld between the seatstays and dropouts, not sure if that is a big problem.

On the other hand when adding 2 links I have to pull the hub way back, far enough so that there's about 2mm of the locknuts sticking out of the dropout and pegs are out even further.

1. considering chainstay length only, would there be a big difference in how the bike feels for manuals/hops? slammed vs rear of dropout is .75" difference or so?

2. would 25T bring the wheel back to the center of the dropout? is 25/10 a too heavy ratio (95% of the time I spend on the streets)? Pretty much same question for 23T actually..

3. I don't like the idea of locknuts sticking out and putting all force on the end of the dropout. Am I paranoid?

4. anyone has experience with a halflink? One of the worst crashes I had was when the chain snapped while engaging so I'm considering this as a last option..

 

[cmc]

1. considering chainstay length only, would there be a big difference in how the bike feels for manuals/hops? slammed vs rear of dropout is .75" difference or so?

you'll definintely feel the difference of 0.75" cs length. but the Liquid is already so short in the back i don't think you'd lose any performance by running the axle towards the back of the dropout. with high speed bmx track style manualing, it actually helps to have a long back end to pull against.


2. would 25T bring the wheel back to the center of the dropout? is 25/10 a too heavy ratio (95% of the time I spend on the streets)? Pretty much same question for 23T actually..

25 will pull your wheel forward, but i'm not sure how much. the diameter of my 25t sprocket is about 110mm, if that helps. 25/10 is 60 gear inches, which i like a lot. unless your city is super hilly, it's good to be able to crank fast on street. (and on fakies, your cranks will spin slower).



3. I don't like the idea of locknuts sticking out and putting all force on the end of the dropout. Am I paranoid?

it's better to have all the surface of the nut on the dropout. but then again only 2mm hanging off the end shouldn't matter.


4. anyone has experience with a halflink? One of the worst crashes I had was when the chain snapped while engaging so I'm considering this as a last option..

apparently, single half links (actually they usually are 1 1/2) have gotten better. the old ones were very unreliable, but the newer ones people don't seem to complain about. i personally like all-half-link chains like the shadow conspiracy or khe.

right now i have 25/9 with a khe half link chain on my Liquid. i like the stout gear for street rides. the axle is in the middle of the dropout.

 

[sittingduck]

One tooth will only move the axle about an 1/8". You're going to have to go with a half-link, or do a little filing on the drops to make some room.
And yeah, .75" is a lot, I'd figure out how to get it closer to slammed...

 

[sealclubber]

23/9 ratio puts my axle right in the sweet spot of the dropout on my liquid

 

[stino]

thanks for all the info, appreciated.

everything I tried so far was without hubguard. I installed it, and unless I start filing it's impossible to get the wheel slammed since the guard hits the seatstay..
Installed it at the other end, and it really looks like I cannot go much further anymore:



Halflink seems the only valid option now, and the lbs says they have some. Hopefully they fit my chain.