Bicycles Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who build and repair bicycles, people who train cycling, or commute on bicycles. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
On a 10 speed road bike, what is the ideal chain tension?
I was recently told (by a bike shop) that my rear derailleur should be fully extended (pointing forward) when the chain is between the 2 biggest cogs.
Does a riding with high tension decrease your chain life quicker? It seems logical that it would, so perhaps I was given bad advice.
The chain should be as short as possible and as long as necessary. It will usually shift better with proper tension. The tension shouldn’t affect chain life though the shorter chain will. Make a 104 link chain shorter by 2 links and it has almost 2% less material and thus shorter life. But that’s really a small effect.
I can dimly remember an article which stated that higher tension (they tested big chainring vs. small chainring) is actually more efficient, probably because there are less vibrations.
The tension generated by the derailleur does not have any effect on chain wear, its insignificant compared to what a rider places on the chain when pedaling.
However, riding in that configuration (big to big) is called cross chaining. Cross chaining increases the wear on the chain due to the increased angles where the chain comes onto the chain rings and cogs. Although not as bad as some say, its less than desirable to spend long periods of time cross chained.
