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This is my first bike ever assembled, I’m a total newbie.

I’ve just finished to put chain/cog and did my first try of chain tensioning. All components are new, but still I don’t understand why there’s so much noise when I pedal.

I’ve just put some lube to chain hoping it helps

Do you think there’s too much chain tension? It was noisy even when the chain was slack, hope I bought the right chain!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nTpEiKzsCfduMnRo6

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    2 possibilities: the chain is either too tight or your chain line is not straight. The chain should be taut, and you need to make sure the chain ring (in the front) is perfectly in line with the cog (in the back).
    – sam
    Jun 5, 2018 at 21:15
  • It could be that the after I tensioned the wheel is not perfectly straight, I'll try to fix it and keep you updated.
    – d.lime
    Jun 6, 2018 at 7:55
  • Way too much chain tension.
    – Carel
    Jun 6, 2018 at 8:07
  • I admit it's too tight, but I've tried it with slack chain and still I could hear some noise (I'll post a video later) I've noticed that cog teeth are larger than crank teeth, is this normal? Chain in the crank moves a little bit side by side, these my components: goo.gl/DZCDVY goo.gl/Qz6xiG goo.gl/Hkod8h
    – d.lime
    Jun 6, 2018 at 8:20
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    The chain was not straight:) Wrong rear wheel hub size for my frame! By calculating the chainline of my crankset and the rear frame dropout I noticed it was off by 5 mm. My frame has a weird 126mm dropout so I had to add some spacers to my 120mm rear wheel
    – d.lime
    Aug 24, 2018 at 10:31

2 Answers 2

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Looks a little tight. There should be +/- 0.5 inch vertical movement of the chain possible halfway between the sprockets.

Park tool has a great video on single speed chain replacement:

(link starts the video at the tensioning segment.)

Readjust tension and see if it makes a difference. Also make sure the wheel is parallel to the frame.

1/8 in (3.2 mm) wide chains are typically used on bikes with a singlespeeds, but 3/32 in (2.4 mm) chains are used also. Compare the new and old chain width. If it's the same it's good. ('Width' here means the spacing between the inner plates.)

Did you replace the front and rear sprocket with the chain? Check the sprockets for wear, especially the rear one.

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  • "Chain the sprockets are not worn" doesn't really make sense, not sure what the intent was -- "change the sprockets if they are worn" perhaps? Jun 6, 2018 at 0:21
  • Also, second vote for OP's chain appearing too tight; I usually want to see a little bit of dip in the chainline. Jun 6, 2018 at 0:22
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    @joseph_morris garbled sentance fixed Jun 6, 2018 at 0:41
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    All the components are new, I'm building this bike from scratch: goo.gl/DZCDVY goo.gl/Qz6xiG goo.gl/Hkod8h
    – d.lime
    Jun 6, 2018 at 7:46
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The chain was not straight: wrong rear wheel hub size for my frame!

By calculating the chainline of my crankset and the rear frame dropout I noticed it was off by 5 mm.

My frame has a weird 126mm dropout so I had to add some spacers/washers to my 120mm rear wheel so that the chainline was off by 2 mm

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