2 Speed

[shankldu]

anyone know if its possible to run a 2 speed from the crank just shifting the front two chainrings by running say a pauls melvin chain tensioner in the rear. Very tired of bent dropouts and chattering in the rear, but live in a hilly area so this it a last ditch effort before going single speed .

[shankldu]

i see i have you all perplexed, i think it will work provided the front two rings are close in diameter.

[false_Aest]

homme

easy way to find out.

road bike.

choose rear gear (similar to what you're going to ride)

look at where the rear der. is in big ring vs small ring.

will your chain doo-hickey do move that much?

why even have a chain doo-hickey. why not just run a rear der with a short piece of cable in it to adjust its placement.

[cp43]

From the paul website:

One of the coolest things about the Melvin is that it works with multiple front chain rings while maintaining proper chain tension. Of course this is no longer a single speed, but can be very handy for loaded commuting. Because we use two pulleys, two chain rings with a maximum difference of twenty teeth can be used up front.

Complete description here:

http://paulcomp.com/melvin.html

I've never used one, but it looks like it should work.

Hope that helps.

Chris