Time to add another GREAT sponsor to the list, Yess Labs. Some of you might not have heard of Yess before, but they have started off with doing a bunch of tensioners for BMX bikes.
When I picked up this sponsorship, which I am still totally stoked on, with GT, my biggest concern was how I was going to race single speed. There is no way I wanted to run gears, but I needed an option that would work in all conditions and be 100% reliable. With some research, I found the perfect thing, the Yess Labs ETR-B bottom bracket tensioner. The big advantage of this little guy is to keep the chain nice and tight, but not have anything dangling out from the rear dropout. I would have rather gone with a bike with horizontal dropouts, but as GT only makes the vertical ones, this is the next best thing.
When I got this thing, I was like a little kid in a candy store. I got it home and checked it out. Man, it is so stupid simple. 1 spacer sized bracket that fits under your external bearing bottom bracket, 1 spring, some arms, and a jockey pulley. Nothing much to break there. So, down to the workshop to slap this sucker on. In about 10 minutes, the time it takes to pull out the crank and 1 bottom bracket cup, then reinstall, I had this thing set up, ready to go. I followed the directions and it couldn’t have been any easier to install. I got the chain line dialed right in and the proper tension.
Since that night, I have put a few hundred miles on it and I am still glad with the decision. This thing is super bomb proof. I have crawled my way over things and nothing hurts it. I have peeled so much mud and much off of it and it keeps everything in perfect tension. My chain line has always been spot on and the tension is perfect. Chaining the tire is just like a normal bike, but you have to take the chain off the pulley first, no sweat there. To change out cogs, I will have to change the amount of links in the chain, but that is no big deal. Generally, once I get my gear combo, I am set. No need to change it…
So there it is…my TWO BIG THUMBS UP for Yess Labs ETR-B chain tensioners. If you are finding yourself in the same position as me, wanting a single speed bike, but horizontal dropouts are no where to be found, have no fear, the ETR-B is 100% the right tool for the job.
I have m first 24 hour race this weekend, so I am sure I will have a bunch of pictures of it in use.
