pic: Precision Guessworks 1646 - 2009 Drive Teaser

[rsegrest]

I am the coach of a 2nd year team so please take what I am saying as such. This is identical to the setup we used last year and we had HORRENDOUS problems with chain skipping etc. and did not realize the FULL extent of if until we drove on various surfaces. We seemed to have no problems until we had done almost 40 hours of test driving. By then the chain had stretched to the point that we could not move hardly any distance at all without skipping teeth on the sprocket. Once we switched over to the carpet the problem was compounded by the higher traction vs. a tile floor. I know that this year we are running on a "slick" surface however you will still deal with the chain stretching esp if you have it as tight as you say you do. I would strongly encourage you to rethink you're position on the tensioners. At least have them available in case you wind up needing them quickly between matches in case you don't have time to do a full chain swap. Also, another thing to consider is the amount of chain wrapped around the sprocket. Check the recommendations and compare to what you have, we are using a new design (for us anyway)that gives us a 180 degree wrap around EACH sprocket and in combination with the floating tensioner assembly from Andy Mark (6.00 each) we expect MUCH fewer problems with the chain skipping this year!