I’ve been riding with the Yess Pro for about 5 months. It’s been installed on two different bike and ridden all over the place.
When I first started my full suspension single speed project, people had told me about the Yess Pro tensioner. In fact Pricepoint.com sell this item for $54.98. Originally I set up my FS SS on standard tensioner but I found that my gears kept skipping. I also was convinced that I needed my chain to wrap around my rear cog more than the standard tensioner was doing.
The tensioner was installed on the Woodstock 707 for about 2 months. Then I received a Sette Reken frame to use on another single speed build up. Again with the Sette, I used a standard tensioner. But I later found out that those things just sucks compared to the Yess Pro.
Strengths:
The Yess Pro has to be one of the best inventions out there that would benefit single speed mountain biking. I really enjoyed using the Yess Pro for the plain fact that it worked as described. I did drop my chain twice during the testing period, but that was only because I didn’t set the tension tight enough and when I landed, the chain slap had so much momentum that it fell off my chain ring. Other than that, the chain never came off the rear cog, nor did it have any mechanical issues what so ever.
Weaknesses:
2 things that I didn’t like about the Yess Pro. #1, your chain line cannot differ from how they built the tensioner. Basically meaning if you you’re using a typical triple crank, you’ll have to place your front chain ring on the inside of the spider. But for some odd reason my Shimano crank required that my ring to be installed on the outside of the spider, which mean that my chain line is further out.
So what happens is, the roller on the tensioner has a lip on it which your chain ends up riding on. I had to install 2 washers on both mounting bolts of the tensioner to bring it out further so the chain would site just right on the roller.
#2, The stainless steel guide plates on the pulley started to rub against my new KMX single speed chain. After a few rides I noticed that my chain showed some visible wear from the guide plate and after removing and inspecting the plates, they too had wear on them. So the I removed them and found that the tensioner will work perfectly fine with out them.
One thing I would like to point out is that there might be some fit problems with bikes with the Horst Link suspension. Joe Solancho has an Intense that he converted over to SS, and he had a heck of a time getting it installed on his bike. His LBS had to contact Yess Pro to get some advice to get it to work.
Summary:
Here’s shot of the Yess Pro installed on my hardtail single speed, the Sette Reken. In my opinion, this is a great set up for both full suspension and hard tail single speeders.
So overall, the tensioner never failed on me. Installation is pretty self explanatory, but keep in mind that you may need some washers in the event your chain line sits further out than what Yess Pro had intended their tensioner to work with. For more information about the Yess Pro tensioner, visit their site HERE.
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