At Interbike we met with YESS. Other than the unit RL featured last month, the ETR-B, they also provided us with their new ETR-D tensioner for full suspension bikes.
                              ETR-D, outside view              Â
February of this year I converted my Intense Tracer into a full suspension single speed bike. A Key part of my conversion was the YESS chain tensioner, model ETR-V. Since then I’ve had many rides and racked up many miles on this unit.
                                 Singlespeed Intense Tracer with ETR-V tensioner.
The ETR-V has worked perfectly (as it’s supposed to) and held up well. One flaw I thought was the ETR-V was not truly compatible with the older Horst-link design.  I recall during my conversion having one difficulty with the installation. The arm on the ETR-V was hitting the Horst-link & chainstay of my Tracer. This posed to be a problem until I made several adjustments. I moved the arm down into several holes (of the joint) until it was no longer hitting the chainstay. Although it appeared clearance free, often times under compression I would find that the small nut would get stuck or lodged into the Horst link. This eventually created a dent into the chainstay where it no longer gets stuck.
                                You can see the dent on the inner arm of the chainstay where the nut would make contact.
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                                  ETR-D, inside view.Description from Yess:
Designed for Full Suspension Mountain bikes using various Axle sizes. This tensioner will also allow removal of wheel without interrupting the tensioner mount. Installed onto the derailleur hanger and locked into place with two setscrews, this is all you need to convert your full suspension frame into singlespeed.
I’ll be posting a follow-up report soon after I have installed the new ETR-D. Stay tuned. For more information, log onto www.yesspro.com
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I have the ETR-V on my Anthem. I don’t have any problems with clearance, but I do hate that I have to remove the tension to get the wheel off. Looks like this new tensioner solves that problem…but, I do think the mounting style on the ETR-V is much better (2 mounts, axle and der. hanger). Keep us updated on how it works!
Dman – I’ll post a report after I have installed it.