Nothing is as easy as it looks in the video

[Crossbar]

Changed out my rear tire last night on the Templar and when I had it on the balance stand I did notice the rear sprocket had a slight wobble which would account for the tension change on my bike. My bet is the hole pattern on the hub is slightly off as the stock sprock did the same thing.

[Hawks & Turkeys]

Originally Posted by rideoutadv

My newest process is what revzilla recommends: crack the axle nut (I grab both and twist them opposite ways to avoid hammering/breaker barring), do your chain adjustment being careful to keep things even on each side, when I'm happy with the chain tension, stick a rag in the chain by the rear sprocket, roll the rag up into the rear sprocket, then tighten the axle nut, remove rag. I'm on the stock chain on my lifan at 3K miles, and this technique has made my chain adjustments last double as long.

I saw a couple videos with mechanics inserting rags, wrenches, into the chain, and you yourself proved that it works. But I'm not a natural born mechanic - just a "watch some videos, come up with a plan, dive in and do the work and modify the plan and get through it" mechanic. Point being, I really try to not make things worse, and jamming a rag, or a wrench (a wrench? ) just sounds like a jammed rag or "wrench causing broken chain" waiting to happen.