Description
The Supre Drive's chain tensioner arm pivots around the bottom bracket axis for tensioning the chain. On conventional derailleur drivetrains, the chain tensioner arm (or cage) hangs off the derailleur and is vulnerable, but on the Supre Drive, it's protected at the middle of the bike.
This tensioner arm is connected by a cable to a chain tensioner cartridge that contains a spring and a damper. On conventional derailleurs, the damper is called a clutch, and it functions with sliding friction. In the Supre chain tensioner, the damping is hydraulic, which has two major advantages. doesn't wear out, so there's no loss of damping force over time (unlike derailleur clutches). The second key advantage of hydraulic damping is that it's speed-sensitive, so there's a lot of damping when the tensioner arm moves quickly in rough terrain and less damping force when it moves slowly due to shifting. The Supre Drive is incredibly quiet due largely to this hydraulic damper in the chain tensioner cartridge.
The Supre chain tensioner is manufactured by us on the Sunshine Coast in BC. We CNC machine the tensioner arm from high-strength 7075 aluminum.
Regarding compatibility, the tensioner arm is incompatible with current-day Raceface chainrings because these protrude inward. It is however compatible with NS Billet chainrings, Hope chainrings, older Raceface chainrings, and all other chainrings that don't protrude inward. Also, it's compatible with chainring sizes from 28 to 34 teeth.
Features
- speed-sensitive damping that makes the Supre Drive dead silent
- highly durable, with no loss of damping over time
- tensioner arm CNC machined out of 7075 aluminum
- labyrinth sealed pulley bearing
- made in Canada