After months of fantasizing about converting my old Specialized Hard Rock-turned-commuter bike into a hauling machine, the dream has finally become a reality. I had my bike shop put it all together and I rode it home, fully loaded, for the first time last night. I was very favorably impressed with how well it handles, how stable it felt, and how easily and naturally I got used to the slightly different dynamics. I didn't expect this, but it's actually fun to ride, in a way more so than my speedy custom Seven. The bike's very cumbersomeness freed me from feeling like I should try to go fast, and I just enjoyed taking my time toodling along, marveling at the remarkably stable handling and how it smoothed out bumps, cracks, and potholes. I think of this as my "joke bike" as far as style and looks go; it can do serious work, but I'm trying to make it as unattractive to thieves as possible:







As a side note, if you have any fun or cool stickers you think should grace my bike, feel free to share. I still have the "You'd look hotter in a helmet" sticker I've been saving this whole time to put on this bike. There's something so fun about saying "I'm just going to have fun decorating this thing as outrageously I like!" -- hence also the blue and black speckled bar tape, something I'd never put on a bike whose looks I truly cared about.

Here's my question: The chain is incredibly long, and as a result sags something fierce. The Xtracycle web site doesn't have very helpful information about dealing with chain sag, unfortunately. After trying to use a chain tensioner but not having that work, my bike shop guys put an orange roller thing to hold the chain up, as you can see here:





The problem with this is that as I get into the two highest gears (smallest cogs on the cassette) from the middle chainring, the chain falls off the orange roller. It fell off three times in a 15-minute ride and six times on my normal 13-mile commute. Then I have to stop, flick it back on, and go on. This is incredibly irritating, especially since I don't have an indicator to tell me what gear I'm in, so I can't always tell I'm in a dangerously high gear. Also it always happens when I'm going at a decent pace, usually down a hill, which is just when I don't want to have to slam on the brakes, twiddle with the chain, and then have to muscle it to start again since I'm in a high gear. Plus I live in fear of shifting and hearing it fall off; the other choice is to stay in too-low gears and spin like crazy, but I end up going frustratingly slowly in that case. I'm not usually in a hurry, but I would like to keep up a comfortable, sustainable pace, rather than going at a much lower speed.

So: Do you clever wrench-types have any suggestions for what else we could use to suspend the chain partway along? I'm especially interested to hear how other Xtracycle riders have dealt with this problem.