Perfect chain tension

I was having trouble with my new surly chain tensioner that was not keeping enough tension on the chain to keep it from jumping off the chainring in rough areas. I initially thought that maybe I had a bit too much slack in the chain so I took out one link and viola! what do I discover? It turns out that 32x18 is the magic ratio for my bike to not need any tensioner at all. Now if I just got rid of the dorky big ring ground down to work as a bashguard I'd be all set.

I have come up with a theory on how to get some ride time in on the dos now that my parts are delayed from SRAM. I think that I have everything that I need to turn it into a single speed (especially now that I have a chain tensioner that isn't being used) except for disc brakes. If I could set it up ss for the time being, I'd at least get to know the geometry and adjust position so that when my parts do show up, I'll be ready to roll. I'd hate to only have a few weeks on the bike before the first race. Just doesn't seem like a good idea considering how different it will ride compared to my other bikes. Just need to find some disc brakes to use for the time being...