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Recently built up my kid's latest bike. It was a fun one to be able to pick out "vintage" 26" bike parts from when I started biking. Goal was light weight, but also stay cheap on the build, so it is something I wouldn't be overly worried about locked up at the school bike rack. As usual, it drifted into being a bit nicer than that previous goal. Some great deals though helped, like a $20 M950 XTR front wheel. Spent a bit more building up a matching rear. The Rockshox SID was nice from a weight perspective, but disappointing on performance, so will be replaced with an old Fox F100 fork soon.

Stand and mash! What front/rear combo, and tire size, are you riding? It's likely that the combo that works best in the long run is lower than you expect. Most mortals @ 32/20 with 29" tires. The ratio might be slightly different if you're riding 27.5" tires. Because math—gear inches. Some of the ridiculously strong riders I know use a lower gear than that. If the bike is dropping chains, I'd consider getting a different ring, or maybe the cog. Beefy cogs help a lot when flimsy ones might allow enough flex to drop the chain under torque. Hardtails flex under load, so if the loose spot on your chain becomes looser, it could drop it. Quick link: there must be some that fit this chain perfectly. You might need to measure the width of an inner link to see how many "speeds" is the appropriate one. Most likely, 8-speed links will do it, if not a "narrow" master link.