single speed conversion questions...
Thread started by
dave c at 01.8.07 - 8:11 pm
i want to turn my old giant into a single speed, but i don't want to go the way of chain tensioners and having to use my existing components. i want it to look clean, like a fixed gear. is this possible for a reasonable amount of money? any help would be nice, as would suggestions on where to buy decently priced new components. thanks.
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What part of town do you live in? People could recommend shops in your area. Since you're asking this type of question, I'm assuming you don't wrench on your own bike.
I think I've pissed off a few people already lately, but, I wouldn't focus so much on being a part of the "bike culture" around here, but rather focus on just riding your bike. The culture will catch up. Or not.
dave01.8.07 - 9:10 pm
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well i live in temecula, but i am always in the greater orange county area, usually in or around newport beach and costa mesa. and i wouldn't mind heading to LA a couple times.
and i'm not quite sure what you mean, but i am not focusing on bike culture.
dave c01.8.07 - 9:52 pm
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If your Giant has vertical dropouts (most likely it does), it's going to be tricky to single-speed it without using a tensioner. If you have no fore-and-aft adjustment to get the appropriate chain tension, what you'll have to do is experiment with different gear ratios until you find the "magic" gear that will not leave the chain too loose or too tight.
The only alternative that I can think of is to use a White Industries "Eno" hub, which has some sort of eccentric axle that lets you adjust the chain tension. I don't know anyone who has used one, but if you want to get a single-speed rear wheel built up anyway, it might be a good way to go.
A really good source of single-speed conversion info is posted on the Harris Cyclery site [ http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/ ], and there's also a site with gear calculators [ http://www.peak.org/~fixin/personal/fmu/php/index.php ] if you want to try to go the "magic gear" route.
Hope this helps!
angle01.8.07 - 10:51 pm
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never mind, I'm just a poseur anyway.
the sheldon brown site has a lot of good info.
good luck.
dave01.9.07 - 8:12 am
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Asymmetric hub is what you need but expensive. I recommend finding a cheap steel frame with horizontal drops on the back. way better.
if you love your frame buy the asymmetric hub, it's sweet.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/singlespeed.html#hubs
studiodrome01.9.07 - 4:57 pm
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it's actually not that hard...with the gear calculator (http://www.peak.org/~fixin/personal/fmu/php/index.php )
...you can take a look to see what the "magic" gear choices would be for your particular frame...the most important thing is to measure the distance from your crank/bottom bracket center, back to where the axle would be on your back wheel...this will give you the CHAINSTAY length...if you have a little play for the axle, that will be good...then you can tinker with different lengths...once you know the available length...then count the gears on your front crank, both the small ring and the large ring...these will likely be 42 and 52 or something like that...then you look back on the gear calculator...and enter your front gears...and it will give a selection of options for the single gear in back...hopefully, it will be like magic, and provide a gear/inch ratio that is not too crazy...you can look around the web for an idea of what kind of gear inches people are turning over...for me...since I live near some hills...I like something in the 70 inch range
once you decide what will fit...then it's just a matter of getting a gear for the back wheel, retruing the back hub, and then getting the front crank in line with the back, and taking out either the small gear or the big gear from the front... a single gear for the back is about 10-20 dollars, the retruing of the hub is 20-40 dollars, and removing one gear from the crank will probably be around 10 dollars...depending on how much they like you!
adrian01.10.07 - 5:59 pm
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