fit sprocket to rear wheel with no cassette

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Hi. My question is about bicycle wheels put to unusual use. I had a bike in the shed that I was about to sell on, having little time to ride it, when I came across a You Tube instructional video about converting bike wheels to wind spinners. Quite simply, you use copper or aluminium tape on the spokes to create wind catchers/weather vanes. I've attached a video clip of the two that I made. They both spin and rotate. My question is this: if I remove the cassette from the rear wheel of a bike, can I fit a large sprocket, bigger than the cassette, to the hub or perhaps to a single freewheel on the hub. My idea is to connect the two wind spinner wheels by chain. For that, I need a large sprocket but I do not know how it could be done. can single sprockets that screw onto the hub be bought? Thanks in advance for your help


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7FmlMnKwE4
 
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Hi everyone. I'm replying to myself partly to show that I'm not a spammer but also because I've been finding things out. It seems that what I need is a single speed sprocket replacing the cassette, except not really, because the wheel is part of a wind spinner, not a bike. The difference this makes is that I don't want the sprocket to turn independently of the wheel, which is to say to have bearings or any moving parts I just want it to screw onto the hub, perhaps with spacers to align it, not with the crankshaft, since there isn't one, but with a similar sprocket on the second wheel. But also, I want the sprocket to be bigger than the biggest sprocket on a cassette, so I'm wondering whether I can buy a sprocket that screws onto the hub and then fit a larger sprocket to it, perhaps from a crankshaft sprocket if that's what it's called, by which I mean the large chain sprockets that the pedals link on to. Clear as mud, I'm sure, but really it's very simple: is there a large sprocket that I can screw onto the hub in order to link by chain the two bike wheel wind spinners? Thanks
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Good effort so far, but I cant visualise what the end product will be. Your two wheels turn with wind direction, so I cant see how they could be connected by a chain.
 
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Good effort so far, but I cant visualise what the end product will be. Your two wheels turn with wind direction, so I cant see how they could be connected by a chain.
Hi Sharky. Thanks for your reply. I'm tempted to congratulate you on spotting the deliberate mistake.
You are quite correct: a chain directly connecting the wheels sprocket to sprocket would be worse than useless; for it would stop them from rotating on their vertical tubes, which would be bad enough but would also damage their ability to spin, which is heightened by their turning into the wind, thanks to the rectangular arm that you can see in the video.
My idea is to remove the arm, first, and then fix another tube, in line with the existing vertical tube, onto the aluminium box section that you can see, which is bolted to the flanged bearing, which sits over the vertical tube. The wheel is fixed to the box and free to spin.
The box is fixed to the bearing which sits over the tube and rotates, taking the box and the wheel with it. It all works very well, the wheels spinning in the slightest breeze, but they rotate more or less independently of each other, I'm not sure why, though sometimes, when the wind blows uniformly, they rotate in unison, and it looks very nice, like synchronised wind dancing.
So nice, indeed, that my intention is to try to make them rotate synchronously all the time. Since I can't make the wind blow in exactly the same direction and with the same force on both of them at the same time, I have to mechanically connect them.
What I have in mind for each wheel is to fix a short tube to the aluminium box, rising above the wheel so as not to conflict with it.
A second bike wheel wind spinner will sit on top of that tube, but horizontally. It will rotate, taking the tube extension with it, the other end of which is fixed to the box. So then the box and flanged bearing will rotate.
If I do that for each wheel, so that there are two pairs of wheels altogether, and if I can get the sprockets for the two new wheels, both of them rear wheels, then I can link them via a chain.
The original two wheels will now be synchronised in the turning on the tubes.
Why, you might ask, do I not buy two new wheels with cassettes or single sprockets for the chain. There are two reasons, the first of which is that cassettes are heavier than single sprockets.
The second reason is that the sprocket would need, I presume, to be as large as possible, so that the wind can easily turn the wheels. Cassette sprockets, even the largest of the set, are not as large as they could be.
What I need to know is whether I can buy a large sprocket that screws onto the hub, perhaps with lock nuts and spacers, of each new wheel, the horizontal one, so that a chain can be attached.
It might be, for all I know, that the new wheels will not spin well enough, or with enough power, to rotate the original wheels, or not if the new wheels are horizontal rather than vertical.
In that case I may be able to install them upright and use bevel cog sets.
But I can't to anything without sprockets. Thanks again.
 
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You must be able to convert those into electrical generators with a few common parts.


Hi YukonBoy. Thanks for your reply. Yes, if you look on You Tube you'll see bike wheel wind turbines for light electrical use: perhaps garden lighting. There are DIY books, too, So perhaps I'll give it a go. Should be really interesting. Thanks again.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Beginning to grasp the vision.

Now if you want all wheels to turn at the same speed, then sprocket sizes on both wheels need to be the same. Wont matter what size as long as both are the same.i.e. a 1:1 ratio.

For the wheels, if you are using anything which can freewheel, then it wont turn the wheel in one direction. If your wheels can take a fixed sprocketp you should be ok.

Cheers
 
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Beginning to grasp the vision.

Now if you want all wheels to turn at the same speed, then sprocket sizes on both wheels need to be the same. Wont matter what size as long as both are the same.i.e. a 1:1 ratio.

For the wheels, if you are using anything which can freewheel, then it wont turn the wheel in one direction. If your wheels can take a fixed sprocketp you should be ok.

Cheers
Hi Sharky. Thanks for that. I see what you mean about the sprockets being the same size. No, I don't want the sprockets to have bearings but to be fixed to the hub so that they turn with it. If I can trouble you once more, can I find a sprocket without bearings, in other words no moving parts, that I can screw to the hub? Thanks again.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
If the rear wheel is of the older type and has a screw on cassette(block), the block can be unscrewed with the correct tool and a fixed wheel track sprocket can be srewed on.

If its a modern wheel, the cassette slides onto a freehub body, which contains the freewheel aspect. Other then getting a welding torch out,, i dont think there is a way of eliminating the freewheel aspect.

A pure track wheel is threaded for a fixed sprocket and also has a reverse threaded section for a lock ring to stop it coming unscrewed. But once tightened, i doubt that wind would be strong enough to undo it.

Good luck
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
1. Why do you actually want them connected, why can they not be independent?
2. Can you not just weld or braze whatever sprocket you want to use?
 
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If the rear wheel is of the older type and has a screw on cassette(block), the block can be unscrewed with the correct tool and a fixed wheel track sprocket can be srewed on.

If its a modern wheel, the cassette slides onto a freehub body, which contains the freewheel aspect. Other then getting a welding torch out,, i dont think there is a way of eliminating the freewheel aspect.

A pure track wheel is threaded for a fixed sprocket and also has a reverse threaded section for a lock ring to stop it coming unscrewed. But once tightened, i doubt that wind would be strong enough to undo it.

Good luck
Hi Sharky. thanks very much for that. yes, it's the older type, with screw on cassette. I've found the fixed wheel threaded sprocket and lock nut on eBay after you told me what to look for, and it's just what I need. So thanks again.
 
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1. Why do you actually want them connected, why can they not be independent?
2. Can you not just weld or braze whatever sprocket you want to use?
Hi milkfloat. Thanks for your reply. They look great as they are, but sometimes, depending on the wind, they actually move in unison, and it'ss facintation, like wind dancing. So I'd like them to be synchronised at all times. I now know what to look for. it's a threaded fixed wheel track sprocket, together with locknut if needed. Thanks again
 
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Now that I have what I need, I'd like to thanks all those who helped me by contributing to this thread. If I can ghet the thing to work I'll upload a video of the wheels and their synchronised dancing. Thanks again.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Look forward to the finished project.

Just one point about the lock rings. Its a different thread from the sprocket and is opposite lock. So only fits a hub which has the dual thread.

If you get one, the lock nut only needs to be finger tight.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Other then getting a welding torch out,, i dont think there is a way of eliminating the freewheel aspect.
I've heard of someone just filling the freehub with araldite.
It failed to resist fixed wheel use, but should be OK for windmill levels of torque..
 
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