Fixed wheel/gears.........why ??

[Alan O]

Thanks people. It's a possible summer project. Not a terribly practical one, as I live on the slopes of the South East London Alps..

Probably nothing will come of it.

I really must finish mine - I've got all the parts I need. (I just have two other bikes in various stages of completion.)

 

[12boy]

Right. For my possible summer project ... I have an 80s vintage frame with 120(???)mm forward facing dropouts. It's currently running 622mm rims (with brakes that match) and has a JP400 square taper BB with a Stronglight 50/34 double on it. At the moment I spring a 130mm rear hub w freehub/8 speed cassette into the frame.

Can I get a 120mm reversible hub for (SS) freewheel plus fixed in a 622mm rim quite easily - and cheaply? If yes, Can I adjust the placement of the sprocket to line up with one or the other of the chainrings so I don't have to faff about removing the chainset for what is likely to be a short lived experiment?

 

[Smokin Joe]

The thing that bemuses me is people feeling the need to justify it to them.

Well, the OP started this thread saying he couldn't understand why people rode fixed gear bikes, so naturally those who do or who have done responded with the reasons. Not one of those who replied tried to convince anyone else that freewheels were pointless and they didn't see how anyone could ride them.

 

[12boy]

The usual method to adjust chain line is by BB length, often 103 mm. Usually with a 120 rear that will be about 43 mm from the center of the seatpost to chainring. You can always add a couple of washers is the rear is too loose. Most like 42/16 or 48/16 in terms of gearing. Off-road or very hilly or studded tires you may like 63 gear inches or 42/18.

 

[Old jon]

I'm not entirely sure what I'm missing but I may source an appropriate rear wheel and chainset for my Dawes

and have a play around.

A very good idea indeed.

 

[simongt]

MY last experience of a single speed was about 30 years ago when, being sans car, I needed local transport. My inlaws fixed me up with a pre ww2 ladies single speed BSA. It certainly did the job required of it and when they were big enough, my two sons were amazed how fast they could go on it - ! The only issue I had with it was that the Bowden cables for the brakes were of a fixed length and there wasn't any facility for adjustment. Eventually couldn't get any replacements.
Must admit, would like to get another single speed, but with ten bikes in the house already, where would it go - ?

 

[Tim Hall]

The usual method to adjust chain line is by BB length, often 103 mm. Usually with a 120 rear that will be about 43 mm from the center of the seatpost to chainring. You can always add a couple of washers is the rear is too loose. Most like 42/16 or 48/16 in terms of gearing. Off-road or very hilly or studded tires you may like 63 gear inches or 42/18.

Some sprockets are "handed", with a lip on one side, giving a few mm chainline tweaking possiblity.

 

[wheresthetorch]

The problem I had with fixed was trying to get my foot into the toe clips/straps while the pedals were constantly turning - just couldn't do it.

I also struggled with trying to pull away with the pedals in the random position they ended up in when I stopped.

Finally flipped my flip-flop from fixed to freewheel (see what I did there?).

 

[mjr]

The only issue I had with it was that the Bowden cables for the brakes were of a fixed length and there wasn't any facility for adjustment. Eventually couldn't get any replacements.

You can get barrels to screw or solder onto ordinary cables now. I can't remember what they're called, though!

 

[Sharky]

I ride fixed, mostly for time trials. These are mostly 10's on a typical flattish course, when you would only use a few ratios if you did ride with gears. A couple of seasons ago, I tried mixing between gears and fixed on two otherwise similar bikes and by the end of the season there was only a 20 sec difference between the two bikes. The fastest was on gears, but it was also towards the end of the season at the peak of my fitness for that year.

Now if you configure costs into the reasons, the fixed set up wins by a mile. It is difficult to justify the cost of gears just for a gain of 20 secs.

 

[Ian H]

You can get barrels to screw or solder onto ordinary cables now. I can't remember what they're called, though!

An old friend of the parsimonious war generation would repair brake and gear cables that had frayed at the lever end. Cut the frayed part off and re-solder the nipple on to sound cable.

 

[Tim Hall]

An old friend of the parsimonious war generation would repair brake and gear cables that had frayed at the lever end. Cut the frayed part off and re-solder the nipple on to sound cable.

When I was about 12 the gear cable on my Vindec Speedster broke. Dad, being both practical and of the parsimonious war generation got out his blow lamp for that very purpose. The nipple turned out to be made of cheese though and instead of becoming unsoldered from the broken end vanished into a pool of molten metal.

 

[smutchin]

I also struggled with trying to pull away with the pedals in the random position they ended up in when I stopped.

One foot down, lift saddle to lift rear wheel off the ground, rotate pedal with other foot until it's in the right place.

Or learn to trackstand, which also solves the problem of not being able to clip back in quickly.

 

[Ian H]

When I was about 12 the gear cable on my Vindec Speedster broke. Dad, being both practical and of the parsimonious war generation got out his blow lamp for that very purpose. The nipple turned out to be made of cheese though and instead of becoming unsoldered from the broken end vanished into a pool of molten metal.

I believe the trick is to heat the cable a small distance from the nipple, whilst pulling on the nipple (oo-er!) until it comes off.

 

[andrew_s]

One foot down, lift saddle to lift rear wheel off the ground, rotate pedal with other foot until it's in the right place.

Front brake on, bum off saddle, and lift the rear wheel by pushing forwards & down on the handlebars.

You can get barrels to screw or solder onto ordinary cables now. I can't remember what they're called, though!

Solderless Nipples

for bicycle use, you may wish to look for ones that use a grub screw clamp rather than the normal screwdriver slot or hex head screw.