my first single speed bike!
- Thread starter zac 64
- Start date
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biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
i find single speed so much easier on my daily commute , not tried fixed yet
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
Be afraid, be very afraid, once you come over to the dark side you will feel guilty every time you even contemplate gears.
Excellent stuff. I got a Dawes Mono recently too! I'm loving it. I hope you do too
But, I will have to change the tyres ASAP. Those Schwalbe Lugano's have gotten 4 punctures in the past 2 weeks
I've found that the commute takes about the same amount of time with one gear or with many
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Certainly go fixed - ditch the singlespeed.
OP
OP
zac 64
Active Member
As my dawes mono has 18teeth on both freewheel and fixed side, is it worth swaping the freewheel sprocket for,say,a20 tooth so that i have 2 ratios for those rides with more hills? (it has 48 teeth on the front sprocket which,ithink makes it 72")
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Could be, but just be aware the freewheel side won't accept a locknut and you need some room in the drop outs to slide the wheel forward to accommodate a 20. At present I'd leave as be as you'll get used to the gears and maybe want something bigger. I run 77" on the edge of the Peaks.
Perfectly sensible thing to do imo. As fossy mentioned, you need to make sure you have enough adjustment in the drop outs so the same chain length works with both sides. Each additional tooth on the sprocket will move the axle 1/8" so a 2 tooth increase will move it 1/4" forward. Just don't ride with the axle right at the very front of the dropouts (I'm assuming forward facing horizontal drop outs, ignore if using track ends) there is always a small chance the axle can slip forward on a SS or hub geared bike.
al-fresco
Growing older but not up...
- Location
- Shropshire
While it might be sensible I'm not sure that it's worthwhile. Riding fixed quickly becomes addictive, I doubt you'll be flopping the wheel back for the different ratio.
OP
OP
zac 64
Active Member
The dropouts are rear facing so no danger of the wheel coming out! But,will probably leave for now and see how it goes when i go fixed, probably this weekend YE-HA!. you never no, i might end up gearing up instead of down as fossyant suggests.i can see a selection of fixed sprockets coming on! Thanks all for your help.
Cope
Senior Member
- Location
- Wickham, Hampshire
I wouldn't bother on several counts:
1) Just get used to riding fixed for a while - 72 will be fine and you're better off just getting the hang/feel of it
2) I -seriously- doubt you'll even consider freewheel after a few days on fixed... it just kinda gets hold of you. Seriously.
3) Faffing about with wheel position to accomodate required chain tension for different sprocket size is a waste of time unless you are experienced enough to be able to translate gear inches to performance over known terrain. Give it time - if in your region after a month or two you feel over or undergeared, change then.
HTH
