Single Speed crank dilemma.

[GrasB]

I'd go for something with removable chain rings. It'll let you change your gearing more easily & most spidered cranksets are much more rigid which is important when climbing on a single speed or fixed gear bike,

 

[Theseus]

The chainwheel is basically riveted to the crank arm and if you apply back pressure, it becomes loose and slips over time. I learned from experience. Mine was an old steel chainset so I just welded it up again but that's not so easy with alloy.

See Sheldon's glossary entry on Swaging (near the bottom).

Thanks, you learn something new every day.

 

[al-fresco]

Thanks for all the help and encouragement on this one.

The first attempt - using an old MTB crank with the inner and outer chainwheels drilled off wasn't a success. There was a clunk and a slip in the drive chain whenever it was under serious load - to the point that the bike was un-rideable. I tried replacing the chain - which didn't help - and then bought a new Stronglight Crankset (£20 from Spa Cycles) which seems to have cured the problem.

I threw the old derailleur away and treated it to a 4jeri chain tensioner from Charlie the Bikemonger. The bars and brake levers came off a scrap bike and I'll replace them when I find some better ones.

Thanks again!