Bike build and maintenance

[ercchry]

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I like this idea. I have an old Madone that I haven't ridden in 10 years. The freewheel is ceased, so it is basically a single speed. haha.

How hard is it to convert? I am sure there are online tutorials. Any suggestions?

Is a carbon single / fixie not cool?

Depends on the type of drop outs... need a way to get the chain tight enough... there is a BB you can buy if your drop outs are fixed vs sliding. But yeah, just take off some chainrings, And everything else you don’t need and buy a track wheel set

Oh, and don’t forget a 1/8th chain

[taemo]

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I like this idea. I have an old Madone that I haven't ridden in 10 years. The freewheel is ceased, so it is basically a single speed. haha.

How hard is it to convert? I am sure there are online tutorials. Any suggestions?

Is a carbon single / fixie not cool?

I was using my spare bike as trainer during winter, took off the front and rear derailleurs, shifters and ran the chain directly from the middle chainring (39t) to the cog that gave me the straightest chain on the rear cassette (12-25) so technically it was already a single speed lol.

just cleaning it up by removing the unnecessary chainrings cogs and installing brakes again so that I can ride it outside lol

this is the conversion kit that I bought for the rear
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/202713979506

[CLiVE]

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I was using my spare bike as trainer during winter, took off the front and rear derailleurs, shifters and ran the chain directly from the middle chainring (39t) to the cog that gave me the straightest chain on the rear cassette (12-25) so technically it was already a single speed lol.

just cleaning it up by removing the unnecessary chainrings cogs and installing brakes again so that I can ride it outside lol

this is the conversion kit that I bought for the rear
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/202713979506

I've used those kits in the past also. What are you using as a chain tensioner, or does the frame have horizontal drop outs?

[taemo]

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I've used those kits in the past also. What are you using as a chain tensioner, or does the frame have horizontal drop outs?

no chain tensioner, what do you recommend?
the frame is an old Kona Jake the Snake so it has a semi-vertical dropout.

found this: guy is running 39/16 on his jake without needing a chain tensioner
https://forums.mtbr.com/kona/singles...ct-150846.html

[ercchry]

Could always get an eccentric bottom bracket

https://wheelsmfg.com/eccentric-bb-f...nks-black.html

[CLiVE]

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no chain tensioner, what do you recommend?
the frame is an old Kona Jake the Snake so it has a semi-vertical dropout.

found this: guy is running 39/16 on his jake without needing a chain tensioner
https://forums.mtbr.com/kona/singles...ct-150846.html

I've ran nashbar tensioner, and the surly singleator years ago. Both will work, but you get what you pay for....
Both my SS and Fixed gear I have now both have horizontal dropouts and I use the surly tuggnut on both to stop wheel slip.

[Penguin_Racecar]

There's three ways to tension a SS setup (assuming no horizontal dropouts) - eccentric bottom bracket, eccentric rear hub (like the White Industries ENO), or a simple derailleur style chain tensioner. The first two are more expensive and the most elegant. The third is the cheapest and simplest. Option 4 is finding a gear ratio that creates a near perfect chain tension. If using a BMX chain you can use BMX half links to get you closer. That said, you'd want to run thicker gears also to properly support the wider chain. I've had good success myself using narrow wide chain rings for singlespeed duty. If you have a slightly slack chain when running a non-tensioned setup you might just be able to get away with a Narrow Wide ring.

[taemo]

don't really want to spend too much for this project (already spent about 60$) so eccentric parts are definitely out.

i'll see if I can get by with 50/18 or 39/16 with what I currently have. I will mostly be using this as fun bike around our neighborhood/winter trainer in the basement

I'll look into a narrow-wide chainring later on (might need to change crank as cant find any narrow-wide for 5 bolt 96bcd)

[taemo]

Did some test last night and couldn't get the chain on with the 50 and either 22/19/17/16 cogs without having too much slack so i changed the front to 39 and could get 15t working.
(conversion kit still hasnt arrived so been playing with the extra 12-25 cassette that I had


will definitely need a tensioner if I want to use it for longer rides/commute.

[taemo]

Just finished the single-speed JTS project.
39/15 ratio (waiting for the conversion kit to arrive).. brown tape bar to compliment the hipster look, running 700x38 to offset the light gear ratio

[Penguin_Racecar]

Chain tension looks pretty good to me! Maybe it's because the front wheel is at an angle, but I'd tip the bars down just a bit to save your wrists.

[msommers]

So ironically I may go in the opposite direction to selling my carbon wheels -- figure out how to change my system to a new 11 speed (whether 105 or Ultegra would depend on $$$ ultimately). Not sure what is all involved and also if it's worth it just getting a newer bike? Opinions? Have CAAD10 with 105 10-speed components.

Soccer and my body don't seem to get along, therefore cycling seems like a more stable option for fitness...whenever my groin heals that is.

[taemo]

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So ironically I may go in the opposite direction to selling my carbon wheels -- figure out how to change my system to a new 11 speed (whether 105 or Ultegra would depend on $$$ ultimately). Not sure what is all involved and also if it's worth it just getting a newer bike? Opinions? Have CAAD10 with 105 10-speed components.

Soccer and my body don't seem to get along, therefore cycling seems like a more stable option for fitness...whenever my groin heals that is.

what are you trying to accomplish by going 11 speed?
also the easton carbon wheel that you had, did it have a spacer at the end that tells you it can take 11speed?

from what I recall a 105 R7000 groupset is around 600-900$, Ultegra R800 was an extra 200-300$

[msommers]

Extra gear is it, upgrading at the same time I suppose.

Tonight I'm going to take the cassette off and see which freehub is on there, I can't remember now but all the info online I can find seems to suggest it's an 10spd.

[Penguin_Racecar]

If the wheelset isn't 10 speed compatible you can machine 1.8mm off the back of the cassette to run 11 speed on a 10 speed hub. That said, I wouldn't go to 11 speed just to have an extra gear. I don't think I can really tell any difference between an 11 speed 11-28 and 10 speed 11-28.

[ercchry]

Picked up a commuter project... not sure the route I want to take yet... 1x10, with straight bars? Or full road bike... hrm

What I do know though is I need derailleurs and shifters and a wheels set. This was a crackhead single speed special. Complete with 6 speed old ass wheel set and a mountain bike derailleur

[D'z Nutz]

That seat angle and shifter positioning is... interesting haha

[ercchry]

Yeah, it was bugging me so I adjusted it for some reason... even though I’m going to just rip this thing apart

[ZeroGravity]

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what are you trying to accomplish by going 11 speed?
also the easton carbon wheel that you had, did it have a spacer at the end that tells you it can take 11speed?

from what I recall a 105 R7000 groupset is around 600-900$, Ultegra R800 was an extra 200-300$

Pretty good price on a long (probably meant medium) cage R7000 rear derailleur. Cheaper than the one I got from Merlin a couple weeks ago.
https://www.ridleys.com/product/shim...r-359323-1.htm

[taemo]

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Pretty good price on a long (probably meant medium) cage R7000 rear derailleur. Cheaper than the one I got from Merlin a couple weeks ago.
https://www.ridleys.com/product/shim...r-359323-1.htm

wow nice find! if only the R8000 would go on sale too.