Commuting - Singlespeed?

gaffmaster

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting a bike for commuting purposes. I already have a road bike for leisure cycles.

I'm enticed to singlespeeds for their handyness and lack of maintenance, but I really don't know where to start. I would like something with an easy enough gearing. And I would not be ready to go fixed.

I'm also on a very very tight budget. Would building one myself be the cheapest option?

What think ye of this, the cheapest one I could find on the net!

Any bricks and mortors that do a cheap single speed in dublin? Secondhand?

Any help mucho apreciated.

PS - I am in no means a hipster.

flickerx

I'm nearly finished building this one, just have to get a seatpost, toeclip straps, and put the bar tape on. It'll be about the €300 mark, and its a smaller frame, maybe a 52 or 53, dont know if this is suitable for you (5'8" or so). I'll post a photo up again when its completed, if you're interested.

flickerx

Oh I should add that its currently on the fixed sprocket but the rear wheel is a flip flop so you could put it on the singlespeed if you wanted. The chainring is a 44 and the fixed sprocket is a... 15 or 16 I think, I would consider that a relatively easy gear. I think I have an 18 freewheel sprocket knocking around my toolbox somewhere, if you were interested in that, obviously that would make the gearing easier.

ROK ON

@Flickerex. Could be interested in you bike. But how easy would it be to chg the gearing. I commute on a geared bike and tend to push 52/(12thru14) in and 52/14-19 home.

niceonetom

@ROK

Changing the gearing on a fixie is straight forward enough, there are cogs available from 13 up to whatever, and you can also put whatever chainring you like on it (looks like a small enough one on flickerx's (lovely) conversion. 44 maybe?) You could set it up to give you whatever gearing you want.

That aside, unless you're commuting at very high speed you should probably work on your cadence - churning the biggest gear you can at 60rpm might feel fast, but, unless you're Bert Grabsch it's not. A fixie would be just the thing to kick that habit, and it would make you a stronger cyclist. Observe blorg.

gaffmaster

@Flickerx

Nice bike! I might be interested in it. I'm about that height too which helps. Will send you a PM to see if it's viewable.

Thanks.

Anyone got opinions on the SE Draft Lite?

flickerx

niceonetom: I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.

Yeah its a 44 chainring. Its a 110 bcd so I dont have any other chainrings at the moment, but I do have a 13t sprocket (its a 16 on there at the moment), so that'd be the tightest gear you could put it in.

44/13 is the same as 52/15.4, according to Rabbit.

Not finished yet though. Probably another week, I got some other bicycle building related things to do first on another project.

donal_mcg

flickerx wrote: »

niceonetom: I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.

Yeah its a 44 chainring. Its a 110 bcd so I dont have any other chainrings at the moment, but I do have a 13t sprocket (its a 16 on there at the moment), so that'd be the tightest gear you could put it in.

44/13 is the same as 52/15.4, according to Rabbit.

Not finished yet though. Probably another week, I got some other bicycle building related things to do first on another project.

@ FlickerX, I just got myself a couple of old steel frames I going to have a go at converting, I've read a lot of the threads here and have a capable mate to help, but, I need to get my hands on some parts such as flip-flop hub, crank etc? I see you have done quite a few of these so I've been looking on ebay and around some shops close to me, but is there any sites you'd recommend?

Cheers, Donal

ROK ON

@Flickerex.
Is it possible to run it SS with two gear combs, say a 13 and a 16? If I was to be interested it would need to be ss rather than fixed and have a back brake. So if that was the case I would like to view please.

flickerx

Donal, post up a list of parts that you want/need, and how much you're willing to spend, and I'll let you know the best places to get them. But tomorrow or over the weekend, I'm going to bed now in a minute...

Rok on, you could easily run two single speed sprockets on a flip-flop hub. You can just roll a freewheel sprocket onto the fixed side of the hub. The threads wont go all the way to the end of the hub because of where the fixed side lockring threads are, but I've never heard of anyone having a problem with doing this.

The only big problem I think you would have with doing this (2 x SS freewheels) is getting the chain length right so you could flip the wheel around for use on both sprockets without the wheel coming out of the dropouts in the front, or the chain not being tight enough if the wheel was pushed all the way to the back. You might need quite long dropouts, I'm not sure this frame could take the change in wheel positioning.

The other one I'm working on at the moment might be more suitable. But that is way, way off completion.

donal_mcg

flickerx wrote: »

Donal, post up a list of parts that you want/need, and how much you're willing to spend, and I'll let you know the best places to get them. But tomorrow or over the weekend, I'm going to bed now in a minute...

Rok on, you could easily run two single speed sprockets on a flip-flop hub. You can just roll a freewheel sprocket onto the fixed side of the hub. The threads wont go all the way to the end of the hub because of where the fixed side lockring threads are, but I've never heard of anyone having a problem with doing this.

The only big problem I think you would have with doing this (2 x SS freewheels) is getting the chain length right so you could flip the wheel around for use on both sprockets without the wheel coming out of the dropouts in the front, or the chain not being tight enough if the wheel was pushed all the way to the back. You might need quite long dropouts, I'm not sure this frame could take the change in wheel positioning.

The other one I'm working on at the moment might be more suitable. But that is way, way off completion.

Hey FlickerX, eventually I want to completely change handlebars/brakes/saddle but for the moment functionality is all I can afford or need. I need to get my hands on a front chainring and a flip flop hub, I had a fixie for a couple of weeks but am not too sure of myself as yet so need the singlespeed option. I have plenty of bikes I can rip rear sprokects from. Whatever advice you can give will be appreciated. Cheers

flickerx

donal_mcg wrote: »

I need to get my hands on a front chainring and a flip flop hub, I had a fixie for a couple of weeks but am not too sure of myself as yet so need the singlespeed option. I have plenty of bikes I can rip rear sprokects from. Whatever advice you can give will be appreciated.

I'm not sure where you can buy chainrings around town. Whats the BCD* of the chainring you're looking for? I've got a few spares in my gaf, but I think they're all for 130mm. Maybe one or two others. I'd give you one for a tenner. There's always eBay, if you're patient you'll get one for a euro or two.

Cheapest rear flip flop wheel in the city at the moment is in City Cycles in Blackhall Place at 70 euro. It comes with a fixed sprocket and lockring but not a singlespeed sprocket. I've got 18's and 20's at home, you can have one for a fiver if you want it.

*BCD = bolt circle diameter - the diameter of the circle of the five bolts in the crank.


edit: Sorry I didnt reply sooner, I forgot about this thread.

Harrybelafonte

donal_mcg wrote: »

Hey FlickerX, eventually I want to completely change handlebars/brakes/saddle but for the moment functionality is all I can afford or need. I need to get my hands on a front chainring and a flip flop hub, I had a fixie for a couple of weeks but am not too sure of myself as yet so need the singlespeed option. I have plenty of bikes I can rip rear sprokects from. Whatever advice you can give will be appreciated. Cheers

If you have a couple of frames as you were saying Donal, why not sell one or two and use funds for parts? Always people looking for frames, if one of them is a 56cm De Rosa, I'll give you 20 quid, it's all they're really worth anyway

blorg

You can turn any fixed gear wheel singlespeed- you can mount a freewheel on a fixed (double threaded) hub no problem. If the half-thread is enough to support a cog it will support a freewheel just fine, you don't need a flip-flop to have the singlespeed option. Indeed, my Giant Bowery came like this with a 17T freewheel attached to one side of a double-fixed hub.

EDIT: As flickerx said above.

blorg

ROK ON wrote: »

@Flickerex.
Is it possible to run it SS with two gear combs, say a 13 and a 16? If I was to be interested it would need to be ss rather than fixed and have a back brake. So if that was the case I would like to view please.

Freewheels to fit a standard track hub don't generally go lower than 16T- this is because they actually have to fit the ratcheting mechanism in between the cog and the threading- with a freehub the ratcheting is actually in the hub. There is a 15T that fits standard threads but it is pretty rare. You can get smaller with a BMX hub I believe.

Bear in mind also that if the difference between your two gear options is too great you would have to alter the chain length when swapping it around. Basically with the smaller cog your wheel will be at the end of the track end and with the larger one it will be in towards the cranks. So it depends on your dropout length and how far to either extremity you can get the axle. Generally you need to keep it close enough.

flickerx

blorg wrote: »

Bear in mind also that if the difference between your two gear options is too great you would have to alter the chain length when swapping it around. Basically with the smaller cog your wheel will be at the end of the track end and with the larger one it will be in towards the cranks. So it depends on your dropout length and how far to either extremity you can get the axle. Generally you need to keep it close enough.

I also said this.

blorg

Ah fair enough so you did. Well he can't use a 13T freewheel, that is my valuable contribution to this thread.

donal_mcg

flickerx wrote: »

I'm not sure where you can buy chainrings around town. Whats the BCD* of the chainring you're looking for? I've got a few spares in my gaf, but I think they're all for 130mm. Maybe one or two others. I'd give you one for a tenner. There's always eBay, if you're patient you'll get one for a euro or two.

Cheapest rear flip flop wheel in the city at the moment is in City Cycles in Blackhall Place at 70 euro. It comes with a fixed sprocket and lockring but not a singlespeed sprocket. I've got 18's and 20's at home, you can have one for a fiver if you want it.

*BCD = bolt circle diameter - the diameter of the circle of the five bolts in the crank.


edit: Sorry I didnt reply sooner, I forgot about this thread.

Cheers FlickerX, thats dead on but I've jumped ship over to France for a while so can't pick up the parts, eBay it is for the moment so. If I cant find what I'm looking for I'll definitely look you up next time I'm home.

@ HArry, the frames I have I picked up two at a market for 10euro for the two, there are bucketloads of them, plenty in good nick so not really worth my while until I build them up. That or drive a van load of them to Ireland to cover my fare home.

Harrybelafonte

Jeez what kind of frames are you picking up at that price??