Hello!
Sorry, I don't know if I should post this under the singlespeed section or the mechanical section - sorry if I made a mistake.
Story:
I have this old cheap bike that a friend gave to me. I needed a beater bike, so I accepted it. The frame of the bike is in good shape, but the components are really dirty and worn. I don't want to spend any money on a beater bike, but I don't mind putting in time to fix it up (I like fixing things
).
Anyways, I have a wreck of my old "cheap" mountain bike. I crushed the fork in an accident and it isn't worth replacing/fixing. The frame is in really rough shape (that's why I don't take the fork off the beater), but the components are good (they've been replaced over the lifetime of the bike).
I am/was planning on swapping parts from one bike to the other, so the beater works properly. As I was swapping wheels (the wheels on the beater were heavy steel, rusted rims, mine were lighter aluminum + new), I noticed the beater had a five-ring cassette, and mine had a seven-ring cassette. My rim does fit in the beater and spin freely, but I think I might have trouble shifting into the smallest gear. As well, my Shimano Tourney RD can't be mounted on the beater's frame. Since the beater is heavy, and I don't plan on doing any serious riding on it, I thought: "hey, I don't need a RD - I don't need to shift gears."
Now I have a few questions before I start wasting my time.
Questions:
It's possible to ride around on a bike without a RD, as long as I don't shift at the front, and the chain isn't slack, right?
This means I can leave the FD on the front (to help keep the chain on the chain ring) and it'll all work out?
Would I be able to ride without the FD at all? Or, is that too risky (the chain will slip)?
I have three chain rings at the front. As I said, it's a really cheap bike. Is it possible to convert it to only a single chain ring at the front, or is it a chance sort-of-thing, or do I need to buy a proper crank for a true single speed?
I had to replace my back wheel over the lifetime of my wrecked bike. It went from the "old-tech" of the screw-on cassette to the "new-tech" of a cassette that slides on. I don't know if this is important to my question, but is it possible to turn that wheel into a single speed, or no? Do I need a special back wheel that supports only one gear?
These may all sound like really stupid questions, but I have little to no experience. I'm willing to learn, and I thought asking the more experienced people some questions first would be a good start.
Thanks!