Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Using stock freewheel and sprockets?

So for some odd reason I managed to stumble upon this idea.

First, I did some research on my Razesa. Apparently its kinda rare, and apparently the only valuable component still on it is the Zeus crown. Everything else is later model Suntour.

Second, I started to notice that many of the Razesa's I saw in pictures were single speed, and I thought "wow...that looks really clean."

Then, yesterday, I took a SS at the LBS for a ride yesterday, and I was like...wow...this is fun...no gear searching, no chainrub, just ride....wow

And then came the 3-4 of hours of researching SS build-up and parts.

My question is this:

I don't really have the money to spend on a new hub and screw on freewheel, nor do I feel like having the wheel redished. So what are downsides to just running spacers and a sprocket off my current cassette?

My bike is a 6spd, and the teeth a really long, so I think it could probablly hold fine.

All in all, I could probablly do the swap for 0-30 bucks.

You opinion?

That's exactly what I'm doing as well. Use your spacers to get as straight a chainline as you can. Should work depending on whether or not your rear dropout allows you to move the wheel so you can tension the chain.

I have forward facing semi-verticle drop outs, almost so much that they could be called horizontal dropouts.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/PHeller/Dropouts.jpg

Looks like your good to go.

Uh oh, first problem.

Suntour Freewheel, not sure what I need to get it off. Two ring, each has 2 notches opposite of eachother.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/PHeller/SuntourFreewheel.jpg

Will I be able to use Shimano Spacers with this?

Bike shop will have a suntour cassette tool. Wait is that a freewheel or a cassette?

Well I need to get the Cassette off...so Im not sure what kinda of freewheel it is.

Have you tried just running it on the middle cog first to see if you like it? Before you go to all the trouble, shorten your chain and run big front to middle rear just to make sure you like it like that. On most bikes, this gives you a good gear ratio.

I've tried to take apart freewheels before, and the ones I had were just one non-serviceable unit. Either that or they had fused together over time.

that pic looks like a freewheel not a cassette.

if it is a freewheel; the freewheel IS the cassette (as your thinking of it).

So what your saying is (i've put the wheel back on the bike) that I dont have a cassette? So I couldn't even run that hub?

You can run that hub, but you have to run it with a screw-on freewheel.

Like I said, if you're lazy, run big front/middle back with no derailleurs. If you stand far enough away, it looks like a regular single speed.

most people that convert to single speed use freewheel hubs (like you have) not cassette. you can remove your suntour freewheel with a special tool designed to do so, or have your LBS do it for you (it takes ~5 seconds).

you will need to buy a single speed freewheel, which can be had for $10-$20. the only problem this presents is spacing. if you are using the chainring on the inside of your cranks, you may be close enough. otherwise, you can respace/redish the rear wheel, or get a shorter bb assuming there is clearance.

i agree with the others who have said remove your derailleurs, shorten your chain, and run it as a ghetto single speed for a while.... that'll tell you if you like it enough to spend money on the conversion.

Would I need to change the rear bolts/nuts at all? I assume i'd leave the same amount of nuts on the axle, right? I mean, the dropouts don't clamp on the freewheel, the clamp on the axle, and the axle rides inside the freewheel, with nuts that wont change if I remove the freewheel, right?

I am confused as to how redishing the wheel moves its centering in the rear triangle?

Also, I think spacing isnt so much of a problem, as I can pick up those 3mm chainring spacers. How far out do most Shimano BMX freewheels stick out (as far as which gear would the line up with on the cassette? They are pretty big peices, so by guess, I'd say like...what the middle or 2nd from the biggest?

I am confused as to how redishing the wheel moves its centering in the rear triangle?

it doesn't. respacing the hub does that. but to do that you'd have to remove the freewheel.

i third the suggestion that you just wrap the chain around whichever cog it lines up with on the current freewheel (what you're calling a "cassette") and pedal away. if the gearing's too hard or soft, you can usually move the big ring to the inside of the crank spider. or the small ring to the outside.

cheers, enjoy. i'll try to take some pictures of my roommates bike if you're still having trouble seeing it.

I have to buy some singlespeed stuff to do a conversion on my urban mtb, so maybe I will experiment with that first, as I wont be riding the roadbike outside for a few months anyhow.

The idea of removing the geared freewheel and adding a BMX freewheel seems simple enough, its just this whole redishing aspect im kinda weary of.

I may actually have a neighbor who has some old BMX parts laying around, he may have a BMX freewheel for me.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm sure I'll reopen this thread in a few months.

Here's a dumb question:
Could I lace a BMX freewheel hub to a 700c rim? In other words, do those hubs come with as many holes as some 700c rims?

I have a MTB but I want to keep it as is and I have three roadbikes to work with. I don't have a BMX freewheel right now but I work at a garbage transfer station and they come in daily.

Here's a dumb question:
Could I lace a BMX freewheel hub to a 700c rim? In other words, do those hubs come with as many holes as some 700c rims?


Yes, but be sure to use a BMX hub with a 3/8" axle (14mm is the current trend) and make sure the axle is long enough to work with your dropout spacing as you may have to add some spacers.

Also, the rim and hub will both probably have to be 36h, that's the only common/affordable drillings that 700c and BMX hub overlap at.