Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - my new bike and some questions

i got a fixie yesterday. its an old windsor frame which is in good shape less one dent on the top tube and some chipped paint. it has pretty old chrome lugs in the ornate nervex tradition (maybe they are nervex? i dont know). the bike originally had barcon shifters which led me to believe it was a tourer but there arent any water bottle bosses at all, so maybe not? the wheelbase does seem a little longish, though.

so here are a few issues im having. post-conversion the drivetrain is noisy as hell. im guessing this is because the chain line isnt nearly as straight as it should be. it originally had a double chainring ... and still does except the chain is now snuggly around the small ring. the extra rear cogs were taken off except for the 17t which seemed to be the most appropriate one to use. i had no part in doing this, however, so there isnt much more i can say about how the conversion was accomplished. id like to make the pedalling not so loud though so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

also, i cant for the life of me make the bike skidstop. maybe its because i dont yet have any sort of foot harnessing apparatus (clips or clipless). do you find that it is easier to stop with the extra leverage given by toe baskets? the front brake i am using is garbage and i should put a better one on. im having trouble gaining confidence on the bike because the brake is nearly useless and i cant skidstop at all.

you should be able to tell if the chainline is off... otherwise you can measure it. from the chainring to the center of the seat tube, and from the cog to exactly halfway between the dropouts. those distances should be very close to identical.

if the chainline is straight, the chain might be too tight. tight chains make lots of noise. also lube it up and keep it lubed.

you can't really skid without toeclips and you might hurt yourself badly if you keep trying. imagine your foot coming off the pedal while you're putting all you got into it. toeclips or clipless pedals also help because while you're pushing back on the back pedal, you can pull up on the front one.

sounds like a funky ride :) ride safely.

measuring it, the chainring is about 4cm and the cog is about 3.5cm from center. does this seem like a significant amount?

the chain is tighter than a guitar string. is there a way to measure chain tension? does this sound too tight?

hopefully in the next couple of days i will locate a more functional brake and get some toe baskets on there.

also has anyone else made a fixie without removing the the double chainring? its like a pointy chainguard.

yes, 5mm is fairly significant. you can fix this by getting some stack bolt spacers (if your crankset has stack bolts) and moving the chainring more toward the frame.

yes, that sounds like an overtightened chain. the rule of thumb is that in the tightest part of the crank rotation (some chainrings are slightly oval so the chain will be looser at some points in the rotation and tighter at others) you should be able to dangle the chain up and down about a quarter inch.

people usually get rid of the extraneous chainring... useless extra weight.

ok ill see what i can do. thanks for the help!

> people usually get rid of the extraneous chainring... useless extra weight.

on this type of crankset i dont know if thats possible... the smal chainring is bolted onto the back of the larger one. it doesnt connect to the crankarms. so taking off the large one would remove the connection b/t the small ring and the cranks. i dont know what this kind of setup is called but thats what it looks like.