Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - left hand drive

i'm wondering how feasible it would be to build up a fixed gear with a left hand side drivetrain? The only problem i can think of off the top of my head concerns the direction the cog would be pulled. I guess everytime you pedal forward it would work in loosening the cog, true? I'm sure it sounds like a dumb idea to most of y'all, but it would be pretty unique.

i've seen it done on bmx bikes, but never yet on a fixie. any ideas?

If you have a proper fixed hub and lockring then it wouldn't make a different cause it's either tightening against the lockring or the hub. I've seen it done before on a fix. I wouldn't have thought it was a problem at all. Just make sure you check your lockring often enough.

I've seen it done. Using a proper track hub and lockring will prevent any unthreading of the sprocket, but what you have to watch out for is unthreading the pedals. The easiest way to get round this is to use tandem cranks. These come with the spider on the right like normal, or the left, or both, depending on how the tandem is set up. Just get a pair with the spider on the left and a plain right arm and you're away. Of course you could just flip your normal cranks and put some Loctite on the pedal threads, but you'll never get 'em off again.

left-side drive on bmx bikes is an abomination. there's no reason why left-side drive on a track bike wouldn't work i guess...just the pedal issue...

well, if you've got good quality rebuildable pedals, you could just take em apart and switch the spindles. my question is: how/why did the whole left-hand drive thing get started in the first place? it's kinda cool looking for about 5 minutes, then it just looks... weird. wacky bmx rats...

put the drivetrain on both sides. then you are really cool!

sweet, then you have a backup in case your chain breaks. Now that would look cool, youd' just have to make sure your cogs were an even number teeth so that they're symmetrical.

The reason they put left hand drive on certain BMX bikes is because of grinding. Some people are more confortable grinding on their right side. But when you mess up and drop off the peg, you land on your sprocket. By moving it to the left side you're less likely to bend your sprockets. By the way, have you seen the size of BMX sprockets lately? They run really small sprockets and even smaller freewheels (9 tooth I believe)?

The reason they put left hand drive on certain BMX bikes is because of grinding. Some people are more confortable grinding on their right side. But when you mess up and drop off the peg, you land on your sprocket. By moving it to the left side you're less likely to bend your sprockets. By the way, have you seen the size of BMX sprockets lately? They run really small sprockets and even smaller freewheels (9 tooth I believe)?


the whole tiny sprocket this is getting ridiculous. i don't really understand what's wrong with 44/16.

a few weeks ago i was on my road bike on this bike path and there are some dirt jumps off to the side behind some trees and junk...well, bunch of bmx kids are riding along, taking up the whole stinking path and riding really slow to boot. i come up behind them, think i can get around when one of them veers off into my path again, so i skid, they all get over to the right, and as i pass them, the kid who veered tries to start some ****. and he's all "lemme see you do a wheelie!!" and then manuals right next to me, which...might've been impressive if he wasn't humping his top tube to balance while he was doing it. i say nothing and continue to pick up speed and i can hear him start to pedal harder and harder and i'm just thinking no way. never in a million years. i, of course, dusted him. i mean, come ON! i'm on a 17lb road bike with multiple gears, and he's on a 40lb+ bmx bike running like, 32/9 or some crap like that. sorry, go play in your dirt piles, kiddies.

before anyone gets mad, i RIDE BMX TOO (street). i'm just not a prick about it. oh...after that, i thought about putting a primo parts sticker on the seat tube of my pinarello, but then thought better of it.

Combine left-hand drive and inch-pitch and it would be very high on the funk scale. That might be reason enough to do it.

cool, thanks for all the help guys!

i'm wondering how feasible it would be to build up a fixed gear with a left hand side drivetrain? The only problem i can think of off the top of my head concerns the direction the cog would be pulled. I guess everytime you pedal forward it would work in loosening the cog, true? I'm sure it sounds like a dumb idea to most of y'all, but it would be pretty unique.

i've seen it done on bmx bikes, but never yet on a fixie. any ideas?

Dexter of NYC fame has one so it can be done

http://www.messengers.org/messville/dexter.html

http://www.oldskooltrack.com/files/dexter2.frame.html

heres another, unless the pic is flipped:

the whole tiny sprocket this is getting ridiculous. i don't really understand what's wrong with 44/16

I hear what your saying, but there is logic in it. Smaller gears are more out-of-the-way, useful when grinding, and when doing disasters and under-the-frame flatland tricks. I run 24/11 on my BMX, but I have good reasons. I wanted around a 2:1 ratio, because I ride flatland and it's easier to ride out of tricks with a small gear; I chose 11t at the rear because I have a freecoaster (coaster brake without the brake). Normally they use a clip-on cog, but you can get a 1 piece cog/driver unit that is much stronger (I've heard lots of tales of broken cogs), but it only comes in 11 or 12t. But you're right, 44/16 is still pretty good.

Have you seen trials bikes though? They have 16/10 or something. Crazy.

heres another, unless the pic is flipped:


ahhh...not that picture of that fine ass....mercian, with the hot f'ng ..... handlebars..... That picture was hyperlinked from my away message for a week, just titled "I'm in love"

mercian? Is that a pic of a guy or a girl?!

mercian? Is that a pic of a guy or a girl?!

its a picture of a bike! :)

http://www.merciancycles.co.uk

yeah i want it too.

mercian? Is that a pic of a guy or a girl?!

dumb.

Have you seen trials bikes though? They have 16/10 or something. Crazy.
But on a fixed / ss bike, if you're hauling up a hill or something on a 10t cog, there's only 5 teeth, maaaaaybe, between scaling it and throwing the chain. Also, smaller chainrings wear faster. Neither of which is a big issue on a trials bike, though.

I hear what your saying, but there is logic in it. Smaller gears are more out-of-the-way, useful when grinding, and when doing disasters and under-the-frame flatland tricks. I run 24/11 on my BMX, but I have good reasons. I wanted around a 2:1 ratio, because I ride flatland and it's easier to ride out of tricks with a small gear; I chose 11t at the rear because I have a freecoaster (coaster brake without the brake). Normally they use a clip-on cog, but you can get a 1 piece cog/driver unit that is much stronger (I've heard lots of tales of broken cogs), but it only comes in 11 or 12t. But you're right, 44/16 is still pretty good.

Have you seen trials bikes though? They have 16/10 or something. Crazy.


smaller gearing on a flatland bike makes sense to me. but on a dirt jumper? hell no. most kids claim they use it for the lighter weight anyway, which is just stupid.

dumb.


whole-hearted agreement.

Well yeah, on a dirt bike or a fixie small cogs are dumb, for sure. Check out http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/support/rideuktech/super_small_gears.html for some real sciencey stuff :)

All of this BMX talk is making me want to get another BMX bike put together.

All of this BMX talk is making me want to get another BMX bike put together.

I'm just over 3 weeks into either a deep bone bruise or a crack in my pelvis. I didn't go get it x-rayed because I'm stuborn. If I move wrong it still almost makes me cry. All this thanks to my new BMX bike and working on manuals. Real smart I am. Real smart.