Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - get out the popcorn....2 speed bike?

i have what may be a dumb question....yes, i have searched .....for a conversion.....what if i were to get a single peed rear wheel and a chain tensioner; would i be able to still use my front dérailleur still and have a 2 speed....would it be too noisy or plain old just dangerous....i would use a freewheel....thanks, bob

i apologize....i searched some more and answered my question....sorry bout that....bob

Soo... what's the answer?

no go.....tensioner will adjust chain length but not chain line......

But the front derailleur wouldadjust the chainline up front, and you don't need to adjust it in back since you only have one gear back there. Seems more or less the same but opposite of running just a rear derailleur.

There are only two things you need to get done to change a single gear. Move the chain, which a front derailleur would do for you. And change the length of the chain, which a tensioner would do for you.

Am I missing something? I very well could be since I don't know much about derailleurs.

I don't see a problem. The two chainrings aren't far enough apart to make the chain bend too much, and it wouldn't be any different from a "regular" geared bike.

I'm actually a little surprised this isn't done more often.

darn, thought this would be a thread about retro-direct drive

speaking of which, i still wanna do that, just have to find a bike suitable (my roommates is perfect, but he doesn't give a **** and doesn't deserve something so awesome)

hmmm....shall i try it then?......would be cool for novelty sake....i guess get some spacers to line back cog right between the chainrings?.....any suggestions?.....

doable, but you loose the clean looks of a single speed, and you have most of the complexity of a geared bike.

I only grant you my permission to do this if you track down a rod actuated front derailer. Otherwise it will be too messy

wait wait wait.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t162/dminorwa/3D_B-29.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h28/chelboed/Bike/sshot-1-5.jpg

this is two speeds but will cost you a lot.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h28/chelboed/Bike/sshot-2-1.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h28/chelboed/Bike/sshot-3.jpg

doable, but you loose the clean looks of a single speed, and you have most of the complexity of a geared bike.

I only grant you my permission to do this if you track down a rod actuated front derailer. Otherwise it will be too messy

Why would it be messy?

Yeah, he loses some aesthetic points, but gains in practicality. Suppose he goes with a 52/39 crankset and an 18t cog. That gives him 76 and 57 gear inches: one gear for climbing modest hills and another for everything else.

That frame reminds me of the old BMX Torker frames.

I doubt a 13 tooth difference up front would work with the common single speed chain tensioner, but with a Paul Melvin it could be done. It's design works with up to 20 teeth of difference up front.

http://paulcomp.com/melvin.html

Otherwise, I would assume that the chainring tooth difference would max out at like 4 or 6 teeth, which while novel doesn't seems like enough of a gain to make it worthwhile.

what if... you had a fixie, with a front derailleur, and no tensioner? im sure on the smaller of the two main gears the chain would be a little loose but, how loose do you think it would be? very good question i think.

just so u alls know...a fixie is way to go, i know....but this way i could put off buying a new crank and bottom bracket fer a bit....and it would be fun....we all know a straight up fixie is the way to go...just havin fun with idears....though, i am actually going to do this....peace...

i like beer......

single peed
switching to two peed