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10-16-09, 04:27 AM
Hey All,
I just converted my 3/32 chainwhip to a 1/8. It couldn't be easier. All you do is punch out the pin on the link that is in the whip - but the outside portion not the part that actually connects to whip. That's it.
Extended explanation:
I found a 19 tooth cog and decided to swap out my 17 for a couple of reasons - 1) I'm looking to have a little easier time of the stop/start nature of my commute. Just a comfort thing. 2) My rear bolts are already at the reasonable limits of my fork ends and I've got a little more chain droop than I'm comfortable having.
I've removed the cog before but not with my own tools. I have a 3/32 chainwhip and a quick search online showed 1/8 chainwhips to be a little expensive. Well, it's not exactly a complicated instrument so I decided to see what it took to convert my whip. I dropped by the lbs and got a length of 1/8 chain. They would have given me dirty chain for free but I decided to go high end and paid $1 for about a forearm's length of new, Izumi 1/8 chain. Back home I started ruminating on this complicated undertaking. It quickly became obvious that there is no removing the link that is connected to the whip with a standard chainbreak tool. The link is pinned too high into the whip to permit this. But, it was easy to unpin the long chain at the outside of the whip attached link. Then, there was the matter of mating the 3/32 chain to the 1/8th. No problem. It's a little tedious because the 3/32 on the inside doesn't snap together on the 1/8th because it's obviously a bit more narrow. No problem, it just takes an extra second. Done. Now, the short chain section I left in place. This is totally acceptable as this section does not span across multiple teeth. So, I gave it a go and it worked perfect. No muss, no fuss. No weird alignment issues with the cogs, no bent teeth, no nothing. It works 100%. All you need is a little 1/8 and a chain breaker.
I just converted my 3/32 chainwhip to a 1/8. It couldn't be easier. All you do is punch out the pin on the link that is in the whip - but the outside portion not the part that actually connects to whip. That's it.
Extended explanation:
I found a 19 tooth cog and decided to swap out my 17 for a couple of reasons - 1) I'm looking to have a little easier time of the stop/start nature of my commute. Just a comfort thing. 2) My rear bolts are already at the reasonable limits of my fork ends and I've got a little more chain droop than I'm comfortable having.
I've removed the cog before but not with my own tools. I have a 3/32 chainwhip and a quick search online showed 1/8 chainwhips to be a little expensive. Well, it's not exactly a complicated instrument so I decided to see what it took to convert my whip. I dropped by the lbs and got a length of 1/8 chain. They would have given me dirty chain for free but I decided to go high end and paid $1 for about a forearm's length of new, Izumi 1/8 chain. Back home I started ruminating on this complicated undertaking. It quickly became obvious that there is no removing the link that is connected to the whip with a standard chainbreak tool. The link is pinned too high into the whip to permit this. But, it was easy to unpin the long chain at the outside of the whip attached link. Then, there was the matter of mating the 3/32 chain to the 1/8th. No problem. It's a little tedious because the 3/32 on the inside doesn't snap together on the 1/8th because it's obviously a bit more narrow. No problem, it just takes an extra second. Done. Now, the short chain section I left in place. This is totally acceptable as this section does not span across multiple teeth. So, I gave it a go and it worked perfect. No muss, no fuss. No weird alignment issues with the cogs, no bent teeth, no nothing. It works 100%. All you need is a little 1/8 and a chain breaker.