Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - hacksawing dropouts?

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I'd probably suggest a dremel over a hacksaw.

But that's only if I was going to suggest that you do it at all.

Which I'm not.

As far as it only being 10 bucks, yeah, that's the cost of your frame, but how much is it going to cost when the break and you go splut on the pavement or under a car?

Ummm... Ever think about trying to build it up first and see if what you have is good enough? I'd be inclined to go so far as to replace a link with a half link to see if that made a diff before I went at the dropouts with any implement. Even then, I would use some sort of rotary tool with a barrel grinder as HereNT suggests. But probably you'd just be best served by making sure that it's actually a problem before you go solving it. ;)

seems to me there'd have to be a whole lot of extra metal in the dropout for this to be a vaguely good idea...

I have a World Sport and I think there is plenty of room to file down. I'm guessing that your frame is like mine with a nice long non-drive side dropout and a filled in drive side dropout? I tired filing, but it takes a lot of time, so I just went with a half link.

I have a World Sport and I think there is plenty of room to file down. I'm guessing that your frame is like mine with a nice long non-drive side dropout and a filled in drive side dropout? I tired filing, but it takes a lot of time, so I just went with a half link.


A friend has a similar frame... why they were built that way (with uneven drops) is beyond me. We started dremeling, but after a few asploding bits, we are going to drill it out first, then dremel.

This came up recently elsewhere around these parts.

The NDS was a "non-adjustable" dropout. You only needed one with reasonable depth to be able to properly center the wheel.

This came up recently elsewhere around these parts.

The NDS was a "non-adjustable" dropout. You only needed one with reasonable depth to be able to properly center the wheel.

I was thinking of this yesterday... wouldn't that result in the hub being cocked in the drops? Or I am I thinking of this wrongly?

Yeah, assuming that the axle, rim, and bike frame are all factory-true. If any othe these is bent out of true, well you're gonna need some wiggle room.

Yeah, assuming that the axle, rim, and bike frame are all factory-true. If any othe these is bent out of true, well you're gonna need some wiggle room.

True, and I guess Schwinn never really intened these bikes to be fixed, so you would only really need to adjust for manufacturing tolerances.

I had dropouts like that on my first conversion. Drilled it out to match the nondrive side, never had a problem with it. My neighbors did tho, since I was doing it at like- 3am!

Yeah, assuming that the axle, rim, and bike frame are all factory-true. If any othe these is bent out of true, well you're gonna need some wiggle room.

Which leads to the question: why do modern road bikes have vertical drops?

My first guess is because it makes it impossible for the wheel to slide around or for the dropouts to get bent. Of course if anything else is messed up, you're screwed, but then bikes are built less and less for serviceability, ya know?

I've always assumed it was due to closer shifter tolerances. If the wheel is on only one location you can design a more precese shifer. But as I said I am assuming. I kinda wish my road bike had them today when my wheel kept slipping 13 miles from home.

True. Without thinking too hard about it, it may be necessary for tightly indexed shifting, for example.

vertical dropouts also make it easier to pull the rear wheel out of the frame. this in turn makes wheel swaps (if a rider gets a flat) mid-race much faster. easy in, easy out, no mucking about trying to center the wheel.

correct me if im wrong here.. but if you want to super bike geek.. thats why they are called dropouts.. verttical dropouts is redundant..did i spell that right.. track ends are not dropouts.. nothing drops out.. im not trying tto be a dick and i may be wrong.. i just dont want the old dude at the shop snickering at you and making you feel bad..cause i learned this from the know it all old dude...

Umm... yeah, but horizontal dropouts aren't track ends. They're dropouts. Track ends are.. well, track ends.

True, and I guess Schwinn never really intened these bikes to be fixed, so you would only really need to adjust for manufacturing tolerances.

Or they never intended to manufacture perfectly straight frames... :eek:

Or they never intended to manufacture perfectly straight frames... :eek:

to hear that from you is blasphemy!

:rolleyes:

Just a thought, but build a wheel with an Eno (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed-hubs.html#white) hub.

Just a thought, but build a wheel with an Eno (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed-hubs.html#white) hub.

I did the same. Some may look at it as the east way out, but I was able to use a new frame with vertical drops. Wheel installation is a breeze! I highly recommend it if it suits your needs. FWIW, my LBS built up my wheels with Velocity Deep V rims and 32H/14GA spokes. It's a bulletproof setup.

Just a thought, but build a wheel with an Eno (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed-hubs.html#white) hub.

I think the guy was talking about a $10 thrift store bike. That Eno hub is worth 15.9 thrift shop bikes.

I think the guy was talking about a $10 thrift store bike. That Eno hub is worth 15.9 thrift shop bikes.

The guy was also talking about taking a hacksaw to the dropouts.

Shattered teeth, wired jaw bone, broken femur, facial plastic surgery...several hundred thrift store bikes-when the hacked drops fail at speed.

Eno hubbed wheel...priceless.

Just a thought.

thats weird I have a world sport and mine has pretty decent dropouts, it's an 82 so I guess they just shortened them later in the line, maybe as vertical ones were starting to get popular?

I've always assumed it was due to closer shifter tolerances. If the wheel is on only one location you can design a more precese shifer. But as I said I am assuming. I kinda wish my road bike had them today when my wheel kept slipping 13 miles from home.

I wish they would all start using those adjustable vertical drops right now. Then every road frame would be fixed-gear ready, and five years from now when people started throwing away the fancy road frames they're buying today, it would be that much easier for me to make fixies.

My ride is an '89 Trek and has very short horizontal dropouts but there is plenty for me to get the chain tight. I recently added a half-link as suggested earlier to use a diffrent gearing. Again, it works fine.

i hand filed out the filled-in non-driveside dropout on my 80-somethin' SS stumpjumper (its got a rear u-brake!). its not too bad if you have access to a variety of sharp files. if you do it, just make sure that the top and bottom of the filed drop is on the same respective plane as the top and bottom of the non-filled side. otherwise the wheel will sit oddly crooked in the rear triangle.

I wish they would all start using those adjustable vertical drops right now. Then every road frame would be fixed-gear ready, and five years from now when people started throwing away the fancy road frames they're buying today, it would be that much easier for me to make fixies.
Adjustable vertical drops? Do tell! I've never heard of those...

check out the dropouts on the kona unit SS MTB. makes using disc brakes a piece of cake.

Adjustable vertical drops? Do tell! I've never heard of those...

like these for example:

http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/gioscompdo.JPG