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-   -   Can you make a road hub work with a fixed gear? (https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/194378-can-you-make-road-hub-work-fixed-gear.html)

bimmerboy 05-08-06 07:07 PM

Can you make a road hub work with a fixed gear?
 
Sheldon brown said it "can be done" , and recommends lock tite if you do. I'll have a front brake so most stopping wont be from back pressure on the pedals. besides if you really hammer the pedals going fowards it takes effort to unscrew a freewheel thats been riden alot.

mihlbach 05-08-06 07:20 PM

Many on this forum will basically tell you that you are going to die without a lock ring, but I'm a big 208 pound guy and I've been skipping on a rotafixed suicide hub (no locktite, no lockring) for 1500+ miles with no slippage, so it can be done. I keep wondering when my cog is going to slip. I probably will never find out, as I am now building up a new wheelset with a legit track hub.

Eatadonut 05-08-06 07:26 PM


Originally Posted by bimmerboy
Sheldon brown said it "can be done" , and recommends lock tite if you do. I'll have a front brake so most stopping wont be from back pressure on the pedals. besides if you really hammer the pedals going fowards it takes effort to unscrew a freewheel thats been riden alot.

If you've got a front brake, go for it. Do the rotafix method (look it up, it's been discussed a bunch), and locktite, and you'll probably never have a problem, especially since you wont' be backpedaling a bunch.

ka12na 05-08-06 07:30 PM

Eatadonut, or anyone who would answer this question. Would you recommend rotafix, and on top of that lockring?

dolface 05-08-06 07:31 PM

you can get a good sense of who's for and against by searching the forum for 'suicide hub'

(i'm in the against camp, fwiw)

nitropowered 05-08-06 07:33 PM

If you are going to use locktite, use the red. It'll require heat to take off, but better have the cog stay on.
Cog, locktite, rotofix, extra bottom bracket lockring.

Personally, I'm against it and I recommend getting a real track hub.

Eatadonut 05-08-06 07:47 PM


Originally Posted by ka12na
Eatadonut, or anyone who would answer this question. Would you recommend rotafix, and on top of that lockring?

well, if you've got a lockring, I wouldn't rotafix, and I wouldn't locktite.

gorn 05-08-06 09:57 PM

An english BB lockring in addition to rotafix isn't a bad idea. Nor is loctite.

I went the track wheel route because the wheel I had was a casette. If it wasn't a casette I would've gone the "sucide hub" method without worrying as I have a front brake, and I've skipped/skidded on the free side of my flipflop that is rotafix/BB lockringed.

I'd say go for it. If your cog keeps unscrewing then get a track hub, if not don't worry about it.

Aeroplane 05-09-06 07:08 AM

I can't for the life of me understandy why somebody wouldn't use both locktite and a lockring if doing a suicide hub. It costs an extra $6 total, and can't hurt.

I ran a suicide for a few months, and then I got rid of it when I switched to 700c wheels. Rotafix, loctite, BB-lockring, and use a brake. And don't come crying to us when it breaks and you get hurt.

dirtyphotons 05-09-06 02:35 PM

again, i was not the first person to think of this, but i feel it's a good compromise so i'll pass it on. if you must use a suicide hub then consider putting the drive train on the left hand side. the advantage to this is that if your cog does come loose, it will be on a hard acceleration, and you can "coast" until it tightens up and you can safely stop the bike.

as far as construction, everything's pretty much the same, only you put the rear wheel on backwards, and the cranks on reverse. unscrew the pedals and put some blue loctite on the threads, because they're threaded to be ridden the other way around, and check every once in awhile that they're not coming unscrewed. that's it, a (slightly) safer suicide conversion.

EDIT: still think it's a bad idea.

EDIT2: if you're going to rely on your front brake to stop, put a back one on as well. brakes crap out.

humancongereel 05-09-06 04:46 PM

i'm mixed on the idea of a suicide hub. i think it's an okay intermediate solution. i also know a guy who's ridden the same suicide hubbed FRONT wheel (don't even ask me how, he didn't do it) since december. no issues at all.

then again, if you do it wrong...SLAM! world of pain.

Yoshi 05-09-06 04:48 PM

I know a guy who had a flip flop hub, one side fixed one side free. He wanted it fixed/fixed so he took it to a shop and they rethreaded the free side.

That is probably the best option but it will probably be costly (though probably less than a new wheel).

huhenio 05-09-06 06:59 PM

Yes ... it will work. In my experience, the higher you gear the lesser the chance of unscrewing it of the hub.

el twe 05-09-06 07:05 PM


Originally Posted by humancongereel
i'm mixed on the idea of a suicide hub. i think it's an okay intermediate solution. i also know a guy who's ridden the same suicide hubbed FRONT wheel (don't even ask me how, he didn't do it) since december. no issues at all.

then again, if you do it wrong...SLAM! world of pain.

Disc hub?

dirtyphotons 05-09-06 07:15 PM

suicide front hub? common, don't leave us hanging.

humancongereel 05-09-06 07:19 PM

huh? it's a front wheel, with a loctited cog, slapped on back. really sketchy, but it's held for almost 6 months now.

dirtyphotons 05-09-06 07:39 PM

awesome. just curious, thanks.

baxtefer 05-09-06 07:48 PM


Originally Posted by humancongereel
huh? it's a front wheel, with a loctited cog, slapped on back. really sketchy, but it's held for almost 6 months now.

i can't picture how this is possible.

baxtefer 05-09-06 07:52 PM


Originally Posted by dirtyphotons
again, i was not the first person to think of this, but i feel it's a good compromise so i'll pass it on. if you must use a suicide hub then consider putting the drive train on the left hand side. the advantage to this is that if your cog does come loose, it will be on a hard acceleration, and you can "coast" until it tightens up and you can safely stop the bike.

bad idea. badbadbadbadbad.

You'll just end up sacking yourself on your stem when you're cranking away from a stoplight or grinding up a big hill. Ever see someone break a chain doing this? It's the same feeling and it's not fun.

Most people here, when riding normally, put more force into the pedals when riding forwards/accelerating than they do decelerating. (you really shouldn't be riding brakeless or doing huge skids on a bumbike setup anyway)

humancongereel 05-09-06 07:52 PM

yeah, i dunno. but i guess it's spaced to 110, and looking at it more closely, i didn't see any of the usual threading, if i remember right. i only really looked closely once.

but i don't know how it's possible either.

thurstonboise 05-09-06 08:10 PM

If it was a front mountain disc hub. It's fairly easy with a drill press. There's a write up on the gallery. If I find good conversion frame, I will probably go this route with an XT hub.

Eatadonut 05-09-06 08:20 PM

Don't see why you couldn't just weld a cog to the hub of the front wheel. Bam - not even really suicide, unless you're a crappy welder.

baxtefer 05-09-06 08:23 PM


Originally Posted by Eatadonut
Don't see why you couldn't just weld a cog to the hub of the front wheel. Bam - not even really suicide, unless you're a crappy welder.

hub=aluminum
cog=steel (usually)

pretty hard to weld steel to aluminum. and even if you could, your chainline would suck.

humancongereel 05-09-06 08:29 PM


Originally Posted by thurstonboise
If it was a front mountain disc hub. It's fairly easy with a drill press. There's a write up on the gallery. If I find good conversion frame, I will probably go this route with an XT hub.

could be. hell, it's worked for him long enough. i wish he'd done it so i could get some info from him...he just bought a beater from some dude and it was like that.

if you could alleviate the chainline problems and work out the metals for welding the crap, that'd be an all right thing to do, i suppose.

Aeroplane 05-10-06 07:01 AM


Originally Posted by baxtefer
bad idea. badbadbadbadbad.

Most people here, when riding normally, put more force into the pedals when riding forwards/accelerating than they do decelerating. (you really shouldn't be riding brakeless or doing huge skids on a bumbike setup anyway)

Also, getting a LHD setup can be a real pain in the ass. Unless you have the front of a tandem crankset, eggbeater pedals, rock BMX platforms, or enjoy doing spindle surgery on your GR9's, it's not going to work.

Riding brakeless on a suicide is a recipe for death. That's how it got the name, for chrissake.


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