Building a Carbon Fiber SS - advice?
 

Hi,

This is my first post here, so first a little background. I have been mountain biking for a couple of years now and recently completed my first 35 mile race and it was a blast. I started riding a single speed road bike for a couple of reasons - to commute to work (6 mile ride), to train for mountain biking, and then because my wife got a road bike and started wanting to ride together. Here's my Cannondale Rush with Mavic 818 tubeless, XT drivetrain, and a few other mods.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/1230/dsc07702.jpg

I built a 1965 Schwinn Collegiate that I have been riding with 26" mountain bike wheels and 1.25" slicks on it. It has been a fun bike to ride, but I'm ready for something lighter, stiffer and taller. It sits pretty low on 26" wheels.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/3395/dsc08081.jpg

So I picked up this carbon fiber Douglas frame, FSA ergo drop bars, a stem and a Cane Creek headset at Titus' yard sale last weekend as a starting point for a new build. It has vertical dropouts, so I am looking for the magic gear to keep about 80 gear inches and not run a tensioner. For me, the simpler and cleaner the better.

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/8136/dsc08080y.jpg

Right now I'm trying to choose wheels, I like the look of 16h or 20h wheels so that's what I'm going for.

Tell me what you think of these wheels:

Spinergy SR-3

http://images.craigslist.org/3nb3k03...8957fc1c65.jpg

Shimano WH-R535

http://images.craigslist.org/3mf3o13...61c0dd1a8f.jpg

or the cheapo Forte Titus

http://images.craigslist.org/3nb3kb3...0c4b7a17d6.jpg


Any other parts advice for this build?

well, if you don't want to run a tensioner, get a white industries eno hub. iirc it's for both fixed and singlespeed, but you can just throw a freewheel on the fixed side if it doesn't technically have a freewheel threading.

much less ghetto than magic gear nonsense. and looking at the wheels you're looking at, it's not too unreasonable. build it up to an open pro or a velocity aerohead, it will be light enough and probably more durable than the wheels you listed

oh make sure you get the hub spaced out to 130. dunno if they already are, but it wouldn't be that hard.

+1 on Eno hub. IRD Niobium rims might also be up your alley.

Why is the magic gear ghetto? Seemed cleaner to me. I am trying to stay cheap on this build. The wheels I posted are in the $200 range from Craigslist. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming.

Ok, looking at the White Ind hubs, they have a single speed version and a cassette version. I'm thinking he cassette version would be more flexible as far as chainline and also if I decide to go geared. Thoughts?

did u get one of those european bottom bracket adaptors for that schwinn?

White Industry hubs require a lot of money whereas a magic gear requires only a bit of math, I personally would go with a tensioner. A good one will be less than $30, I have an $8 one that has been fine for years now.

Of the wheels that you have pictured I would not use the Shimano 535s because if you pop a spoke on one of your long rides with your wife, the wheel will instantly go out of true. This happened to me but I was only about 30 minutes from my house, thankfully.

Yeah I found it at a LBS. It's a Mongoose part, it would look less cheesy without the Mongoose logo. Worked like a charm and it allowed me to run a 3 pc crank.

I like the Shimano spoke pattern the best, but I hear you. The wife an I mostly ride within a 10 mile radius of our house, but I hear you it could ruin a good ride.

eno
 

freewheel, not cassette.

magic ratio is ghetto because you can't adjust for chain slack as the bushings wear. though if you're not doing fixed i guess it's a nonissue.

i don't believe WI makes a eccentric cassette version of their hub. that's kind of what you need. you wouldn't need eccentric with a cassette because the derailleur you're going to use will act as a tensioner.

a tensioner will really just look like a stripped down derailleur. not bad looking, plus you're going to be running two brakes so it's not like that little extra bit is going to kill the clean stripped down look or whatever.

I wouldn't run a cassette, just a spacer kit with one cog. I will probably only run one brake too, don't see a need for two. If you look closely at the Schwinn I built it has a rear disc brake on it. Stops me just fine.

You are correct, but that's what they call it on their site.

http://www.whiteind.com/rearhubs/cassettehubs.html

eno/ss
 

wrong hubs. these:

http://www.whiteind.com/rearhubs/singlespeedhubs.html

Could I talk you into two brakes? On long descents you'll be happy to have a rear brake to give the front a rest to cool off, and it's always nice to have a way to stop should something happen to one brake.

doh

stop
 

+1

I thought you guys ran with no brakes on your fixies? :)

brakes
 

fixed/free

brakes is the new brakeless

don't be a fakenger, run two brakes on your freewheel'd bike

Yeah, White industries eccentric hubs are the best way to have a vertical dropout frame SS with no tensioner. You can do the magic gear stuff, but you have to play around with it. If you are single speed then it's a good cheap solution.

Oh, and if you are singlespeed road riding, have 2 brakes.

Don't forget about using a half-link to dial in the perfect chain tension.

There's also eccentric BBs around too, but they're probably a bit pricey if you want to keep things on the cheap.

Eccentric BB's are about the frame, not the BB aren't they?

there a a couple eccentric bb's for standard frames.

So wait, why don't you want to use one of those road wheelsets with a tensioner? Building that single eno wheel will cost more than buying a $200 set and a tensioner.