Originally Posted by
jhess74
Two thoughts about that... contraption?
First, it doesn't look like it would hold up long, and it won't be pretty when it fails. Second, maybe it's the weird fish eye effect of that pic, but looking at where the axle is bolted to your homemade track end vs. in the original drop out, something doesn't add up. It looks like the wheel wouldn't fit in the vertical dropout without going past the seat tube.
Concern for your safety and joking aside tho, kudos on the ingenuity/effort displayed.
Using galvanized steel, like I have should hold up just as long as anything else, including the device IAmSam shows. It's probably made of aluminum which is a weaker metal.
If your mounting behind the original dropout you couldn't have the wheel going past the seat tube unless it did that on the original bike to begin with...think about it. The wheel mounts behind where the original dropout is located.
One of the benefits that I also gain from the converter is expanded wheelbase. I went out a couple of weeks ago to try and make up a homemade studded tire to play with as I actually had conditions where it would have been possible to use them and experiment around with them. The trouble was I didn't have frame clearance as the dropouts are just too darn forward on this bike. With the converter I now have the wheel sitting further back which makes that a possible option for the future.
Another side benefit is with this being a regular road bike, racing style, not touring style, the bike doesn't come with any braze-ons. With this I have several possible screws I can mount to right on the dropout to hook up a much more beefier rack than I what I current have on the bike, heck I could probably even be able to switch over to panniers instead of the backpack I've used on the bike trip each of the past three years now...not sure if I would even want to though.
Looking at photo that IAmSam posted it looks like it has two problems with it. One being the fact it doesn't have the brake in place to keep the whole things from being able to rotate forward on you and then as I said above I would still be stuck without any braze-ons on the bike.
In the initial, ridden, build out of plywood(pushed for time and had to get something rideable) I had forgotten to put the screws in to keep the whole thing from rotating on me and I only made it about two pedal strokes before it rotated on me and left me walking back in the house to put the screws in like I knew to do from the beginning. Hence why I have the piece that goes up the chain stay...to act as the brake in case the screw between the chain/seat stay fails.
I doubt there is much difference between what I've built and the product IAmSam shows other than the look of it. My device pretty much keeps the same BB/dropout height difference which can effect how the bike handles. The picture IAmSam shows would change the BB/dropout height difference and would change the overall handling of the bike...at least from what I heard on an interview I was listening to recently.
Plus at the time in question when I made this I had one simple problem. The chain tensioner had crapped out on me, totally gone. I had to do something and no bike shop was going to be open for a couple of days and as I was riding home, 13 miles without the chain tensioner(yeah, riding singlespeed at the time) I came up with the idea for this. I knew I had to find a way somehow to control the fore/aft of the wheel to keep the tension on the chain and this idea popped out quite quickly at me. With limited internet access and at the time limited bike shop availability I had to do things on my own. Sometimes you have to learn to be creative whether you like it or not.