Originally Posted by
agnewton
Thanks for your replies. There is a 15-year
Old Bikeforums Thread (
fixed gear/ road hub- no lockring?) where someone had a similar problem and reading through it, I couldn't come to a conclusion on whether you could get away with skipping a locking. [MENTION=44824]mihlbach[/MENTION], the rota fix method looks like it will work and with a bit more torque than I'd get with a chain whip, but looks like it might be rough on the bb finish. [MENTION=471203]seamuis[/MENTION] yes, it's a multispeed freewheel hub and yep, that's why the improvised BB lock ring. The ring leaves only a couple threads exposed when cranked on tight (photo below). In the old thread, someone said the Sheldon Brown website had info on cog dimensions. I only found it on the second trip to the site after scrolling down (
Sheldon Brown- Chainline). Maybe a pre-2005 Surley would work, but I'm not sure where I could get one to try. I'll go with thread locker blue and avoid skids. [MENTION=251447]ThermionicScott[/MENTION], the hub is a late-model multispeed freewheel, maybe the older ones are threaded to the end. If the fixed gear experiment goes well, I'll build a proper wheel and use a frame without a derailleur hanger.
Thanks for your recommendations. Rota fix with thread locker and no skids.
For practical road fix gears, older road bikes with horizontal dropouts are the sweet deal. Derailleur hangers don't matter. I go out of my way to find early '80s horizontally dropped bikes using the standards the Japanese used. (English tube diameters and frame threading, metric elsewhere.)
Road dropouts mean you can use a rear brake and have little rim height change if you change cogs and have the wheel a little further forward or back. Road dropouts also make pulling and installing the rear wheel a lot faster; a real blessing if you have to fix a flat in the dark. That all road fix gears marketed now have track ends says a lot about both marketing and peer pressure.
If I had to can the hanger, I'd cut it off. Yes, I know that is a sacrilege but I'd rather do that than be saddled with track ends. (Good thing is my ego can deal with an ounce and a half of useless hanger and I don't have a paint touch-up to do.)
Edit: Bah! Old thread. I hope the OP stayed with this Miyata. Sweet ride! I'd call it a keeper.
Ben