you are all fantastic! a little arbitrary with the whole dishing dialogue but otherwise spectacular. So i did purchase a freewheel and i have read about spacers but was not aware of how they worked. I live in portland seemingly a fixed gear mecca and non of my lbs s knew how to help. even the one that services primarily our local messengers just told me to buy new wheels. thanks bikeforum friends for being smarter than the average professional. So after reading it seems the spacers screw on to the hub and then each other until i reach the desired length at which time i put the freewheel on and then the lockring? this sounds like the perfect solution. now my dropouts are semi vertical. i have read that they will work with a little fine tuning. does anyone have advice? anyone do something similar. i would rather not use the derailler or a tensioner. must i file the dropout or use half links in my chain? how do i make the chain perfect. thanks again