average cost of single speed conversion?
 

Picked up this vintage Fuji from my neighbor and plan on converting it to SS. What's the average cost for this?
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=488316

Eleven million dollars. Give or take a few.

Assuming that crankset has removable chainrings then all it would take is a set of SS chainring bolts and a rear wheel/cog.

Ok... I'm gonna run it by the local bike kitchen and see what my buddy can do.

Just get a cassette remover for the rear wheel, remove the cassette
Buy a new freewheel/cog
remove some chainrings and shorten chain
maybe even less than $20

Bike kitchen? They cooking up a new batch of bikes?

Bike kitchen is a spot to go work on your bike and use their tools if you don't have them .. professional mech on hand to give advise and help out. $2/hr to use the kitchen

TenSpeedV2 knows that. He's just yanking yer chain.

Interesting. Where I live, it is free and called an LBS. Mechanic will give you advice, and you have all the tools you can get your hands on. One of a kind shop, and I absolutely love it.

To be honest, I didn't know what he was talking about. Never heard of a bike kitchen before, and that is the truth.

The cost is whatever you want to put into it, down to zero. The zero option? Put the chain on a middle cog in back (either chainring). Remove links. That was my first single speed. Rode it like that for three years. I did remove the outside chainring. I should have spent the bucks to get proper single chainring bolts. The bolts i used were a touch too long and ovalized the holes and wrecked the crankset. (Those bolts might be $8.)

Ben

It kind of is a single speed already. Find a gear that works for you, and just leave it.

Have you thought about using an eccentric BB? More costly I know, but it would eliminate having to use a tensioner. Anyone have experience using these? It's hard to find reviews on these that speak to how they hold up long term.

The OP's bike has horizontal dropouts, so it doesn't need a tensioner. It also has a threaded freewheel, so it's a very simple matter to replace it with a singlespeed freewheel and redish the rear wheel to get a good chainline. Total cost of the conversion would be the cost of a SS freewheel.

That's very cheap, we charge $7 an hour, but we're also generally the ones doing the work.

Probably not necessary to redish the wheel either. But yeah, don't even bother with a tensioner,

+1
no need to redish the wheel, just keep the chain tension perfect

Thanks guys.. guess it's time to get started. Just finished removing the down tube Sports 10 decals. Much cleaner look now

Doesn't hurt to make sure the chain line is right.

Really, how much misalignment does it take to drastically accelerate wear on your drivetrain? Particularly for an eighth inch setup?

Well misalignment can lead to the chain popping off and if you're running brakeless like me then you've got a serious predicament on your hands.

Yep, that's right! Still wondering about the question I asked, though...

Looks like the wheel needs to be redished.. even with a spacer and barely catching a couple threads the chainline will still be off.

How far off?

Here's a flip-flop rear wheel for around $42: Wheel Master Weinmann DM30 Rear Wheel - 20" x 1.75, 36H, Flip-Flop, Black
No re-dishing needed, and you'll have the option of going FG. The chain line on my Weinmann flip-flop is 42 mm. You can change it by adding/subtracting spacers or flipping a cog around.

If you google "flip-flop wheelset," you can usually find a matched set in the $99-$100 range.