iamtim

So I wound up with a Nishiki Altron NFS frame/fork set. It's a nice -- if not somewhat vintage -- set. I've decided to make a hobby out of it and do something different, so I'm thinking of making it a single-speed bike.

My question is... how? What do I have to do to make it single-speed? I understand the crank/sprocket portion, but I don't understand the rear wheel aspects. Is there a special single-speed hub that I need? A special freewheel/cassette? What gear ratio should I go for?

Any other advice you can give me would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim.

dkb

You're about to start plunking down some real money soon, so I would recommend that perhaps you should do some more research on your new hobby first. Getting into (or back into) bikes is probably one of the best "hobbies" you could have picked. And its not as expensive as some other hobbies can be.

Look at these two sites and surf around the various bike resource links you come across, go back through the archives of this list, lurk and read this list for a while and you may find a lot of your questions have been answered.

https://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conver...l#freewheelhub
https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

It's always nicer to help people that have done a bit of homework first before they start to ask questions. Also keep in mind that there are no stupid questions, despite how some may feel. Good Luck, and welcome to the "community".

spud

you can go the super cheap route, pick the gear you like, put it in that gear and clip the derailuer cables and remove the shifters. a very time efficient SS too, and you probably wont even have to wash grease off your hands.

poopncow

Careful, if your chain line is not relatively straight (with the gear you pick), the chain will try to "shift" when you stump on the crank...first hand experience. btw, there is no rear deraileur, right?

spud

good point pnc, you will have to get your hands dirty afterall, no problem you have soap.

btw, BTHS?

shants

fast orange is the jam.

jet sanchEz

I built a pretty quick and simple single-speed bike for my friend by popping off the rear cassette and buying a spacer kit a tmy LBS for 0 bucks. Works great, the only part that was dirtyish was taking off the derialleurs and re-making the chain.

poopncow

mmmmmmm fast and orange..... mmmmmmmm jam..... mmmmmmm



dish soap is pretty damn good too (in a pinch), but you must scrub harder AND NOT use any water until you are ready to rinse.

re: free spacers, careful, the rear wheel may be the thread on freewheel kind vice cassette. Crossing fingers that you have a cassette type

poopncow

Based on the OP's question, it is unlikely that the OP has a chain whip or a lock ring or freewheel removal tool.

You are going to need these tools or enlist help from someone who does if you are to convert an existing (used) wheel.

tig rider

If you are trying to go the low cost route, without buying a new wheel, use spacers and your choice of gear on the rear hub. (assuming that you are not using a thread on freewheel) You can use an old rear derailer for chain tension and minor chainline adjustments. With that setup you can remove all other extra parts...shifters, cables, front derailer...etc. You will love the simplicity and the low maintainence!

eddiebrannan

the cable holds the derailleur against its natural tendency to spring to either the highest or lowest gear, depending on make/model. cutting the cable in one of the middle gears won't result in the derailleur staying in that gear like some kind of singleator. it will just free it to go to its default position at the top or the bottom of the gearing.

op: easiest way to go singlespeed on a derailleur bike is to select the cog you wish to use from the cassette, and replace the other cogs with cassette spacers. chainline is important with an s/s bike, which means that the chainring and the cog should be in line, looking from front to back or vice versa, so that the chain runs straight between them. you place the cog at the perfect position along the cassette by adjusting how many spacers are on either side of it.

any other method requires a new hub and a rebuilt wheel.

chain tension's important to keep the chain from falling off the chainring. horizontal dropouts and trackends allow for front-to-back repositioning of the rear wheel to assist this. it's harder with vert dropouts, but there are other options, including a chain half-link, an eccentric hub or a surly singleator (google any term you don't know).

use a bmx chain.

poopncow

Agreed, with everything!

Also, thats the reason I asked if there is a rear deraileur on the bike. If there is a rear deraileur, snipping the cable will cause the RD to go to one of the stops. The fun part is that then you may be able to play w the limit screw on the RD so that it goes to the gear you want. Cheap singulator???

OP, post your location, someone local may offer assistance.

Eddie! was up on Ebwy and Bowery on Tues and Bensonhurst on Wed. man it was a busy week!

smurfy

imtim,

Is the Nishiki Altron a road bike? (never heard of that one, did Nishiki even make mtn bikes?). Do you have a certain budget for your ss project?

A ss or fixed specific, or flip-flop rear hub can be expensive, and having a wheel built with it can be expensive too since even if the bike shop uses the rim you already have they will insist on using new spokes so they can guarantee the build (well, you would want to get the correct length spokes anyway).

dustinlikewhat

your first step should be consulting a wizard that has knowledge of atleast sixth level bike spells.

eddiebrannan

shoulda hollered at me man! i live on bowery

dkb

Well, lets see, I think iamtim lives in La Habra, which is in Orange county, Calif. (I'm in Canoga Park...). I think he said he had a frame and fork (a pic of which is in another of the forums), and unless he's acquired some more goodies, he has a lot of options, including getting a bottom bracket if his frame didn't come with one. Its a good opportunity to get to know what makes up a bike. He's got some researching to do. good fun.