Well... what he really mean to say was that, using the rim, you can increase the length of the lever arm used to torque the cog on. It doesn't increase from the outermost wrap of the chain (which, well, holds the cog in place, and is the lever that counters the motion of you tightening the cog, and increasing this will decrease the force on the chain), it actually increase from the length of the chainwhip lever arm. Which is still a significant increase...

I dont use a lockring, and never had any problems.

I don't really understand the argument for NOT using a lock ring. Spend $10 and slap it on, you won't even notice it. Okay it takes a little more work to change cogs, but do you really change it that much?

Brakes, that's different. You can actually SEE brakes and sometimes finding an appropriate brake lever is troublesome. There can actually be an argument for the aesthetics that can be made, while for the lock ring, NO.

im with str8. what is the advantage of not using a lockring?

Less weight on your bike means that you can sail higher when you attempt those sweet jumps.

You can use a wide variety of old freewheel hubs.

the threads are stripped so i can't put one on.

[QUOTE=HereNT]
Eventually we put it in a vice with this little tool that was like two metal blocks with pins coming out the top that went into the teeth of the cog to secure it. Then two of us were able to (eventually) use the wheel for leverage to get it off. [QUOTE]

I love using that tool. At my shop we call that method "Driving the bus"

Aesthetics are a weak defense when citing safety.

Yes, if riding a track hub I would probably (and do) use a lockring. However, I dont feel one NEEDS to use a trackhub. People have been threading cogs on freewheel hubs without issue for most of the century before the hipster-city-trackbike became en vouge

Sorry to drag this out, I just hate the whole 'suicide hub', 'deathwish' framework that is so often layed as black and white. Calculated risk.

Im done, peace out everyone.

That no lockring trick seems like it'd be fine, as someone else said, until you need to backpedal. There isn't too much backpedalling going on on the track, so tha'd be a place for such a trick, but is a bike w/out a track hub + lockring track legal? Maybe in Italy where cycling in general and track in particular are more popular it's okay for a po' man to rig out his bike for some track action that way.

I'd feel very queer doing hard skids/skips w/o a lock ring.

d00d, if you don't backpedal, you don't need to do a ****ing thing with the cog. Thread it on halfway, get on the bike and riding takes care of the rest.
Rotafixa is just fine riding on the street, backpedaling and all. Probably not such a good idea if you're brakeless, and skid all over the place, but that's hardly news for anyone.

There is a bolt on rear cog manufactured by level, the only problem is that you need a level hub. Nice stuff, but a small company and new cogs might not be available if they ever went under.

The hubs are fine but it is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Let me end this thread since I started it.

a tight, very tight cog, greased or loc-tited on will hold tigh tfor most purposes.
I have an old "suicide hub" that served me well for years and we still haven't been able to get off.
(these among the are the most experienced mechanics in DC and Salvador, and strong)

However, if it does come loose it would rapidly spin off, depriving me of braking and drive capabilities and possibly leading to a cascade failureif the chain or cog got into the spokes.

For that reason, if you run a lockring-less hub, take it easy. Use a brake, one little front brake will not hurt your aesthetics if done tidily and it is a good idea if you are new to riding a fixie (or even if you are not). One broken chain will realy ruin your day if you are brakeless anyway. Which is why the heavy duty wippermans are so popular among heavy riders. They weigh a ton but will not break.

The reason why I brought this up in the first place is that there is a slickly produced and authoritative looking website spreading misinformation. They are clearly street riders yet they are promoting a track trick that is dangerous in street use.
The lockring is now unnecesary is simply untrue.
Just as saying the seatbelt is unnecesary, or brakes (automobile) are unnecessary.
They both are, until you need them.
But you might so you do...

BTW, is cycling more common in Italy than the United states?
Many countries honor cycling as a sport but it is rare on the street just as you don't see a lot of Americans driving NASCAR cars.

Could we nominate that "silliest post of the day"?

Seriously, WTF has the $200 LeVel hub have to to with people who are unwilling to pay $50 for a Miche? People are not opposed to lockrings, they don't want to spend money on new hubs and use the age-old threaded hubs they have lying around.
And how is a LeVel a solution to a nonexistent problem? It was designed to allow people to change gearing with a simple multitool easily, while guaranteeing that the hub will never strip. It does just that, or so they say.

you think christopher columbus felt queer sailing without a motor?

So I just used this (with a lockring in addition) and I have a question. I was able to screw the cog on until it was in direct contact with the hub after the threads. Should I be able to torque on it and tighten it much further, or is it fine to assume that only a small extra bit of rotation is needed?

With a decent amount of force, I could not turn the cog anymore, and it seems like its on tight.

Level.

nah, the phils have treated me well so far, I think I'll stick with 'em for a while.

"avoid applying excessive force as this may damage the threads of the hub"

buhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

can you tighten with the rotafix method too tightly?

Somebody reportedly tried on a shot hub and failed.

Yea, I wasn't able to do any damage.

Old freewheel road hub, surly "old" cog and durace cog. I applied as much torque as I could, but still couldn't do any damage to the hub or cog. I'm not a huge beast of a guy though, so that could have something to do with it.

yes, but if done properly it will not fail.

I'm not so sure about that. I wasn't able to do any damage, but ymmv.