Total Fixed/SS newbie here,

what the difference between a fixed gear and single speed hub. Heres what I think I understand about this.

A flip-flop hub has 2 sides, both are SS (meaning you can coast, right?) but you can buy lockrings to make it a fixie, am I right?

I just need a little bit of clarification.

thanks.

no. flip flop hub has 2 sides, one is fixed, one is free. or sometimes fixed/fixed. The threading goes in different directions if I remember right. (been a while since i dealt w/ a freewheel)

Fixed gear is locked in.
SS is like a bmx single speed but will allow for coasting.
Flip/flop hubs are hubs with a fixed cog on one side and a ss-free cog on the other allowing you to ride either way. you can then not run fixed on the street if you have brakes and flip the wheel over for roller racing or the velodrome kinda action.

Not quite.

Fixed = single speed that can't coast
Single speed = can coast

Flip/flop hubs are just hubs with two sides of threads, either free/free, fixed/free or fixed/fixed.

Fixed hubs have two sets of threads, one for the fixed cog and one for the lockring, which is a safety mechanism designed to prevent the fixed cog from spinning off the hub.

Freewheel cogs can be used on fixed hubs but fixed cogs cannot be used on SS hubs, since there are no threads for lockrings.

Hope that helps.

ah. im wrong. i guess the fixed side just has the threading for the lockring. fwiw the only time ive ever seen a free free is in bmx.

Great info, thanks for clarifying this up!

i heart hyperevue he knows everrrrthing

Yeah, eddie.
I already ****ign said that...

Stop giving this guy false info! The difference between Fixed and SS is that Fixed is a SS that you ride brakeless. It's called fixed because you're constantly going to the shop/hospital to get things fixed after you crash.

true true I always think of flip flops for all my biking needs, but that can be set up many differing ways.

man up. ride fixed. flip-flops are for the beach.

Flip/flops can be fixed/fixed.

Actually a great thing to have as a backup, in case you **** up one set of threads.

fixed = single speed that can't coast
freewheel = single speed that can coast

Not so fast, johnny!

fixed = any drivetrain that can't coast. Not necessarily a singlespeed, but anything else is EXTREMELY rare.

Example: https://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/detail.php?id=65

true.. i knew i had some error coming for being snarky

I knew someone would bring up the old club racers.
wait what about internal hubs? I dunno anything about those but are those freewheel?

+1! i would have been without a bike for a while if it werent for this. its a great feeling when narrowly avoid death and then in about 2 minutes have your bike running safely again.

see above, as reproduced below:

most internal geared hubs are freewheeling, but a few models were made in quite small quantities that were actually fixed-gear three speeds (or possibly two or four or five speeds too). There are only a handful of these left on the world, and they do not go for cheap! The alternative is to modify a very commonly available Sturmey Archer model AW three speed hub to create a two-speed fixed hub. There are three or so different methods of doing this, but none of them create a truly bulletproof product. That said, I have no idea how hefty the OEM fixed gearhubs are/were.