Is this evil?
 

I've never rode a fixed gear but am considering building one. I already have a silver and a black front 700c wheel. Would this fixed rear with 3spd hub be evil?

Now with link:

http://www.nycbikes.com/item.php?item_id=621

The what with the what?

Multi-speed hubs are ****ing sweet.

Build up the 14 speed!

im confused.....

Ok wait... now I am too.

I thought you were talking about building up a 3-speed fixed hub.

True.

3 speed FIXED GEAR hub?

Does this exist? I know there are old Sturmey-Archer fixed gear hubs... but anyone making new ones?

Someone should start making them.

I've got no idea what is going on here, however, it appears NYCBikes has a brilliant new idea: selling junk left over from conversions!

yes, sturmey archer asc

yes it does
Sturmey-Archer ASC. very rare, very expensive

Sturmey-Archer made them.

I guess that answered your question hehe.

but no one is making new, modern ones?

nope.

I think he must be talking about the Tricity. It's a Falcoln 3 speed hub on there City Fixed frame for $600.
http://www.nycbikes.com/images/items/_499_1.jpg

I'll pass. I got nothing against 3-speeds, but this is so WAY much classier, and even if you don't get the bargain I did, you won't pay a quarter the cost of the Tricity.
http://velospace.org/files/DSCN0008.jpg

**** you picked that up in a yardsale? Very nice.

There are several .pdf's floating around detailing the process necessary to convert various multi-speed hubs to fixed, multi-speed hubs.

Here.
Here.
And holy ****, here.

there is a guy who makes a fixing block for the sram p5 however you need to be a internal hub guru to do the conversion see fgg for details

Thats rad. It reminds me of the twoBritish 3-speeds I got for free when I lived in Rochester.

Could you just keep a front deraileur and 3 chainrings on a bike and put a fixed hub on the back, creating a multi-speed fixie? Does anyone do this? Does my lack of mechanical knowledge make me look stupid?

no you can't
1. how would you tension the chain?
2. chainline?

oh. yeah.
dunno why i didnt think about chainline especially.

well, I guess things will stay singlespeed then.

hold on, so you can have a bike that is a fixed gear but not a single speed? i need a ven diagram to explain all this.

Internal geared hub - only one cog on the outside. Butcher it so it doesn't freewheel - hurrah! Instant multi speed fixed! The conversion process always looks concerning to me though. Sturmey Archer actually made a 3 speed fixed hub, the ASC. You can buy one, if you want. Or, for the same sort of money, you could have a custom frame made to measure by Vanilla. But, you know. Whichever one you think is the better use of money!;)

Yup I also got the Super Course, Ross, and an old generic Italian 10 speed at yardsales in the past couple years. Of them the Super course was the nicest find, but the old Italian bike did provide me with a nice set of campy pedals, the Wright W17n which has now graced 2 different bikes, and the frame for my first conversion. Of those 4 bikes, all were free except the Triumph which was $4. Yardsales are GOOD! I can't wait for SPRING!

I kinda suck at explaining things, and i've never taken a ASC apart, but I believe it works like a regular 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub. Basically... inside the hub shell there are mulitple gear wheels which are engaged with these gear "plates" (there are two). The gear wheels are in the middle of the two plates, and There is one large gear wheel surrounded by 3 or 4 smaller gear wheels, depending on the model hub you have. First, the cog drives one of the plates, the smaller one, and the bigger "plate" drives the hub shell. The smaller cog goes around 4 times, and the big one goes around 3 times.

The first gear (the lowest one) works like this: You pedal down and if your wheel turn 2 times, the cog is turning 3 times, thus giving you a lower gear.

The second gear is a direct drive now. The cog drives the small plate, but instead of having the large ring move the hub, the small plate does that as well. Pretty cool.

Third gear is opposite of the first gear, as the cog drives the large plate instead of the small one. So if your wheel goes around 3 times, the cog is only going around twice.

Now I think that the fixed 3-speed hub uses something to keep the cog from being able to coast while switching gears. Like a lockring and a pressure spring. So maybe when you switch gears, it puts pressure on the cog? I don't know... but I really would like to see the ASC in person.

So yea... that probably sucked, but I wanted to try. They are super ****ing cool.