Problems converting an old Raleigh to SS
 

Bear with me, because this is probably a simple question, or an impossible one to answer. I'm trying to strip the trashed parts off of my late 70's/ early 80's Raleigh road frame, and put on a single speed freewheel.

The problem is, I can't get the chainline. I've respaced the rear axle until the freewheel's pushed all the way over to the dropout, and I've flipped over the BB spindle so that the short end is on the drive side (per Sheldon Brown). I can't put the chainring on the inside of the spider now because there is so little clearance that the bolt would rub on the chainstay. The chain is now within a couple of mm of being straight, but it's not quite right, and I think I'm going to have to redish the wheel back the other way to get the tire centered. That is, the flatter side of the wheel will be on the non-drive side.

So, have you ever converted a frame like this one? Is my frame screwy, or were all of these made in a way that makes conversion to SS difficult? What would you check? I feel like there's got to be something obvious that I'm missing. I have a feeling that someone else would take one look at the frame and say, "Hey, you idiot! You're trying to put the chain on the left side of the bike!" And I'd realize that there really isn't a problem, and the answer was obvious all along. (and no, that, in particular is not the problem)

Thanks!
KTK

what size is your chain ring? if it's something huge, like 52t, then your frame probably wasnt' designed to fit it.

Good point. I'm using the large ring that was originally on the bike (48, I think), but I might experiment with something smaller, and see if I could still handle the gear ratio.

Any other ideas?

KTK

Please post the details (and a picture!) if you ever get this worked out. I'm having a similar problem on my 1979 Raleigh Record with a 52-t chainring.

+1

I've come across this even in my limited experience with conversions; If yours is a budget conversion and you don't want to shell out the $$ for new cranks - refer to Sheldon's article on Bolt Circle Diameter (BCD) and if as you say you're able to swap your outer chain ring to the inner but it won't fit - there's a good chance you can at least get a smaller ring to fit against your frame on the inside of your crank spider arms.

The Rocket chainrings can give you a cheap option if you need to swap. There are the 110/130mm BCD rings available which are great value for the budget tinkerer ;)