Hello all,

I have two old (circa 1990) Nashiki Bravo mountain bikes with steel (pretty sure) frames. I'm thinking of a project turning one into a single speed.

Two major questions:
1. Will a mountain bike frame make a good single speed?
2. Is the Performance conversion kit (only $40 or so) decent or should I buy individual components?

Thanks for your input.

i dont have alot of personal experience with em, but there is a huge MTB singlespeed niche out there, so its been done before

as for the conversion kit, looks ok, wont know for sure unless they give us a specific name for the cog/lockring, as you really really really will regret cheaping out on the cog/lockring

I have a SS conversion (26") which I use for commuting, and the SS-specific Monocog (29er), and I can't decide which one is more fun to ride. SS MTBs are one of the best things in life.

Performance (Forte) stuff tends to be of decent quality, it's mostly just re-badged stuff from the major manufacturers.

Your bike most likely uses a freewheel, not a cassette. The Performance SS kit is for cassettes, so it probably won't work.

To single-speed your bike, you will need a tool to remove the freewheel (depends upon who made the freewheel) and one single-speed BMX freewheel.

Check Park Tool's website: https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=48


(common freewheel tool)



(single-speed BMX freewheel)

you will also probably need to redish your wheel.

• Spacers in the chainring bolts.
• Chainring on the othe side of the spider.
• Specers on the right side of the BB. You can't do much with that, however, up to 1 or 1.5 mm.
• BB with different width. More expensive solution, but sometimes it's the only viable one if the difference in chainline is large.
• And finally: play with specers on the rear hub axle and redish the wheel so the rim is centered as before (if you use no rim brakes, you can skip redishing).

That tool will not remove that freewheel.

This is what you need to remove a BMX type thread-on freewheel.

Wrong and right; it is a freewheel removal tool, just not for that freewheel.

Actually, the poster you replied to (hockeyteeth) was right that the tool he posted a pic to, will remove his existing freewheel. For your information, there are two commonly used rear cluster types:



So, you fail. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant like you. There's lots wrong with being ignorant AND correcting others.

I ride a ss mountain bike for urban stuff and it treats me wonderfully. I've got a friend who's a pretty talented single track racer and he swore off gears quite a while ago. If you're going to use it for a trail bike the simplicity is great, though you'll spin a lot downhill. It's never been a problem for me as long as the trails aren't too straight. It's a really easy way to shave some weight, and it's good strength training. My quads got pretty nice when I made the switch. It's pretty nice to not worry about dropping your bike derailuer first on a rock or dropping chains, too. As far as urban stuff goes I prefer it to a bunch of gears, too. Saves some weight for hauling the bike around, and I always stuck to one or two gears anyways. Plus I really suck at tuning derailluers (no skill at all). I'm kind of a newb and I've heard some pretty heated arguements against single speeds, but I really like em. Worth trying, at the very least.

Why do you have to spin going downhill?

By the way, SS has other benefits as well, such as longer drivetrain life and near to 100% transmission efficiency.

Singlespeed FAQ - Mtbr.com is a great resource.

I would just throw some spacers on the rear and used the old derailer as a tensioner if needed.

Yes. I realized that immediately after posting and corrected it, but not before you were given a very brief opportunity to benefit from my ignorance.

If you read my post, you'll notice theres nothing factually wrong with it. Based on your reasoning, you should be banned from BF for life

INTERNET FIGHT!!!

Lame.

</add to ignore list>

Let me repeat: you went on to correct a perfectly correct post, because either

a) you didn't bother reading the post you were replying to, or
b) you were too ignorant/dumb/temporarily intoxicated

and then you proudly spouted your "fail" piccy. This is how it went down, try as you may to rewrite history. Now just stfu and don't attract more attention at yourself and it'll all go away.

If someone hasn't said 63xc then OP google that--
killer site with some mtb fixed gears.

You don't HAVE to, but on long, straight downhills the fastest you can go how fast gravity takes you unless you spin like mad. If you're not racing, though, it doesn't really matter. You can coast fast enough downhill to have fun. It's just the easiest way to pick up speed if you do have gears.

???
How would I benefit from your ignorance?

I was under the impression that the purpose of this forum is to share our knowledge & experience; my sincere apologies if I touched on one of your issues.

BTW, the most effective way to correct a posting is to edit it clearly, not just re-write it after the fact; otherwise the correction might get missed and then you wouldn't get the credit you so obviously crave.

Have you considered therapy..?

That must be it: I'm not a recer.

I'm lying - I always race, I can't bear someone passing me over while I commute. When they try to pull away, I just get mad and become a pedaling demon. And oftentimes they pass me anyfay, fsck!!

But when I'm offroad, I am actually more laid back and will coast downhill. I like to enjoy nature.