smilies

Hey I got an old GT Karakoram MTB that I want to make a singlespeed for around town. I have stripped it down to the frame. I still need to find a new 1”fork (old one bent), headset, cranks and bottom bracket. I am wounding about wheels.

Can I pull my cassette off and leave one ring on? Or am I better off buying all new singlespeed ready hubs and getting new wheels built? I want to keep this as affordable as possible. This is just to get me to school and around. No big track ambitions.

familyman

I've been riding mine around with a BMX cog and bunch of spacers. Works good and its very very easy to get a perfect chainline. For just converting a bike on the cheap to ram around on I think it's an ideal solution. Unless you can find a SS rear wheel for cheap of course. e-bay has had a bunch lately.

legalize_it

how long is your head tube? i have a chrome 1" threaded MTB fork that might work for you....ill let it go cheaply!

Kev

Jenson carries a conversion kit, basicaly spacers and a cog so you can use you're existing wheelset for $20.
https://www.jensonusa.com/store/product.aspx?i=CS704B00

smilies

The fork I took out was 140mm threaded. But I am wondering if I can switch to unthreaded or if it makes any difference with regard to headsets and stems.

Kev

Threaded and threadless headsets are different. Threadless stems are quills which basicaly have a tube that goes down into the steerer tube. While a stem for a thredless fork actualy clams around the steerer tube.

smilies

Are they interchangeable with my frame? If I switch to threadless I have to buy a new stem. If I stick with threaded I can use my old stem correct?

legalize_it

you can switch you frame to threadless, but you would need a new fork, stem, and headset. if you go with threaded you can use all your old parts with the fork i have assuming its the right length!

smilies

My headset is all grooved and pocketed. So, I am going to need to replace it in addition to the forks. And the stem? Well, I am waiting to figure out what I’m doing with the forks. What is the tube length of the threaded forks you have?

legalize_it

the steerer is 5" with 1" of it threaded

OneTinSloth

the other thing to keep in mind is a lot of threadless forks ar 1 1/8", while threaded forks are 1". i'm sure there are threadless 1" forks out there for the taking, but i'm not sure about 1" threadless headsets (aside from chris king).

riderx

If you are going to have to replace your headset and fork, you might as well go threadless. A stem can be picked up for real cheap. 1"stuff isn't rare yet, just things like 1" suspension forks.
Click here for a Ritchey threadless headset on sale for 16.95

MichaelW

Do any of your LBSs have old 1" ridgid forks from sus upgrades ? They should cost pennies. Be sure to get a Chromoly, not Hi Tensile steel.

legalize_it

i converted my old specialized hard rock that originally had a 1" threaded headset to a threadless system. i found a 1" threaded fork that had a long ass steerer tube and cut the threads off. i got the 1" threadless stem and headset from nashbar for pretty dam cheap....heres a pic of it

riderx

legalize-it -
I noticed you are from Philly. Were you at the One Gear Good Beer Rally?

legalize_it

i certainly was at the "ONE GEAR, GOOD BEER" SS ralley.
you may have seen me drinking heavily and kicking everyone else's ass in the downhill slalom event! it was a great time!!!!

do you have any other photos? particulary of the slalom? that was the best part in my opinion.... partly because i was having technical difficulties with my tire seating on the rim properly for the singletrack laps...i had awful tire rub on my chainstays, and actually threw the tire off the rim at one point in a turn! luckily someone was relaxing right around the corner who had a pump i could use (i forgot mine..derrr)

i remember hearing at the bar that you were one of the people that traveled the farthest....good ****, dude!!! you're dedicated! cant wait till next year! (as long as i get new tires b4 then!!)

legalize_it

egads!!! censorship??? i cant use the word sh*t?!?!

riderx

Yeah, I've got some slalom pix. I'll dig 'em up when I get home.

The slalom was definitley fun and the trials course was tougher than last year.

I'm the ugly dude in this pic riding the funky H-bars.



My buddy Steve won the "furthest traveled", he came from about an hour further.

legalize_it

i was definately checkin out those funky handlebars.... whats the deal with them? where'd you get em? are they old school?

im pretty sure we were riding shoulder to shoulder at one point!

my girlfriend told me that she may have partaken in the ganja w/ you....ed?

riderx

Those bars are not old school, they are a totally new design made of Titanium, but kind of inspired by old school bars in the hand position in the rear. The builder sent them to me for testing. His name is Jeff Jones and he's building some pretty wild stuff. Check it out at Jonesbikes.com.

Check this link for a bunch of the slalom pictures - warning: lots of pix, might take a bit to load on a slow connection
https://www.singlespeedoutlaw.com/ima...illyrally.html

I can neither confirm nor deny anything that may or may not have happened with your girlfriend

legalize_it

im in 4 of those 8 pictures!!! they are really good shots...props to you!!!! the 7th picture down, the close up of the grinning fool is me...i musta really been having fun on that race!

smilies

I scored a fork from a guy at a LBS. He had one with a long steering tube and cut the treads off. I am going to pick it up tonight! Can’t wait!



By the way great photos. Looks like a good time was had by all!

familyman

Thanks for posting on those bars. I can certainly see where something like that could be really really useful both off road and on. Maybe I'll put a set on my christmas list. With a little bending of the tubes you could have all the advantages of bulls and moustache bars with a few extra hand positions thrown in for good measure. So many possibilities.