converting to single speed. help?
 

i have a fairly old road bike. im looking to invest about 200 bucks and make this bad boy a beauty. i painted the frame and got a new wheel set in the fall. what i need help with now is converting it to single speed. the rear has 5 sets of cogs, and the front has 2. thus 10 speed. could anyone help me find the best conversion kit, and tensioner that will work? pref. pricepoint because thats where im buying my new brake set. thanks guys and gals:)

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/167...ersion-Kit.htm
http://www.pricepoint.com/detail.htm...8&hprice=19.98
http://www.pricepoint.com/detail.htm...98&hprice=5.98

will all of those work? and is there any way to make it a 2 speed bike :) like keep the front two cogs working? not just one.

Those should work. If you are taking off the second chainring you will need washers or shorter chainring bolts if I am not mistaken. (I am using washers from home depot with my old chainring bolts)

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/167...g-Bolt-Set.htm

Dude... be ready, everyone is about to tell you this.

"Search"

Now...
1. You don't want to keep 2 rings on the front and have them be shiftable with a single speed on the back. Stop being an idiot.
2. Since your rear is a 5-speed, is the hub threaded for a freewheel? Because none of those coggies will work if its not threaded and subsequently has a freewheel.
3. *edit I see you already got ur wheels* If you're getting new wheels, do yourself a favor and get a single speed wheelset. With a flip flop or something. then they'll be dished properly.
4. Does the frame have vertical, horizontal, or semi-horizontal dropouts?

5. Goto Sheldon Browns website. Read.

6. Repeat steps 1-6.
7. Repeat steps 1-5.

thanks nitro.
thanks eivl, i get another person for my blocked list :)

Don't block Eivl, he's the one that told you the right thing. You don't need any of the three items you linked to in the first post. The first is a conversion kit for a cassette freehub, you have a thread on freewheel. You need a single speed bmx freewheel, and you'll also likely need to redish the wheel. The second link is to a tensioner, you don't need that on an old road bike, as it will have horizontal dropouts and you can set the tension just fine with those. The third link is to a 1/8" chain, you don't need that, you need a regular old $8 3/32" road chain.

Nitro is right, you need shorter chainring bolts, or at least some washers. You'll also need a chain tool, a freewheel remover that fits the old freewheel, and a spoke wrench to redish the wheel. Any LBS will have all of this stuff, no need to order online.

the only thing more stupid than running 2 chainrings would be blocking eivl

oop guess im stupid then. darn

XC, you should have searched the ssfg forum and done research to begin with, and he called you out. You know how tedious it is to be asked "what bike should I buy/ what tire should I run" over in on the mtb board. Kinda the same thing. Lurking is always a good idea when one is new. Good luck with the conversion by the way. Oh, you should put a flip/flop hub in then you can run different cog sizes, i.e. two speed. Granted you'll have to stop and flip your wheel over when you want to shift....:D

Stop being a ****** and listen, it can go a long way.

They say that the SS/FG forum people can be mean, nasty and immmature. But I kind of like the snarkiness that I'm seeing.

i do listen. i searched some MORE. and i went to the links he suggested and read up some MORE. but thing is, you can help someone without being an as*hole. really its not that hard. but if you have the patience of a 3rd grader, then i dont suppose it would be that easy.. :/

get out

Dude... I don't think I was being an *******? I went through and listed things point by point so that it would be clear for you. Furthermore, what everyone else said was right...

thanks for backin me squad.

It gets really annoying to have people coming in and post something like "Im new and want to convert".

Its like... yeah... we know... thats why there is an entire forum (also known as a RESOURCE) for you to search through and figure some stuff out.

Alot of new guys have trouble understanding what exactly is going on when they build a ss or fixed. I know, I have one of those perfbike conversion kits sitting on my shelf waiting for me to put it on ebay because I thought that I would need something like that.

I look at lists on checklists all day long. If it prevents me from flying airplanes into the ground I figured it would help (the listing method) d00ds like you figure out how to take all the gears off your bike.

Damn son.

cry about it? :p

haha

About the search...the first thing that comes up when googling single speed is sheldon's article on single speed conversions.Everything is in there with pictures,links and more pictures.It just doesn't get any easier.If anything remains unclear,ask here with a little more info.In your case you don't mention what dropouts and what hubtype so the whole thing becomes pointless since everyone here is left to guess and speculate about that s**t and none of the answers will be too helpfull.