3-speed single-speed?
 

I recently bought a Raleigh XXIX and have been enjoying it very much. Right now I have a 13T cog on the back for fast commuting. However sometimes I like to switch back and forth between cogs. It really isn't that hard to switch cogs and chains, but I thought of an easier way.

Just leave 2 or 3 cogs on the hub (I know I have room for at least 2) and fashion an old derailleur as a chain tensioner, then adjust the detailer to switch between cogs. Now I have 2 or 3 gears, and can quickly switch between them without swapping chains.


I bet someone here has already done something similar to this?

Any thought on the idea?

Can I still call it a single speed?:o

there are standard cassettes, yes

good luck getting the derailleur to shift exactly to your makeshift spacing

what do you think

I wasn't planning on "shifting" with the derailleur , I would adjust the barrel adjuster until the chain is positioned over the desired gear.

just buy an internal 3 speed hub

I don't really see the point in this.. too much effort, why not just hook up a shifter to the derailleur and run a full cassette on the back, a 1x9 setup or something?

just buy a road bike

Use a friction shifter, either downtube or barend, to shift the rear derailleur. Cheap and will shift whatever you've got. Use a Surly Dingle cog.

No, it won't be a singlespeed anymore and your hipster cred will be shot to pieces.

However, your "Fred" card should be in the mail soon. ;)

+1 on buying a road bike

you could probably fit 2 cogs on the back...

since your bike has an ebb you could probably adjust for a 2 tooth difference without resorting to a derailleur???

i don't think chainline would be too awful...

on a sidenote: 13t cog is soo small, i'd consider upsizing your chainring so you could at least get a 15t on the back... it will certainly wear much better.

finally: this is freewheel right? don't even try this if your running fixed.

Friction shifters rock.

+1 on you having a gay avatar.

I think it sounds like you want a three speed

Try one of these:

http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/torpedo-duomatic-fs/

I had one back in the late '60s. They were pretty reliable. No shifters, and a coaster brake to boot.

retro direct

Rather than what you are describing, I would run a a White Dos ENO, and a double crank. If you want to get REALLY versatile, run a flip flop hub with a Surly Dingle cog on the fixed side.

OR... do what I do, and ride a geared bike when you want more than one gear choice. :P

1x9 ftw:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64...r/P1020719.jpg

that would be ugly if it weren't so cool.

if you want gears why not just buy a geared bike.
your idea totally defeats the purpose of a bike being single speed

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/8...riafullby1.jpg
?

Your idea is 72 years too late.

http://patentpending.blogs.com/paten...0590055_am.jpg

http://www.theracingbicycle.com/images/cambio_corsa.jpg

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/ima...ty/litton3.JPG

campagnolo cabio corsa ftw.

or you could just get a sturmey archer hub.

Ed Litton built a frame with Corsa dropouts?!?! Oh man, that's awesome!!

The only way to have a single speed(no shifters) and still get two speeds is go retro-direct.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...3/DSCN0049.jpg

The small freewheel is high gear you pedal normal
The large freewheel is low gear you pedal backward.
That's right--switching to pedling backward puts you in low gear!

thanks for all the ideas.

Right now I am liking retro-direct, or internal 3 speed. I think both would preserve my hipster image also,



What kind of hub setup do you need for retro-direct?

my mind is goo after looking at this :eek:

Wouldn't it be simpler to use a Sturmey-Archer three-speed hub? You my be able to get a fixed gear version - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/asc.html

For my retro-direct I used two freewheels.The large cog one happens to be one off a China electric scooter because they are a regular bicycle freewheel only they come with a 4 hole flange inplace of teeth so you can bolt amy size cog to it.the small is a regular ss freewheel.Bit any two different size freewheels would work.You thread the first freewheel to your hub--then thred in a bb cup into the unused threads of the freewheel then the second freewheel threads to the bb cup.Now you have two freewheels on the same hub.Next you need a lot of chain.Run the chain over the small freewheel and to the top of the chainring---around the chainring then from the bottom of the chainring to theTOP of the large freewheel.Run the ends of the chain as you see in the pic to an idler infront of the hub and connect them.
After you do it it's really a simple set up---sam