new to single speed
 

hi, i m giving single speed a try, i have a cube road bike, it has a triple chain wheel 30,39,50 and i m thinkin of using the 39 chain wheel, and fitting a 20 theeth rear sprocket, using these:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/produ...roducts_id=266

and a chain tensioner, i live in malta, there are a few hills, but im not going to use it for long distance , just twice a week to go to work, just 9kms each way, on other days i use my comfy tourer. any advice from more expert people is greatly appriciated

thanks
david

sounds like a plan... I did something similar with one of my mountain bikes. The SS conversions with the spacers make it easy to get the chainline correct, and you've already got a selection of cogs to choose from. One thing you didn't mention that you'll need to get are some single speed chainring bolts (unless you've got a bashguard or are going to leave the big ring too)

One of the coolest things I noticed about riding SS is that it improves your overall bike fitness; you get stronger from mashing and also get to practice spinning. When you get back on your tourer you may find yourself riding it differently than before

hi frantic, thanks for the reply, i m plannning of using a bash guard, or removing the teeth of chainwheel thats been running in the garage, ( i love to recycle ;) )

i went from a 2x10 geared cyclocross bike to a single speed. i was worried about pulling hills, especially on the way to work where i have three long climbs, but it's worked out great.

i have a singlespeed commuter, but my "fun bike" is my '05 Ridley Crossbow conversion:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7...2dbc470b_b.jpg

What's your gearing???

Is that how one should assemble the tensioner? I m still ordering mine that s why i m asking

that is the "push up" method.. you can see he's used a zip-tie to get the tensioner to work like that

some people prefer that method, though most tensioners i've seen are designed to be installed like this

http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7696/p1010094ct.jpg

44:18

that is just one way. i'm a proponent of 'more chain wrap' on the teeth. matter of preference.....

have you had your chain slip before using the other method or just being extra diligent about chain wrap?

More wrap distributes your driving force over more teeth, so I guess increased cog life is a plus. I think an issues with older non-slant parallelogram derailers was poor cog life because they didnt provide very much chain wrap, especially on smaller cogs.

when i set up my tensioner i was a lil concerned about chain wrap, but so far it hasn't really been a problem though. i'm running a uniglide hub so in the unlikely event I ride it enough to wear out the cog i can flip it around too :D

have not. i've used both "push up" and "push down" with tensioners. i just like push up.