I'm a freak now...
 

...with nowhere to hang but with the commuters. You see I was spinning the 42/16 on my Crosscheck out way too often, but knew I wouldn't be able to mash anything bigger up the hills on my commute. So I swapped the 42 and matching bash ring for 48 and 38 tooth chainrings, then routed the chain through a Paul 'Melvin' tensioner. Of course having even two speeds is like being a little bit pregnant. Either you are or you aren't. So I figued the damage was done and I might as well mount an old front derailleur and thumb shifter I found in the parts bin at the LBS. I've got no pride anymore. And it's not as if shifting the chain by hand on the fly (and risking my digits in the process) is going to get me an ounce of respect from either the Fixie or Road gangs. The thing actually works pretty well... for a feak. I'll go now.

DanO

You know what would be really cool? If you could rig up some sort of system with different cogs in back. If you could change them on the fly, I bet you'd really be on to something.

Well if you could hand derail at speed that'd get you some cred in my book, but then I'm a guy with only 4 fingers on his left hand, so take that for what it's worth.

Oh yeah, if you went with an old Campy style QR shifter, that'd be pretty hot too.

tell the others to go fly a kite and do exactly as you please with out so much as an ounce of shame or regret. it sounds like a rather interesting setup to me. i'd like to have a look if you've any pictures.

Agreed. Bragging is not allowed unless you provide pics. :)

It does sound like a good setup. What does the Melvin do when you put backpressure on the pedals?

Yea, I know. I'll be taking some pics this weekend to illustrate an article - the third in a trilogy, which documents my search for the perfect commuter.

The bike was never a true blue fixed, but rather a single speed roadie running a SS MTB hub. So there are no back pedaling issues as far as the Melvin is concerned.

Here's a pic of the single speed set-up, which I can still bolt on in a few minutes.

DanO

Very nice. I remember seeing that pic somewhere on the boards and thinking then that it was a nice looking build. How do you like the Winwood fork?

I love the Winnwood fork. If I remember correctly, it's like, half the weight of the Surly fork. When I first built the bike it was with a Sram 7 speed hub and the carbon cranks and fork were about the only places I could save some weight.

It was my first experience with a carbon fork (or anything else carbon, for that matter) so at first I approached itwith caution, even though it's touted as a cyclocross component. Now I think nothing of dropping it off curbs and bunnyhopping railroad tracks. I didn't swap it out for the steel fork. It was an upgrade from the get go. So I can't really say whether or not the ride is appreciably smoother. But it's definately reliable.

DanO

What do you think about this? I could run a fixed cog on either side of the hub in back, with chains on BOTH sides, running to different size chainrings mounted on dual sided cranks up front. Then all I need to figure out is how to engage/disengage the front chainrings - some sort of dual one way clutch arrangement perhaps - and viola! a double mirrored fixed gear!

DanO

My brain now hurts. <paging Mr. Goldberg>

what happen to your 5th digit?

The Chain Cleaning + Cog Gambit?
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...3&postcount=25

Please don't ask for pics---my fingers still clench in sympathy

It's a great party story. Hell, it's actually one that OTHER people start to tell for me. Those are alway the best, when you can talk about yourself without looking like a conceited *******. ;)

Why not just put a multi-speed fixed hub on it? The Depot in Minnesota has a $70 Schwinn with a 5 speed fixed rear on it right now. I think it'd be safer derailing by hand for the rear sprockets. Or you could even fashion yourself one of those old style derailers that don't use cables.

Oh no...

Trevor, you should really make one of those pics your avatar. I especially like the one with the lone digit lying on the floor. It looks like something out of a B horror movie.

Now that's a good (or something) idea!

One lever to open the quick release, one to move the chain over. All done while in motion.

Yup, that's the Campy QR shifter I was talking about.

In practice this could also be mated with a similar style derailleur up front.

The funny thing is that this system was introduced in the 30s or 40s long after reliable cable operated ders were available.

Whoa what the hell is that?

How do you keep the chain on?

Pretty awesome, but aren't you in danger of getting some of your fingers spoked off while trying to "shift" and watch the road at the same time?

I read someone's first-hand account of a club ride or something to that effect next to someone on these.

He said it was a real trip. Dude was open the QR on the wheel, basically lightly pedal while flipping the der lever, the wheel would ratchet back in the dropouts, and then he'd close it up. Real loosey goosey stuff.