The (un)official single speed thread....

[Daft Vader]

I have 3 x Spank Tweet Tweet halflink chains for singlespeeds available at R380.  1 x Red, 1 x Blue and 1 x Orange.

 

These are wicked looking and will finish off your ride.

[stewie911]

http://bikereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/dc-x-se-pk-ripper-fixed-gear-2010-review.jpg

[slowtwitch]

[_Daemon_]

Thought I will revive this thread. Here is my SS 29er scandal.

 

http://imgur.com/WiDuW.jpg

[Mudsimus]

Stuffs

[LeTurbo]

Oh my sainted aunt! There's some serious porn on this thread. I think I'm going have to go see Olaf soon. Maybe it's time to give the old Le Turbo (the bike, not me) a new lease of life.

 

Some dumb questions: 1) I'm 46. Single speed or fixie, given that knees don't last forever? 2) In the later case, are those old back-pedal brakes still around?

[MintSauce]

Was at Olaf's a few weeks ago and he'd sorted all the **** in his messy workshop and had all his toys hanging on the wall....Frejus, Hetchins, full Super Record 70's Raleigh team bike, 60's Cinelli...

 

It appears he's not selling a whole lot of them. He's a bit of a horder, but you can't really blame him.

[Flowta]

Thought I will revive this thread. Here is my SS 29er scandal.

 

http://imgur.com/WiDuW.jpg

 

What did you do to get the chain tension right?

EBB, ENO hub? luck?

[_Daemon_]

What did you do to get the chain tension right?

EBB, ENO hub? luck?

 

Magic gear

[Ryan]

If anybody is interested in buying a SS mtb then check out this thread.

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/76238-19-schwinn-single-speed/

 

Ryan.

[Stretched@Birth]

So many bikes to be distracted by...

 

I have some bits and pieces lying around (ok, taking up space in my old man's garage, and if I don't go and fetch them soon, they will be dumped...).

 

Will do a bit of an inventory and post some pics, will be nice to polish up and put together some of the goodies, all from my school boy racing days...

[louis0852]

Stretched@Birth Please post single speed parts that you might sell.

[hillbilly]

Hi guys, thought this would be the best place to post pics of the SS Giant that I rode the Freedom Challenge on this year. It's a stock XTC1 29er converted to SS using an On-One chain tensioner. Rigid forks saved some weight and the wheelset was built up specially, using a Hope SS rear hub and a SON Delux dynamo hub for the front. (The hub powered a handlebar mounted headlight as well as a recharging unit (mounted on the stem) to keep the compulsory tracking device charged as well as a Blackberry for blogging.) Cranks are 180mm Stylo's and gearing is 32x17.

 

Couldnt get hold of a dedicated SS rear cog in time so was forced to use a 17 tooth taken from an 8-spd cassette - worked fine initially but as the chain stretched and became looser, I had to keep tightening the tensioner, otherwise the ramped teeth would throw the chain off when pedalling through bumpy terrain. (Also compounded by the lube freezing and making the chain stiff/dry) Ended up having to change chains every 400-500 km.

 

Bike weighs 10.3kg (size XL) without all the race extras (spare tyre+tools in bottle) and 11.5kg all loaded up. It's my first 29er and I'm sold! It feels quite smooth over choppy terrain and carries speed exceptionally well. There's definately some advantage in the bigger wheels - most noticeable when I was able to freewheel downhill must faster than others on heavier 26ers (and I'm quite light so normally get left behind in those situations)

 

The rigid carbon forks did a good job of absorbing the trail buzz but the big hits came straight through and I eventually had sore hands and wrists but then the terrain itself gets pretty nasty so even with front shocks it would be tiring. They also flex a lot fore/aft, especially under braking, which is a bit worrying at first but not a problem - they are actually really tough and are none the worse for wear after the race. Their biggest advantage comes when standing and pedalling, which is a given on a SS, as you don't lose any energy into a bouncing front shock and they are nice and light too.

 

[Mudsimus]

Nice! But why didnt you install the tensioner so that it pushed up on the chain? Then you would not have had issues with a slipping chain.

[hillbilly]

I ran the tensioner both ways, pushing down at first, then after shortening the stretched chain, pushing up on the chain - the skipping problem still persisted. It wasn't the fault of the tensioner, just the combination of loose chain, ramped teeth and bumpy terrain. The tensioner is not spring loaded so it's a static system, as soon as the chain stretches too much, you need to stop and tighten it, a spring loaded system might have worked better but in the end it was more of an irritation than a major problem.

[Mudsimus]

What chain did you use?