You can buy off the shelf single speed bikes from people like Specialized with their langster. I have never seen one up close but I have spoke to some people who have ridden and owned one and one in particular told me they have a "flip-flop" hub. What this means is that its a wheel with a cog on both sides, however if you put the wheel on one way its "fixed" i.e. no freewheeling, so when the wheel turns so will the pedals no matter what direction. And if you turn the wheel around, IE "flip-flop" its got the same cog size but is freewheel, so when u stop pedalling it freewheels.
This type of wheel setup gives you the option of either going hardcore fixed wheel or the more user-friendly freewheel. It has been said though that everyone should give a fixie a go at least once. It is a great workout as you do not get a break from pedalling and also you use your legs to slow the bike down, which explains why you might see some fixed wheel bikes out on the roads with only one brake or no brakes at all.
I digress, I am writing this to explain how I came about to have a SS not the story behind the bikes in general. I subscribe to a mailing list from Freegle (formerly freecycle). Freegle is basically a way of getting rid of unwanted items that would normally end up in a tip or on eBay, but you cannot be bothered to do either, OR you would prefer to see if someone else wants them instead. This is a great way of extending the life of something that would normally end up on landfill.
So far I have accrued the following from Freegle:
- PS1
- PS2
- Nintendo Game cube
- Garden Shed
- Roof Bars
- Bike Rack for Roof Bars (x2)
- Townsend Mountain Bike
Now as you can see my new acquisitions are fairly "blokey", in that they are either games consoles or something to do with my main hobby. All of the above I still have, except for the garden shed, which although I still have it technically, I cut it up into firewood as it was too rotten to be used safely and securely.
So onto the bike. When I eventually got round to doing something about it, I had considered cleaning it and using it like any other mountain bike, except I already have 2, and this one is a rigid bike (no suspension), therefore offroading would be quite taxing on the hands and wrists. Since the mechs were old and past their best, but the wheels spun well and without grinding, I did some research, plus some hassling of a fixie owning mate, and decided on making the bike into a single speed.
There is some technical research to do before you go out and buy the relevant parts. What you don't want is to buy the wrong ratio and either face anything but pancake flats and the gearing too high to be able to make it up the hill, or conversely anything other than climb be a fruitless attempt at pedalling as your ratio is too low. Same friend mentioned that I go out on the road bike or the mountain bike and shove it in a gear I could ride all day long with no issues.
I went out on the road bike, fiddled with different gear combinations and made a note of the teeth on both the front and back. I then went to the CTC website and downloaded their gear chart. (this is an excel sheet).
This gear chart can help you plot what your preferred gearing is on your existing bike and give you a figure.
Firstly, you need to go back to your notes about the front and rear cog teeth count and plot these on the chart. both should cross on a square with a figure. This figure is very important for your Single speed build.
Now, you need to work out what size chainwheel you want, so you could opt for a lower ratio'd mtb-style such as 38T, or a higher road-biased 42T or even 52T for the crazy folk out there! Your next task is to plot on the chainwheel teeth column until you find the original figure you worked out earlier. Don't worry if you are not spot on, nearest figure will do. Then that line will tell you the size cog you want on the back wheel. Once these are in place you will then realise your distance per pedal stroke is very similar to what you had when you did a test run on the road bike.
This may sound like a lot to understand, and quite possibly I have made it more complicated than need be, but it is how I understood it, and its important that I understand it because I can then calculate if I need to make changes to adjust to the differing terrain I plan on riding.
It really comes into its own when commuting or doing errands, as I have put a pair of "flatties" on it (flat pedals with pins to grip on rubber soles). So I can use anything on my feet, even slippers or crocs if the need arose! Plus without the worry of gears it is especially good at starting off from traffic lights, plus maneuvering around traffic as I don't have to worry about making gear choices.
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