38
votes
Accepted
How am I able to simulate gears on my single speed?
You do not have a single-speed. The rear wheel on your bike has a 7-speed internally geared hub. This uses a couple of sets of planetary gears, each of which can be engaged in two different ways, plus ...
- 29.2k
30
votes
Fixie vs Road Bike - the right fixie bike for bunch rides
Disclaimer: I am a fixie hater. I'll try to answer this as if I was impartial.
Proper road bikes (Including the Moulton) are the machines for speed, and always have been (unless you're on a velodrome)...
- 5,690
19
votes
How am I able to simulate gears on my single speed?
This is not a single-speed bike. It's an internally-geared hub made by Sachs, later bought by SRAM, which later stopped production of the hubs. If you take a better photo of the label on the hub, we ...
- 1,671
18
votes
Accepted
Can I convert a 1x9 speed bicycle to single speed by putting 9 identical cogs into cassette?
Since 1982 or so just about all rear derailleurs are built with a slant parallelogram design so that it glides in a diagonal line as it shifts up and down. This is supposed to keep the jockey wheel a ...
17
votes
Fixie vs Road Bike - the right fixie bike for bunch rides
Who rides fixes? Roadies who have got bored with always being out the front? Maybe its someone wanting to make a statement to the "Freds" (look it up) in the group
I once did a 160km ride where some ...
- 49k
15
votes
Used WD-40 on headset and now it loosens daily
Using WD40 on a headset should not cause it to loosen. Something else is wrong. You need to find out what that is.
First - don't ride the bicycle until the problem is identified and fixed. Doing ...
- 10.6k
14
votes
Can I convert a 1x9 speed bicycle to single speed by putting 9 identical cogs into cassette?
I would say : no way.
The rear derailleur is not supposed to handle cogs with the same dimension. The cogs should be smaller towards the outer part of the cassette, to correspond to the movement of ...
- 734
12
votes
Accepted
Does having bigger wheels mean less effort pedaling?
Assuming a completely smooth road and neglecting the weight of the wheels, it makes no difference: you still need to do the same amount of work. Essentially, larger wheels give you a higher gear ratio,...
- 17k
12
votes
Accepted
Derailleur On A Single Speed
The derailleur is there to act as chain tensioner. In a frame intended for derailleur the rear wheel can't be moved to tighten the chain, so a separate spring-loaded chain tensioner is needed. The ...
- 21.8k
12
votes
10 gears to singlespeed
I've got a 2nd hand Hercules too and I've done this exact thing. Get a quality chain tool and look up some videos on Youtube about how to remove and re-link a bike chain. I pretty much winged it as I ...
- 121
11
votes
Setting up chain tension on a fixed gear with road bike frame
If you cannot control the rear cog's position, you can try moving the front chainring to tune the chain tension. That is, get an eccentric bottom bracket:
By rotating it in the frame, the distance ...
- 14.4k
11
votes
Convert single speed, steel framed, vintage track bike to geared
Yes. Absolutely. Simply install an internal gear hub.
Prices for internal gear hubs are basically what you want to spend: You can buy decent second hand IGHs (SRAM 7 speed, 300% gear spread, super ...
11
votes
Can I convert a 1x9 speed bicycle to single speed by putting 9 identical cogs into cassette?
Additionally, you'd have to have at least one different cog, probably an 11 or 12 tooth outermost, because it has a differnet design to every other cog.
This little cog also has the detents for the ...
- 121k
11
votes
How am I able to simulate gears on my single speed?
As other answerers have said, that bike has hub gears rather than being a single speed bike.
However, no-one so far has commented on what the differences with this style of gears are. Compared to ...
- 795
10
votes
Accepted
Turn single speed into multi speed!
Technically yes, economically no.
You obviously need to obtain a multi sprocket cassette, rear derailleur, shifter, and cable and housing. Additionally you need:
Singlespeed frames have dropouts ...
- 75.5k
10
votes
Accepted
How do I properly torque a track cog lockring?
A torque specification is not just a torque-spanner setting but a physical property. That is, there are many ways to apply the correct torque.
In this case it means more or less: pull it as tight as ...
- 9,610
10
votes
Accepted
Setting up chain tension on a fixed gear with road bike frame
The short answer, is you generally cannot make a fixie out of a frame with vertical dropouts.
Not only do you need to tension the chain, but the spacing of the axle of the bottom bracket and rear ...
- 12.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Fixie vs Road Bike - the right fixie bike for bunch rides
For context, I have been doing group rides for about 20 years now, raced at the cat 1/2 level for a good portion of that, and had a fixed gear obsession off and on for many years too. Riding fixed is ...
- 30.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Finding which gear on my bike is closest to a single-gear bike
We can't tell without more information about your gears.
However, you can figure it out for yourself quite easily, by looking at the ratio of chainring teeth to rear sprocket teeth on the single ...
- 358
9
votes
Accepted
Convert fixed side of flip flop hub to freewheel
You can just use the freewheel on the large thread on the fixed side. It's the same size, and just as durable as the freewheel side, for normal people.
So just unscrew the lockring and cog, and put ...
- 106
9
votes
Accepted
Ideal distance between chainring and chain stay
4mm at the closest point is about the safe spot. 3mm is about the sane bare minimum you can go to if you want to push things. Less is asking for trouble. Note that frames, cranks, rings, and spindles ...
- 81.8k
9
votes
10 gears to singlespeed
If your bike has slotted dropouts and a rear wheel secured with axle nuts (which Poster's answer implies you have) you can do a single speed conversion without the need for a chain tensioner device.
...
- 75.5k
9
votes
Accepted
Convert single speed, steel framed, vintage track bike to geared
The bike in the question is not what is considered as "track drop outs".
For that bike, depending on the rear wheel spacing, it should be relatively easy to convert back to geared.
I would ...
- 3,324
9
votes
How am I able to simulate gears on my single speed?
Ah, but this is not a single speed bike. The gears are within the hub and invisible to the naked eye. If you remove the cable, the hub will default to (probably) the highest/heaviest/hardest gear.
If ...
- 13.5k
8
votes
Single disc brake front of SS bike?
Like the late great Sheldon Brown wrote in his article, I use the front brake alone most of the time. But there are great reasons to have a rear brake in addition to the front brake:
Slippery ...
- 2,661
8
votes
Accepted
Getting the right Bottom Bracket
If you have an idea of what model of frame it is, it would help. Otherwise, your best bet is to take it to a bike shop and try an ISO bottom bracket (gently) to see if it fits, or measure the threads ...
- 46.1k
8
votes
Single speed chain tensioner comparison
You should never use a sprung tensioner when you have a choice. They add fragility and complexity. They exist only to allow single cog drivetrains to work with dropouts that don't allow chain tension ...
- 81.8k
7
votes
Fixie vs Road Bike - the right fixie bike for bunch rides
Engineer and fixed gear rider here, hello. My top speed on flat on fixed is 1 km/h less than on geared bike with similar wheels, and I'd explain that with my geared bike having lower handlebars.
On ...
- 21.8k
7
votes
Convert fixed side of flip flop hub to freewheel
As a follow up, I actually did put the freewheel on the fixed gear side (after some cleaning). As you can see from the pictures, the freewheel won't be all the way threaded (like my LBS said) but it ...
- 282
7
votes
Converting 3×7 speed into a 2(chainrings)×1(sprockect)
Without a rear derailleur one cannot switch gear on the front chainring. The length of the chain would differ between chain rings. The derailleur compensates this by running the chain a longer path ...
- 9,610
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible