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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway?
OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. So, my hubs & wheels are in pretty decent shape... standard 120mm wide & threaded for the freewheel... do I just throw the freewheel away and screw on the fixed cog? I always thought you had to have a freewheel. Are single-speed freewheels available for those faint-hearted of us? Jones |
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#2
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
!Jones wrote: OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. So, my hubs & wheels are in pretty decent shape... standard 120mm wide & threaded for the freewheel... do I just throw the freewheel away and screw on the fixed cog? I always thought you had to have a freewheel. Are single-speed freewheels available for those faint-hearted of us? Jones Single speed freewheels and fixed cogs both will spin on. Keep your brakes, you'll need both for the FW(obviously) and both for the fixed cog as you may spin it off if you attempt a lot of braking with your legs. Single ring up front, mounted on the inside with shorty,track type cr bolts, remove the ders, you are done. |
#3
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
!Jones wrote:
OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. So, my hubs & wheels are in pretty decent shape... standard 120mm wide & threaded for the freewheel... do I just throw the freewheel away and screw on the fixed cog? some people do that, but if you ride on the road and you didn't retain your caliper brakes, you have the risk of the cog unscrewing just when you /really/ don't need it to. like in the path of an oncoming bus. the "correct" solution is to rebuild the rear wheel with a proper track hub that utilizes the proper locking ring and all danger disappears. cheapo track suzue hubs are about $35. surly are about $70. you can go up substantially from there. I always thought you had to have a freewheel. Are single-speed freewheels available for those faint-hearted of us? single cog freewheels are easily available - bmx and single speed mtb use them all the time. |
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
On May 5, 8:49 am, !Jones wrote:
OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? Some people try it and like it. Look in Sheldon Brown's fixed gear pages for what you need to know. And/or google this group. A good-fitting road frame with horizontal dropouts is a great place to start. Fixed is one way. Single speed is another. Chainline (lots more): http://www.businesscycles.com/tr-refspec.htm#chainline --D-y |
#5
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
!Jones wrote:
OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? Just ignore them; they'll go away soon enough. OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. Fixed = bad idea. If you have a taste for playing practical jokes on yourself, give it a go. Otherwise, use a freewheel. So, my hubs & wheels are in pretty decent shape... standard 120mm wide & threaded for the freewheel... do I just throw the freewheel away and screw on the fixed cog? I always thought you had to have a freewheel. Are single-speed freewheels available for those faint-hearted of us? You must not get out much. Yes, there are single freewheels. There always have been-- for longer than there have been gear changing devices and longer than there have been coaster brakes (which are a good idea, by the way). Just stick a single freewheel on your bike, remove the derailleurs and shifters, and ride. For a nice-looking and thorough job, re-dish and respace the wheel and remove any extraneous chainrings. Try to get perfect alignment between the ring and the sprocket. Use a gear between 50" and 75" depending on terrain, fitness, and preferred cadence. I have more bikes than I know what to do with, but the one that's been getting the most use for the last several months is a '70s road bike I converted to single speed. It's light, quiet, pretty, and disgustingly reliable. And it reduces the task load while I'm riding enough so that I have a different sort of experience-- I'm less involved with the bike and a little more tuned in to the things around me. It's the opposite of riding a fixie in my experience. When riding a fixie, vigilance is required and a drifting mind is rewarded with an attempted takeover by the bike. A single speed is like your first bike, only bigger. Chalo |
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
Chalo wrote:
A single speed is like your first bike, only bigger. my first bike (trike actually) was a fixie. Subsequently I can't imagine why you shouldn't ride a fixie, unless you want to jump over treelogs and the like -- --- Marten Gerritsen INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL www.m-gineering.nl |
#7
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
On May 5, 11:20 am, Chalo wrote:
!Jones wrote: OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? Just ignore them; they'll go away soon enough. OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. Fixed = bad idea. If you have a taste for playing practical jokes on yourself, give it a go. Otherwise, use a freewheel. If you have a better suggestion for winter commuting than a fixed gear, I'll throw my old fixed Raleigh away and get one. I've tried just about everything else, and nothing has matched it. -Vee So, my hubs & wheels are in pretty decent shape... standard 120mm wide & threaded for the freewheel... do I just throw the freewheel away and screw on the fixed cog? I always thought you had to have a freewheel. Are single-speed freewheels available for those faint-hearted of us? You must not get out much. Yes, there are single freewheels. There always have been-- for longer than there have been gear changing devices and longer than there have been coaster brakes (which are a good idea, by the way). Just stick a single freewheel on your bike, remove the derailleurs and shifters, and ride. For a nice-looking and thorough job, re-dish and respace the wheel and remove any extraneous chainrings. Try to get perfect alignment between the ring and the sprocket. Use a gear between 50" and 75" depending on terrain, fitness, and preferred cadence. I have more bikes than I know what to do with, but the one that's been getting the most use for the last several months is a '70s road bike I converted to single speed. It's light, quiet, pretty, and disgustingly reliable. And it reduces the task load while I'm riding enough so that I have a different sort of experience-- I'm less involved with the bike and a little more tuned in to the things around me. It's the opposite of riding a fixie in my experience. When riding a fixie, vigilance is required and a drifting mind is rewarded with an attempted takeover by the bike. A single speed is like your first bike, only bigger. Chalo |
#8
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
On 5 May 2007 07:08:12 -0700, in rec.bicycles.tech Qui si parla
Campagnolo wrote: Single speed freewheels and fixed cogs both will spin on. Keep your brakes, you'll need both for the FW(obviously) and both for the fixed cog as you may spin it off if you attempt a lot of braking with your legs. Single ring up front, mounted on the inside with shorty,track type cr bolts, remove the ders, you are done. I have an early model Hujsak frame sitting in the garage gathering dust... as I'm sure we *all* have similar; actually, it was my first bike in the '70s. Not exactly a collector's item, but a well built, lugged frame, nonetheless. I kinna went overboard with the braze-ons, but this is why they invented micro-grinders and files... and it needs repainting badly. Methinks there's a project in my future. Jones |
#9
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
On 5 May 2007 09:20:06 -0700, in rec.bicycles.tech Chalo
wrote: You must not get out much. Well, I'm not in that business, if that's what you mean. I find that the bicycle industry is driven by fad about as often as it is anything else. Today's bicycles are "over engineered"... just my not very humble opinion, mind you... as are many of our products. I tend to doubt that the current products will be "vintage" in 30 or 40 years. But, WTF would'a thought that the GM Corvair would ever have been collectable? Go figure. Jones |
#10
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A fixed gear question from a "gear head"
Chalo wrote:
!Jones wrote: OK... what's this "fixed gear" nonsense, anyway? Just ignore them; they'll go away soon enough. OTOH, there's a minimalist asthetic beauty therein and... well... Anyway, I have a nice, old lugged frame that fits me well where the old Dura-Ace components are worn out, and I'm starting to consider it. Fixed = bad idea. If you have a taste for playing practical jokes on yourself, give it a go. Otherwise, use a freewheel. I wholeheartedly disagree. I have so much fun on my fixed gear that I'm now riding more than ever. And my next bike is going to be a fixed, too, a very low geared utility bike for picking up beer. If I hadn't moved back to the flat lands I probably would never have built a fixed or SS. Greg -- The ticket******* Tax Tracker: http://www.ticketmastersucks.org/tracker.html Dethink to survive - Mclusky |
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