So, I was wondering about this. I like the idea of a singlespeed but feel I’d miss the option of switching to a “spinny” gear mid-hill if required. The benefit of doing this on the front is that it works better when mashing the pedals going up a hill.

Does anyone do this? Am I being stupid? Please, don’t bother posting just to tell me to man up, I know 🙂

Uh. Huh. Uhu hu hu.

Hu?

Uuuuh…

You need something to keep the tension when changing gear. That’d be a rear mech then.

Front shifts are horrible under tension anyway (uphill).

Ditch the front dérailleur, go 1×9 (or 1×8, or 1×5, or 1×10 etc), better ground clearance, less weight, no evil personified in a front mech, better shifting.

you need a dinglespeed;

[video]http://vimeo.com/6403750[/video]

Sounds like a daft idea to me.
I think a few people have fitted a Hammerschmidt to get two gears and no mech though.

I was thinking a springy chain tensioner would work to keep the chain, er, tensioned.

sturmey archer B2C hub in my commuter bike.

bit of fun.

kick back for shift between gears, and coaster brake.

looks like a single speed, no cables, no tensioner.

I’d be wary of chainline issues as well.

Google dinglespeed – you use different cogs and chainrings to give you two ratios but the actual chainlength doesn’t change because of the ratios/cog sizes.

you use different cogs and chainrings to give you two ratios but the actual chainlength doesn’t change because of the ratios/cog sizes.

Except the chain length does change slightly.

It did for me anyway when I tried a 32/16 and 34/14 setup.

Dinglespeed it. A whole new niche.

SSS

When you say slightly, how much do you mean – enough to make the chain really slack or just a bit less tight than optimum? Were they the same make of front ring?

Yep front rings the same make.
It was a bit too slack for my liking in one and a bit too tight in the other. I cant remember which way round was tight and which was slack though as it was quite some time ago.
It kind of worked but to me wasn’t right.

That’s odd!

I was thinking about doing it a while ago but couldn’t decide whether a ‘4 gear spread’ was worth it and went 1×8 instead.

Schlumph maybe if you don’t like the Hammerschmidt?

I technically have a dinglespeed.

I run a 32:16 as SS basically everywhere, but lurking down at the front, just a finger push away, is a 22T granny, for those big days in the hills when my legs are goosed at the end of the day.

TBH, I’ve only used the granny once at the end of a cracking day at Afan, but it is there if I need it.

I used a Rohloff tensioner at the back to take up the chain difference, and allow for wear too, without all that troublesome fiddling that seems to happen with horizontal dropouts.