Been thinking about going Singlespeed, the simplicity appeals to me.

I have a couple of questions! Recently I've been going out and staying in the same gear. I see a lot ofyou guys referring to 32:16 and such like. What does this mean? At the moment I'm riding with the gears in the middle chainring and on the third cassette down, if that makes sense?? It's a 21 speed bike.

Being a technophobe, I would need the LBS to do the work, how much would it cost?

Sorry if the questions are a tad thick, however, I'm a total technophobe!

32 teeth on front chainring and 16t sprocket on rear.

LBS costs vary a lot, tough to say, I'd hope that conversion would take 30-40m (say £20-30?) and a cog, spacers and chain cost £20?

do a google for charlie the bike monger.
lot's of info on his site, including a 'how to ss' guide.
32:16 = 32 teeth on the front, 16 on the back.

Go and have a look at http://www.charliethebikemonger.co.uk it'll explain everything. Charlie will also sell you a kit containing all you need for the conversion to perversion.

32-16 means you're running a 32 tooth front ring and a 16 tooth on the back. It's the normal default singlespeed gear ratio. No real idea what your LBS would charge but I can't see it costing much – 2 hours labour max?

If you live somewhere hilly or haven't been riding that long you might consider running 32-18, it'll give your legs an easier time. It sounds like the gear you've been trying will be quite a lot easier than the usual SS ratio.

Stuart

32 = no of teeth on chainring
16 = no of teeth on the cassette ring/rear cog

Cassettes typically have 34 or 32 teeth on the biggest cog and 11 on the smallest. If you're using the 3rd smallest cog then I've no idea how many teeth it has on it, but I'd guess around 16 🙂 If you mean the 3rd biggest one then probably in the 20s somewhere.

As for how much it'd cost, it depends on what the LBS charge for labour.
A rear cog and spacers should be about 10 – 15 quid.
A Tensioner if needed should be about another 10 – 15 quid.
As for the crankset, that depends on if you get a new single-speed specific one or just use your existing one and ignore the other chainrings (or have them removed and replaced with spacers/bashguards)?

32 teeth on the chainring and 16 teeth on the cog at the back. You should be able to use your current chainset but you'll need shorter bolts for a single chainring. YOu'll also need spacers for your freehub and probably a tensioner to take up slack in your chain. Google Sheldon Brown or Charlie the Bikemonger the former for advice the latter for advice and parts. Also good deals on single speed stuff at On-one. Its not that tricky to do it yourself to be honest.

Oops I forgot the tensioner but you can use your rear mech.

it is cheap and easy to do you need to be able to fit a chain, remove some chain rings from crank. attach a rear mech [ called a tensioner in this scenario] remove a cassette and it is done.
Hours work MAX for shop

Pretty easy really.

as you are on a 7spd cassette, you may have a freewheel rather than a freehub

does the frame have vertical dropouts, or forward facing horizontal dropouts?

speak to your lbs, tell them what you think you want and ask them for a quote on parts and labout. Most lbs will happily chat about bikes with you.

best starting place for ratios is 2:1 offroad or 2.7:1 onroad

check out sheldon brown

Just realised that my teeth-estimates on a cassette were based on a 9-speed cassette not a 7 speed (as you have). As such I've no idea how many teeth will be on the rear cog you are using 🙄

Superb guys, thanks for the help. Time to raid the piggy bank soon.

Note the comment on probably not in as tough a gear as SS. I'll need to try a higher gear for a couple of weeks as we live in a very hilly area.

My local trails are basically a forested 120m vertical hill with the trails zig zagging up and down it. Some are quite steep in places. I started on 32:16 and it just about killed me. There's still bits I cant do but it really is a culture shock to start off with. I think 32:16 was a bit ambitious to start with. I've bought an 18t cog but haven't put it on yet as I feel that would be taking a step back and not M'ingTFU! I may have to swallow my pride at some stage. I would start on 32:18 for off road and see how you get on.

If you get Charlies SS conversion kit it comes with a 16t and an 18t

unless you live somewhere stupidly steep 32:16 is the best compromise and not as hard as you think it will be, anything easier and you'll be spinning out on the flat and road sections will be horrible.
About the only bit you need the shop for is taking your cassette off and fitting cog and spacers (or buy yourself a lockring tool and chain whip – worth it in the long run) the rest really is very easy to do with basic tools.

…anything easier and you'll be spinning out on the flat and road sections will be horrible.

As I found out at HtN last weekend. Fine down and up, but alas everyone whizzed past me on the flat… 32:18 most of the time here though.

I prefer 32×17 – just takes the edge of 32×16.