I am singlespeeding my old hardtail, I have ordered a single cog,spacers and chain tensioner but I am using the middle ring on my old triple on the front. Will I need to get shorter bolts to replace the ones that come out when I take out he big ring and the granny? Also, and here comes the proper muppet question, how do I take the big and granny rings off?! 😳

Yes you'll either need shorter bolts (hacksaw) or some spacers.
I remove the rings with an allen key and screwdriver if they need a little help.

yes shorter bolts required.

chainring nut tool(might get away with out it) and an allen key normally for the bolts. but you need the crank off to do the granny.

what cranks are they?

yes, shorter chainring bolts required after the big ring removed, unless you replace it with a bash ring

need to remove the crankset to remove the rings, the exact method depends on the cranks/BB that you have.

If you have some suitably sized washers you could use these to make up the space lost when you bolt the 32 back on without the 44.

Magic cheers guys, is there a best place online to get a few bolts to do the job? They are deore cranks. I might just leave the granny on as the big ring will come off without removing the cranks I think but I would rather take it off too if I dont need it.

Charlie is your man.

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/

Cool, how would we fix anything without Singletrack 🙂
Another quick one – would I be better getting a new front chainring? I keep reading about geared chainring teeth not being big enough and chains skipping.

I have a normal middle ring on my SS. and it has never slipped. If the chain is tight enough it wont slip.

Got mine from Merlin

Buzz,

When did Cando strong arm you about SS then? 🙂

😀

At Kings Wood on the forum ride. He just looked me in the eye and told me I had to try it. I'm not a strong rider so expect it to kill me or improve me. You only live once.

I took it around the pumpy singletrack in Stockhill and it was great, but then it's a pretty flat area. So then I tried to ride up Beacon Batch via Ellick Express – got up the rocks OK (almost blacking out), but the steeper parts of the climb to the summit defeated forward motion. I'll have to work on that.

When using a free hub conversion kit for the back wheel, spend a bit of time getting the chain line exactly straight (it makes your pedal strokes silky smooth and more efficient). You might need to source some extra spacers (the ones that come with the new style external Shimano crank bottom brackets are ideal) as it's much easier to fine tune the rear wheel cog than the cranks chain ring. Also, mount your front chain ring on the inside to avoid having the rear cog hanging on to the edge of the free hub.

You'll appreciate the gears on the FS now I'll bet!

I've always been a steady, spinny kind of rider so wrestling a SS is a big change. The reduction in drivetrain drag, and rear-wheel weight are noticable plus points, as is the "clean" feel of the bike without the shifters and cabling.

I just hope Richard and Martin and patient with me on the big hills.