Building up a singlespeed using an old mech as the tensioner, then I thought I might as well add a couple more cogs..

That seemed to work quite well… so I thought it would be nice to be able to change those 3 gears…

Seems to work well – all the way forward on the fork lockout is 21:39,all the way back is 11:39 and is 16:39 is somewhere in the middle.

This is something I’ve thought about for a long time. Bit like an old Sturmey Archer but durable. Gears for up, down and along.

Why do people do this?

Good to see a well stocked garage 🙂

I mean singlespeed or normal gears, Shirley?

Why do people do this?

because:

Bit like an old Sturmey Archer but durable. Gears for up, down and along.

Weight increase is neglible due to the super lightweight shifter.

And don’t call me Shirley.

Or just use a triple crank and SS hub?

I did think about that as well, although you would still need a tensioning device at the back which would add weight.

This was just from stuff in the spares box.

I’m with Al, if you have a mech, why not have more gears? The weight argument is there but it’s not a very strong one. I only have 6 gears at times but that’s a Hope SS hub so there’s a reason for it. Until the hub bursts into flames I guess..

But I’m impressed by the use of the remote lever to shift gears, that in itself deserves a Useful Bodge Award. And I guess it lets you keep the chain tension / mech position tight.

On a similar line, I borrowed a surly tensioner with the adjustable jockey wheel position to try a 3-spd manual shift. Daft, but the idea was to have a SS-ish remote touring bike with a choice of ratios. The tensioner adjustment should allow the chainline offset to work with less risk of dropped chains. Decided that a thumbie and mech with 3 more cogs was weight I could live with …

I like that, wondered about doing something similar for my town bike using a thumb shifter on friction as its flat all the way to town other than one massive hill I have to walk up, would make carrying the shopping back a bit easier too

Shirley, you need a 32 or 34 to give you a mire useable range off road? You could also then get the ring on the inside of the spider for (possibly) a better chainline?

Like the idea though – I’ve done the triple ring, single cog before and it worked a treat…

Yeah, the 39T unramped chainrings were £7 on CRC, I would have preferred a 36T.

I may have to change the cogs (11 – 18 – 24 maybe) on the back to suit my riding when I’ve tried it off road.

Chainline seems ok due to the cogs being shifted to the end.

Wouldn’t a tringle speed have 3 cogs at the back and 3 at the front that all use the same length chain like a dinglespeed? What you have there is just a bike with 3 gears!

if you’re doing all that you might as well add 5/6 more…

True, I suppose it is just a bike with 3 gears

You save say a hundred grams?

Got to admire someone who can look at something perfectly functional, like a geared bike and thinks to themselves “how can I make a totally shit version of that”

And then they go and do it.

Mud X’s mmmmm like em!!

lol, yep pretty much. I’d be pretty miffed if I started out with a geared bike too!

You save say a hundred grams?

XT cassette = 300g, 3 small cogs = 50g? (250g saving)
XT 9spd Shifter = 125g, fork lockout = 25g? (100g saving)

350g saving being optimistic? 300g saving being Cynical?

75g penalty over pure SS?

What car does the front wing fit?

Audi A6 C5 – It’s for sale if you want it…

All the cynics above should get a job with the UCI!

;o)