My brother has an early 90s Explosif which is not getting used as much as his other more contemporary bike. He's fancying the idea of sticking rigid forks back on it and my trying it as a single speed.
It's his birthday coming up so I thought I might get him a conversion kit so he can give it a try. It'd need to convert a 7-speed freehub, so I imagine he'd need spacers, tensioner and cog. (I know some kits also come with a chain and narrow chainring bolts). I think he's got 48,36,26 rings so what size cog would be best if using his 36 tooth ring?
Are there any kits that you guys would recommend? Doesn't need to be too bling but want it to do the job and not break/wear out too quickly.
He's also in the market for some Kona Project 2 forks if anyone has any old ones lying around gathering dust! (Preferably black, threadless 1 1/8 inch steerer with disk mount, to replace 80mm travel forks (420mm length?)
On One converter kit and an On One Doofer tensioner
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Singlespeed_199.html
gussett batchelor kit....
trying it?
on road/off road makes a huge difference to the gearing.
offroad probably 36:18 for starters - stick with the sus forks
onroad something approaching a 13t - get rigid.
It'll be for off road use, but also on some trailer-bike action with the family. No monster hills. I think he's certainly going to be going rigid.
Any advantage of roller or jockey wheel?
A couple more questions on tensioners (I've got an EBB so I've never used one).
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a fixed tensioner (such as the Gusset Batchelor) or a sprung tensioner (such as the On One Doofer)?
Are rollers significantly noisier than jockey wheels? Any more drag?
Also looking at the On One converter kit. Will 2 spacers be sufficient to fine-tune the chainline or would I be better opting for a system with more spacers? I'm also guessing that a 2 spacer system won't fit on a 7 speed free-hub. Is the standard on-one sprocket (not the groove armada one) likely to mark a freehub body?
Thanks for the advice