After yet another destroyed drive chain and a week of riding with gears that basically didn't work anyway I think its time to admit defeat and give a single speed MTB a go... Can anyone suggest a cheap foot in the door option ?
After yet another destroyed drive chain and a week of riding with gears that basically didn't work anyway
Huh? 😯
sod the SS,just tune your gears properly.
They've been using them for decades racing,in everything and theirs work fine.
Is it possible youre doing something wrong 😕
.
Just asking 😀
Is is Sram or Shimano
Ditch the cassette, mechs, shifters, keep the middle ring. Fit a cog and some spacers at the back, chain tensioner and off you go.
charlie the bike monger.
Even perfectly tuned gears will still die horribly in gritty clag. It's why I ride ss on the chase over winter, and it makes all my xtr bits last a bit longer on my "proper" bikes.
There's a 29er single speed kona on fleabay that looks like a fair deal at the mo and some inbreds as well. If nothing else, ss makes your legs a lot stronger which is always a bonus 😀
Rather than buy a load of s/s stuff, get some new gears and look after them.
Sold all my s/s bikes after a decade of using them, and what are we, mid way through one of the worst winters in years and all my geared kit is still going strong.....except one jockey wheel.
Singlespeed kit wears as well.
A cassette will last as long as a freewheel.
Three rings up front will last as long if not longer than just one up front
Chains last as long
Tyres and pads will wear just the same. It's only an old mech thats let you down.
Look after your gears and you'll have winter traction as well.
Quick and simple;
Remove shifters, chainrings, cables and front mech.
Remove cassette. select the sprocket you wish to use.
Refit that sprocket with the load of old cassette spacers you have in your tool box.
Buy a set of short chainring bolts, about £3 for cheapo ones.
Refit middle ring using these new bolts.
Adjust rear mech limit screws to keep it in the appropriate place for your sprocket. Adjust spacer positions for good chainline.
Total cost £3.
Mostly what Hairy said, but you don't need to buy special spacers or a tensioner.
i found rear mechs to be shite tensoners tbh.
SS kit lasts longer as its not bent across the cassette, and when it does wear it a lot less noticeable than when gears wear out - no shifting to worry about.
went out for my first SS ride yesterday and although it was very hard going I kind of like it 🙂 I would start of with smaller rides to begin with to let your legs get used to it and the singlespeed conversion was cheap, £15 for the spacer and 18t cog and £15 for the single speed chain so not bad really ....give it a go ! by the way my frame has sliding drop outs so that helps loads .
gears fa queers
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brakes too apparently 😯
Profesional's bikes get very thoroughly cleaned after every race and very carefully fettled. If you have the time and enthusiasm to do that you'll be fine with a multispeed drive train. Oh and any wonky bits get changed as soon as they are noticed. How many miles do you reckon a chain on a pros bike does, 500, 1000?
As said a SS chain doesn't get run at an angle so I feel pretty sure the wear is slower. And again as it doesn't have to change gear wear is much slower to cause problems and be noticed.
I'm a big fan of my rigid SS. Care is very quick and easy. My advise to anyone is go for it. Unless you live in Wales/Lakes/Scotland or anywhere else with proper hills.
i live in scotland... 8)
well, i wouldn't advocate ss to anyone looking to save money on parts, however i've just replaced a White Industries freewheel that's done 4 years ( one bearing changed ), an izumi super toughness chain that's done 1.5 years, and switched a surly chainring around that's covered 3 years so far. that's doing a bare minimum of 25km, and 800m rise and fall per week, most weeks twice that, some weeks three times.
the local rides are in wooded trails.
i've seen a fair few rear mechs ripped off in that time...
YMMV 😉
Hi Brian
Come on over to the dark side, you won't regret it!
Singlespeed converter kits from On One or Charley the Bike Monger are very reasonably priced, and you'll find that SS plus disc brakes means very quick cleaning after a muddy winter ride. You'll also surprise yourself as to the climbs you can get up with only one gear when you've got no choice.