Converting to Fixed Gear, what to do??

[Canadianguy]

I am in the process of fixing up an old 1980's department store 10 speed.

The only name on the bike was Citation 1000 and it had a maple leaf sticker on the front of the head set.

I want to convert this (maybe that is) into a fixed gear bike.

What do I need to know about the parts I need for this to be done?

Naturally I know I need a single gear on the back and stuff like that, but Specifically do I need to know certain measurements first, before I order parts???

If so... what do I measure???

[Jordan300]

Of course converting a bike into a single speed the easiest thing to check first is your dropouts. Do you know if it had horizontal dropouts? Or maybe those lightly inverted backwards ones? As long as they are not vertical dropouts it should be fairly easy.

[Canadianguy]

(10-10-2010, 09:42 PM)Jordan300 Wrote:  Of course converting a bike into a single speed the easiest thing to check first is your dropouts. Do you know if it had horizontal dropouts? Or maybe those lightly inverted backwards ones? As long as they are not vertical dropouts it should be fairly easy.

The drop outs are slightly vertical. More like 30deg. ??? They're not "vertical" nor horizontal.

[Jordan300]

cool, well that that will work just fine. This way you'll be able to pull the wheel back slightly to tension the chain. For a fixed gear this is very important.

So next thing is your wheels and drive train. Have you been able to remove the cassette from the wheel yet?

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any pictures you can post would be super helpful also.

[Canadianguy]

(10-10-2010, 09:47 PM)Jordan300 Wrote:  cool, well that that will work just fine. This way you'll be able to pull the wheel back slightly to tension the chain. For a fixed gear this is very important.

So next thing is your wheels and drive train. Have you been able to remove the cassette from the wheel yet?

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any pictures you can post would be super helpful also.

Everything is off the bike, the rear wheel is stripped, I'm replacing the spokes, the freewheel was a 5 speed Maillard.

The bike has been sanded, primed, painted. I just need new rubber front and back. In the coming months I will have the wheels respoked.

I just need to know about sizes and what not for the conversion if I plan to do it.

Also... what "canadian" store would sell such kits???

[Jordan300]

Have you picked out a gear size yet?

[Canadianguy]

(10-10-2010, 10:06 PM)Jordan300 Wrote:  Have you picked out a gear size yet?

Not really... Does it matter? I guess it does in a way, but anyways.

16/42 would be a good guess

[Canadianguy]

(10-10-2010, 10:20 PM)Jordan300 Wrote:  That's good. Here is a calculator so you can figure ho much chain you'll need.

Where's the calculator????

Anyways...

I think your missing my point here.

I just wanted to know what kind of "packages" are out there for fixed gear conversions basically, and what "specific" measurements I need to know before I buy anything.

But thanks for your help anyways. I appreciate it

[Jordan300]

Very nice, I didn't even link the calc on there. So I went back through and re read everything. And I did miss the point of the post. I don't know of any good packages for conversions. No real specific measurements I can think of for buying anything. Just measurements like chain line and chain length measurements.

Can't wait to see what you're working on.

[xerxes]

There's quite a lengthy article on Sheldon's site: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html

Also, do you actually mean single speed or fixed gear. To convert to a single speed, you can use your existing freehub cassette with a single sprocket and some spacers. Whereas, I think I'm correct in saying that you need a fixed hub, possibly a flip-flop for a proper fixed gear bicycle. There are also some issues with drop-out type, for a single speed you can use a chain tensioner with vertical drop-outs, but for a fixed you need horizontal drop-outs or and eccentric hub, or bottom bracket to achieve the correct chain tension.

There is a UK shop that specializes in single speed conversion parts: http://www.velosolo.co.uk/shop.html. I realize your on the other side of the pond, but it might give you some ideas of what you need to look for and there's a good FAQ section here: http://www.velosolo.co.uk/faq.html

With regard to the size of the front and rear sprockets, I would start by riding the bike with gears and finding a gear that you can use comfortably. This will vary, if you live somewhere hilly, you'll need to choose something low enough to cope with the climbs, but high enough to achieve decent speed on the flat. Once you know which gear you use to cover all the bases, count the teeth on the chainring on the front and the sprocket at the rear and calculate the gear in inches:

http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm

Once you know the gear in inches of the combination that works with your existing multiple gear set up you can buy a front chainring and rear sprocket that gives a similar gearing in inches. You may not want the exact same number of teeth on front and rear as you currently use, for example you might want a slightly larger sprocket on the rear because it will wear better, so you will need to increase the number of teeth on the front chainring to achieve the same gear in inches in combination with a larger rear sprocket.

[Canadianguy]

(10-12-2010, 09:27 AM)xerxes Wrote:  There's quite a lengthy article on Sheldon's site: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html

Also, do you actually mean single speed or fixed gear. To convert to a single speed, you can use your existing freehub cassette with a single sprocket and some spacers. Whereas, I think I'm correct in saying that you need a fixed hub, possibly a flip-flop for a proper fixed gear bicycle. There are also some issues with drop-out type, for a single speed you can use a chain tensioner with vertical drop-outs, but for a fixed you need horizontal drop-outs or and eccentric hub, or bottom bracket to achieve the correct chain tension.

There is a UK shop that specializes in single speed conversion parts: http://www.velosolo.co.uk/shop.html. I realize your on the other side of the pond, but it might give you some ideas of what you need to look for and there's a good FAQ section here: http://www.velosolo.co.uk/faq.html

With regard to the size of the front and rear sprockets, I would start by riding the bike with gears and finding a gear that you can use comfortably. This will vary, if you live somewhere hilly, you'll need to choose something low enough to cope with the climbs, but high enough to achieve decent speed on the flat. Once you know which gear you use to cover all the bases, count the teeth on the chainring on the front and the sprocket at the rear and calculate the gear in inches:

http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm

Once you know the gear in inches of the combination that works with your existing multiple gear set up you can buy a front chainring and rear sprocket that gives a similar gearing in inches. You may not want the exact same number of teeth on front and rear as you currently use, for example you might want a slightly larger sprocket on the rear because it will wear better, so you will need to increase the number of teeth on the front chainring to achieve the same gear in inches in combination with a larger rear sprocket.

ALL GREAT information... Thank you for the help !


On a side note... It is quite a big " pond " isn't it... lololol ;-)