Hi, I want to convert a 14 speed road bike into a single speed. Ive taken the gear cluster of my back wheel and have threaded a freewheel on it , it doesn't align with the chain ring. looking at it from the back the freewheel cog is closer to the rear wheel and the chain ring is closer to the right pedal side. Is there anything i can do here to bring the freewheel cog closer to the right hand side. Im new to this forum and this is the first bike ive done up. Please tell me theres something i can do to fix this. If ive left out any vital info just let me know.
Most people use a cassette rather than a freewheel. You can add spacers on a cassette to determine where the gear is compared to a freewheel where it is just set in one place.
No, you can definitely use this wheel. You have several options.
1. You can put a spacer behind the freewheel to move it a little to the right. You can use either a cassette spacer or the lockring from an old 3 piece bottom bracket. Only downside is you only want to put a few mm of spacer back there. Too much and the freewheel isn't engaging enough threads on the wheel to be strong.
2. Re-space the rear axle. Try to measure how much the chain needs to move over to be straight. Then take the axle apart and move spacers from the right side to the left to move the hub over to the right. If you need to move the chain 10mm (as an example), you want to get 5 mm worth of spacers moved over. Then you will need to redish the wheel to recenter it over the hub. A lot of people are scared of this but if you can true a wheel you can do it easily.
3. Move the crankset in. On some 3 piece bottom brackets, the right side of the spindle (axle) is a little longer than the left. Sometimes if you flip it, it will move the cranks in enough to get the alignment. As long as it doesn't move so far it hits the frame of course. If your spindle is even on both sides, you might be able to find a slightly shorter one. But your probably better off tinkering with the rear wheel rather than go all over the place trying to find one.
4. One other option that I don't think applies in your case, but I'll mention it just to be thorough. One cranks with multiple chainrings, you can sometimes move the chainrings to different positions. So you can put the big chainring on the inner (or middle) position. If you make a two chainring crank into a single, you usually either need to get a set of shorter chainring bolts or use washers to fill up the space of the missing chainring.
From the picture, it doesn't look like you need to mive it much, so maybe you can get away with option 1. But pictures can be deceiving of course. Good luck
I have had this problem too. Done a handful of conversions. I always think about what is going to be easiest. In this case, I would move the chainring in toward the frame with spacers. Your shooting for no less 1mm difference of front and rear chainline measurements. Looks like Dave M gots ya covered. Good Luck and have fun. Drop a picture of the bike when finished.
GO RIDE...
I'm not a pro but love to always read about neat custom jobs like this
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Good maintenance to your Bike, can make it like the wheels are, true and smooth!
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