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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - Singlespeed
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Well, I finally went and did it ... (long) (5 posts)
|  Well, I finally went and did it ... (long) | GlowBoy
Jun 25, 2002 12:45 PM | | ... I made my Bianchi Volpe cyclocross bike into a (sort-of) singlespeed for commuting. Just to prove the concept, I did a SUPER quick and dirty conversion last night, which I will improve upon tonight. Fortunately the bike has horizontal dropouts, which made it easy for me to find out what it's like to run a direct chain path with no shifting possible - and no spring-loaded tensioning.
I took a few links out of the chain and wrapped it around one of the chainrings and whatever cog lined up with it in back, bypassing the derailleur completely. OK, now I realize there's some genuine risk in this setup: if for any reason the chain decides to shift onto a different cog while I'm pedaling (especially if it skips inward onto a bigger cog), then I've got real problems. So until I redo the setup tonight I'm riding it a little gingerly ... but I was able to ride into work today (9 miles) with NO trouble.
NOW: tonight's project is to do it right. I'm going to yank the cassette and replace it with a single cog and a bunch of spacers, a la Sheldon Brown. I've got a couple of busted-up old cassettes lying around so I've already got the parts I need, including every (ramped) cog size from 14t to 21t. I can use either the middle or large chainring, but the same overall ratio using the large ring should give me a little more efficiency and less chain wear, so I'm thinking either 48:19 or 48:18. I'll let you know what I end up with.
OK, now that the technical part is out of the way ... what was really interesting was how the bike felt. I've already been practicing doing my entire commute without shifting for some time, though I haven't been COMMITTED to a single gear before, so that wasn't terribly new. The gear I'm running today is quite low for the street(38:18) so it seriously did force me to focus on technique. I did also notice an increase in efficiency - the same gear ratio does seem a bit easier to pedal, and seems to go just a bit faster for the effort. I think. Of course this "feel" is pretty subjective, so time will tell. The bike does pass the "spin the pedals backward" test, though!
The other thing that really surprised me - even though others have mentioned it many times - is the quietness of the singlespeed setup. I had thought that it mostly had to do with the elimination of chain slap, but it's more than that. I'd never really noticed how much noise is generated by snaking a chain through two derailleur pulleys. But I REALLY noticed it once that noise was removed. Of course the downside is that now I notice all the OTHER noises the bike makes! The occasional handlebar creak, shifter rattle, brake cable jingle-jangle ... though none of these is as loud or persistent as the derailleur noise.
I'm thinking of making SS my regular setup for commuting. I hadn't realized it until recently, but it's occurred to me that I don't HAVE to pull the shifters and derailleurs off the bike to make this work! OK, sure I don't save any weight, but I still get the efficiency and noise benefits by simply bypassing the rear derailleur (which stays out of the way just fine). And when I do want to run gears on this bike, which I do for long road rides (like the Ashland century coming up this weekend) and for off-road trail riding, I can do that too. This might just be the best of all possible worlds.
I have to credit everyone on this board for providing such a high level of technical knowledge and insight for lurkers like me who are interested in the concept but haven't made the plunge. Thanks guys!
- Dan |
| Sounds like your starting to get it | Brad aka Tus
Jun 25, 2002 6:23 PM | | I started out converting my mountain bike, then my road bike. Now I have a fixie track bike and a Rocklobster SS MTB. As long as you have a good chain line and keep the chain tight, using a cassette should work okay. On the other hand why not try your next century on a SS. This year I did the Solvang Century using a 42:18 and it was a blast (next year I'm doing it on a crusier!). Keep it up and soon you'll be up to your butt in SS bikes. Rock on! |
| ... and now I've got it set up right! This rocks! | GlowBoy
Jun 25, 2002 9:15 PM | | Just popped off the cassette an hour ago and put on a 19t cog with spacers, lined up to the 48t big ring. I may have some more fine-tuning to do on the chainline, and tomorrow's commute should be a good test.
Now that I'm running a more appropriate gear, I can really feel the efficiency benefits. One interesting thing: though the drivetrain is quieter overall, the freehub is a LOT noisier without a cassette to muffle the noise! Also, the bike seems a bit lighter when I pick it up ... which didn't make sense to me at first, but then I remembered that I ditched about half a pound by pulling off the cassette!
Hey Brad, I've definitely fantasized about doing a century on a SS, especially to show those anti-triple-chainring snobs a thing or two! But this weekend's century has 7000 feet of climbing, which I'm definitely not up to doing on a singlespeed. At least not yet. ;-)
- Dan |
| k, lessee a coupla pics now! | please!
Jun 26, 2002 10:46 AM | | SS crossers/commuters are some of the coolest rigs around! |
| I'll work on the pics | GlowBoy
Jun 26, 2002 2:58 PM | | I don't have a digital camera, and I think the Polaroid's out of film, so it may be a few days ... but I promise to post some pics by next week.
You're right, the Volpe IS a cool rig ... I don't understand why it isn't more popular. I paid $720 new for a 23 pound bike that has the component and frame quality of a $1000 bike, the speed and comfort I need for centuries, horizontal dropouts so I can singlespeed it for commuting, and clearance for 44mm tires in front and 38mm in back so I can off-road it on fairly technical terrain. Oh yeah, and it rides and handles like a dream, on-road and off. Dare I say it: if I had to, I could get along pretty well owning ONLY ONE BIKE!
- Dan |
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