Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

itboffin

Hi mcmullej and welcome yes you can stick any wheel on the front depends if you're worried about looks as some are (you know who you are).

For the rear save yourself the time and money and get a custom wheel built, it's really not that expensive.

I'll see if I can find some links but it should be around the £120-£150 range for a hand built track specific on good rims like Mavic open pros.

itboffin

Here you go

http://www.kiwicycles.com/wheels.htm

There are some budget ones for £75 BARGAIN or what.

In fact I might just grab a pair myself...

"no dear, I'm not buying more stuff, honest!"

ride_whenever

Or get some velocity deep v's from brick lane cycles, some halo track hubs and get your lbs to build them up for the cost of the spokes and some biccies...

Then you can be an uber-tart

mcmullej

thx, itboffin. just what I'm looking for. I'll give them a call...

Littigator

Or you can buy on off the shelf set of Halo wheels for about £150 the pair!

http://www.halorims.com/HaloNew/aerorage-track-wheels.html

I have a Bowery and these were the babies I was going to upgrade to. As you say it's insane to spend too much when the bike itself cost so little.

spacey99

The Halo Aerorage wheels are nice as well - I have some on the Pearson.

mcmullej

spacey99 wrote:

The Halo Aerorage wheels are nice as well - I have some on the Pearson.

thx for the info but.... won't I need to buy the freewheel part also - or is that part of the hub? and what about the cog? are there different types? do they just screw on? or is there a lock ring? do I need tools?

....?

itboffin

mcmullej wrote:

spacey99 wrote:

The Halo Aerorage wheels are nice as well - I have some on the Pearson.

thx for the info but.... won't I need to buy the freewheel part also - or is that part of the hub? and what about the cog? are there different types? do they just screw on? or is there a lock ring? do I need tools?

....?

you can take the sprockets & freewheel from your current wheels ditto with tyres if you need to save money but really those parts are pretty cheap anyway.

mcmullej

itboffin wrote:

mcmullej wrote:

spacey99 wrote:

The Halo Aerorage wheels are nice as well - I have some on the Pearson.

thx for the info but.... won't I need to buy the freewheel part also - or is that part of the hub? and what about the cog? are there different types? do they just screw on? or is there a lock ring? do I need tools?

....?

you can take the sprockets & freewheel from your current wheels ditto with tyres if you need to save money but really those parts are pretty cheap anyway.

ok. excellent. so now we're getting somewhere....

A sprocket and a freewheel are the things I need in addition to the wheel itself, right? No lockring, no spacers etc? Do I need special tools for swapping these?

(I already have tires and tubes).

Mostly for reasons of simplicity and laziness, I think I'd like to get a complete wheel with freewheel and sprocket - so I can swap it over with minimal fuss.

BTW I think the freewheel on my Bowery is probably the noisiest part. I guess it was pretty cheap.

Thx again for your patient explanations & advice. Very much appreciated.

itboffin

Morning, yep the sprockets are on the fixed side of your flip flop rear wheel, which DOES need a lockring but again will already have one on the bowery, GregT and myself now use the Miche sprocket and carrier + lockring, a neat little device that makes changing sprockets very easy, cheap too, either way you're gonna need a lockring tool to get that baby snug.

The freewheel def. needs a tool which depends on the model freewheel your running but to be honest any decent LBS will take it off for you usually for free, then when you replace it buy a half decent Shimano version those are much quieter - they still need a tool to remove.

One things I've learnt since taking up cycling is if you serious about doing your own repairs and maintenance then get the right tools.

http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/product/track_sprocket_carrier.html

wgwarburton

Hi,
mcmullej, I havn't seen you say whether you're riding fixed or single-speed (SS).

I'm guessing that you're doing one or the other (probably SS?) in which case you don't need to bother settiing up your new wheel for both.

Back in the day, riders would typically use a fixed gear, but if they ran out of energy ("bonked") or got lost or something and were finding the gear too difficult at the end of a long day, they could take the wheel off, flip it round and use a lower gear with a freewheel to get home- slower but less hard work.
This arrangement is called a flip-flop hub, and is still popular today, especially on off-the-peg SS/FG bikes, since it gives the buyer the option of whether to ride fixed or to use the freewheel and ride singlespeed (sometimes known as "wussing out" :-) ).

At any rate- if you want new wheels you may want to get this type of hub but you don't necessarily need to buy both a new freewheel and a new sprocket+lockring. If you're looking to save weight, light tyres will make a big difference, but may be much more vulnerable to punctures. Strike a balance!

Finally, the most important bits of a bike are the frame and the wheels. Good wheels can make a big difference but the frame is the heart of a bike. It's worth bearing in mind that getting the Bowery down to it's pricepoint means that the frame isn't the best available, and that it may not be worth investing a lot of money in upgrading the rest.

Cheers,
W.

Jen J

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
mcmullej, I havn't seen you say whether you're riding fixed or single-speed (SS).

I'm guessing that you're doing one or the other .

Really?

Greg T

Jen J wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
mcmullej, I havn't seen you say whether you're riding fixed or single-speed (SS).

I'm guessing that you're doing one or the other .

Really?

Ooooogggg

Buns has displayed an uncharacteristic lack of attention to detail.

Snurk

don_don

Back in the day, riders would typically use a fixed gear, but if they ran out of energy ("bonked") or got lost or something and were finding the gear too difficult at the end of a long day, they could take the wheel off, flip it round and use a lower gear with a freewheel to get home- slower but less hard work.
This arrangement is called a flip-flop hub, and is still popular today, especially on off-the-peg SS/FG bikes, since it gives the buyer the option of whether to ride fixed or to use the freewheel and ride singlespeed (sometimes known as "wussing out" ).

Here we go - a geeky question - which may or may not help mcmullej:

My understanding of a flip-flop hub is one that has threading for a fixed sprocket and lockring on both sides.

I have a Formula hub that came with my Pearson Touche, which has a fixed thread on one side and a larger diameter thread on the other side, which I take is for a freewheel (although I don't have one). Is this not called a fixed/free hub?

The question which would help me is - do freewheels need a large diameter thread like I've described above or will they fit on a normal 'fixed' thread. Have I just got an oddball rear hub??

Thanks for any help with this extremely boring question which probably belongs in 'Special Interests' :roll:

ride_whenever

I'm pretty sure the fixed and free threads are the same, and the lockring thread is narrower. Sounds like you have a wierd hub!

itboffin

Freewheels it seems come it two sizes, the normal and micro, normals tend only to go as low as 16T sometimes 15T micro i've seen 14T.

Greg T

ride_whenever wrote:

I'm pretty sure the fixed and free threads are the same, and the lockring thread is narrower. Sounds like you have a wierd hub!

They aren't the same.

The fixed thread is "stepped" to allow the cog to thread on one way and then the lock ring to thread on the outside narrower bit and the other way, to lock up tight to the cog.

The freewheel side is just a straight thread but I think it's the same diameter as the fixed....

graeme_s-2

My chain snapped on the way home last night!

It was only changed a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I was just spinning down a hill and it didn't get tangled. I had to walk a couple of miles back to the bike shop in light rain and got my buff covered in chain filth as I wrapped the chain up in it to stop it getting on my hands/jersey.

It was a 1/8" SRAM chain, which I've now discovered had a powerlink. It failed at the powerlink. I've happily used chains with powerlinks on my road bike for ages, but is it a good idea on a fixie? Seems like it might be asking for trouble to me with the extra strain that's put through the chain on a fixie.

Anyone have any thoughts on using a powerlink on a fixed gear bike?

lost_in_thought

Never had a powerlink chain on the proper fixed, but on the old commuter (see link in sig) I had several chains go at the powerlink, and eventually gave up and spliced together two halves of chain with the standard rivets and a chain tool.

On the fixed I use half-link chains. I find they ride more smoothly and I'm told they can withstand much higher tension and are a lot tougher, hence their popularity in the world of BMX.

However, they are heavier, even the hollowpin ones. Also, they can be a bit of a pain to fit.

don_don

Greg T wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

I'm pretty sure the fixed and free threads are the same, and the lockring thread is narrower. Sounds like you have a wierd hub!

They aren't the same.

The fixed thread is "stepped" to allow the cog to thread on one way and then the lock ring to thread on the outside narrower bit and the other way, to lock up tight to the cog.

The freewheel side is just a straight thread but I think it's the same diameter as the fixed....

That makes more sense to me. Maybe my hub is designed for a 'normal' freewheel only.

As for the powerlink thing, I've been using a 3/32" SRAM chain and powerlink for over a year. No problems whatsoever. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't use one for normal riding (ie. not track), but chains do break occasionally, its just one of those things.

I do like LiT's idea of using a half-link chain, mainly so as to get the length spot on. I'd quite like to try a Gusset 'Slink'. They reviewed it on here some time ago.

wgwarburton

Jen J & Greg T write:

> Really?

Yeah. Some people do both (although not usually at the same time, I'll grant you...). there's a guy on my commute who's sometimes on fixed & sometimes on SS- he has a nice Lemond bike (Fillmore) with a flip-flop.
I'm guessing that mcmullej will be consistently riding SS, though... in which case he doesn't need to be faffing around buying sprockets, lockrings, chainwhips etc.

Hubs come fixed/fixed, fixed/free or single-sided, presumably in either variant. I think that a flip-flop is any double-sided hub, though I'm happy to be corrected if that's wrong.

I didn't know there were two freewheel thread sizes- that sounds like a BMX variation (they seem to like using tiny sprockets & chainrings) to me, though I'm making that up as I go.... :-)

ride_whenever and Gret T are saying the same thing in different ways, I think!

I used a powerlink (3/32) on my "nice" fixie for a year or two without problems but the one I replaced it with came with a traditional connector, which seems more robust to me. OTOH the winter hack has a 1/8" sprocket & (cheap) chain, and I found I couldn't use the connector link from it with a 3/32 chainring because it had too much play and the teeth dropped through the link (!). I just rivetted instead, as per LiT.

Sometimes simplicity can be quite complicated to achieve.

Cheers,
W.

Jen J

WGWarburton wrote:

Jen J & Greg T write:

> Really?

Yeah. Some people do both (although not usually at the same time, I'll grant you...)

Sorry, I was feeling particularly pedantic this morning, and I'm always a little deluded about quite how witty I am... :oops:

don_don

The odd thing about the Touche was that it came with a fixed sprocket on both sides, the larger of which had a bigger diameter thread. Of course, there was no lockring on it because they don't make them that size!

I wasn't arsed to complain so I took it off and threw it in the spares box. But maybe I'll give Pearson a call and ask what the craic is :?

don_don

Jen J wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

Jen J & Greg T write:

> Really?

Yeah. Some people do both (although not usually at the same time, I'll grant you...)

Sorry, I was feeling particularly pedantic this morning, and I'm always a little deluded about quite how witty I am... :oops:

No Jen you are right. Fixed Single - its the new wave. They are calling it Fingle

wgwarburton

Hi again,

Meant to say above- the chain I got was a KMC Z610-HX. A 3/32 that's intended for singlespeed/fixed use, and hence comes with a "master link", rather than a powerlink.
I don't have any evidence or experience that these are actually better but the engineer in me says that they certainly look it! I've not used this chain for long but initial impressions are encouraging.
If you need a 1/8" chain there are lots more options, of course.

Cheers,
W.

mcmullej

Yes, I'm SS all the way. The Bowery is a flip-flop but I'm too scared to try fixed... for now.

I'm learning lots... I think.

thx all.

Jen J

mcmullej wrote:

Yes, I'm SS all the way. The Bowery is a flip-flop but I'm too scared to try fixed... for now.

I'm learning lots... I think.

thx all.

I switched to fixed on the Bowery last weekend, and although I only have a short commute, I absolutely love riding fixed, no way will I switch it back to the freewheel.

Just go for it

lost_in_thought

Jen you need to go round RP with the fixed!

wgwarburton

don_don writes:

> No Jen you are right. Fixed Single - its the new wave. They are calling it Fingle

Ah, no- that's this thing:

http://www.fixedandfreegear.com/

(warning- the web-wranglers think they are kewl).

Fixed/free for the mechanically inept, that misses the point of the lower gear for the freewheel... surely a niche product within a niche sector of a niche market?

Or as the generation game would have it- "niche to see you, to see you niche!"

Cheers,
W.

lost_in_thought

WGWarburton wrote:

don_don writes:

> No Jen you are right. Fixed Single - its the new wave. They are calling it Fingle

Ah, no- that's this thing:

http://www.fixedandfreegear.com/

(warning- the web-wranglers think they are kewl).

Fixed/free for the mechanically inept, that misses the point of the lower gear for the freewheel... surely a niche product within a niche sector of a niche market?

Or as the generation game would have it- "niche to see you, to see you niche!"

Cheers,
W.

Hold on - may be having a blonde moment here but:

from that (achingly kewl) site:

As soon as the rear wheel rotates faster than the cranks, the rider's legs can get a rest while the rear wheel keeps rolling

So it starts off fixed, then becomes free, then goes back to fixed? Can you rotate the cranks whilst the bike itself is stationary?

Or am I being stupid?