single speed conversion- Help please !

Roadfanatic94
Roadfanatic94 Posts: 37
edited June 2010 in The workshop
Hi there. I would like to convert my old mountain bike to single speed. Now the freewheel is a 5 speed and fixes onto one of the older screw on style hubs if that makes any sense. I know you can get conversion kits for the newer free hubs. Is there any way I can have a fixed gear cog on this type of hub. Thanks in advance.

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  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Roadfanatic94 wrote:
    Hi there. I would like to convert my old mountain bike to single speed. Now the freewheel is a 5 speed and fixes onto one of the older screw on style hubs if that makes any sense. I know you can get conversion kits for the newer free hubs. Is there any way I can have a fixed gear cog on this type of hub. Thanks in advance.

    A single speed freewheel will screw onto the thread that your five-speed block is currently occupying.

    What you would do is to take the five-speed off, fit the single in its place and redish the wheel so that the new sprocket is lined up with your chainring. This has the added benefit (if done correctly) of making the wheel stronger.

    If you are looking to go fixed instead of single-speed then a fixed/track sprocket will screw on to the same thread, however you won't have a counter-threaded lockring to hold it in place. Opinion is divided on whether this is really necessary, but if you do go this route then I would definitely keep your rear brake and use it instead of habitually skid-stopping. FWIW I do this and havn't had a problem.

    Cheers,
    W.

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