29er 3x7 to 1x7/8 speed conversion

jsisidore

Since I already don't have a front mech and probably never will I decided to go 1x, but having a 2x and shift manually is not an issue either I do like the idea of having all the gears on the back...

What gives me a headache is deciding what length and size I should go for. My current setup is 14/28 and 28/38/48 170mm. I really like 48t and don't need more but more than often switch to 38t and remember to switch back only on a long strip of flat surface which is not that common where I live.

So I'm thinking of finding a middle ground between 48t and 38t, but Ideally I would want a 32/46 and the middle between the two would be 40t which is a little bit on the small side, I need the bigger wheel more so I would compromise towards 42t and 180mm for more leverage if that makes sense.

And in the future get a new cassette, something like 11/34... sadly I can only get away with a 8-9 speed cassette on my current frame and since I already upgraded to 8 speed shifter and rear mech I'm not looking forward to converting again for the sake of an additional gear.

jsisidore

I used the bikecalc ratio calculator and with a 11/34 cassette I would say I'm down with anything between 36t and 42t

jsisidore

Also there's a lot of fixie/singlespeed cranksets on the market, I suppose there's no difference between these and those marketed 1xN ?

p.s. I would prefer a two-piece system.

cycleclinic

for off road use a narrow wide chainring is useful but single rings bigger than 38T are not common for MTB chansets.

With a 29er a 38:11T is a ration for high paced road use. I have that ratio as a top gear on my 29er and it is for speeds over 20 mph.

jsisidore

thecycleclinic wrote:

for off road use a narrow wide chainring is useful but single rings bigger than 38T are not common for MTB chansets.

With a 29er a 38:11T is a ration for high paced road use. I have that ratio as a top gear on my 29er and it is for speeds over 20 mph.

I'm fine with 38/36:11/12

Thing is single speed chainsets are cheaper so I'm thinking they are not as durable as the ones marketed as mtb? So far I think a chainset is the most confusing part on a bike.

The Rookie

If you use a plain ring you'll need a chain guide, use a narrow wide ring and you won't.

Use an MTB crankset and you'll be limited to about a 38t, use a road crankset and you can get upto a 44t cyclocross ring which is what I'm using on my commuter.

jsisidore

I found shimano alfine 39t 170mm with bb on amazon quite cheap so I went with it. It's almost exactly what I wanted. Originally I was looking at Truvativ Hussefelt 1.1 DH but it was overkill for my needs.

The Rookie

You may well find you need a chain guide to keep the chain on with that crankset.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

If you fancy a mega-mega-range 11-40 8-speed cassette...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bicycle-Freew ... 2447446057?

They come as standard on the kids Whyte 403 for 1x8, with an Altus M310 rear mech.

jsisidore

NitrousOxide wrote:

If you fancy a mega-mega-range 11-40 8-speed cassette...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bicycle-Freew ... 2447446057?

They come as standard on the kids Whyte 403 for 1x8, with an Altus M310 rear mech.

Neat. Is this a type of cassette you can modify? I have the shimano tourney one, first I need to check what kind of rear hub I have.

p.s. the new crankset is too close to the frame and the chain is crossed to the point of touching the higher gears, I suppose I need spacers but it looks like I can move the chainring to the outside of the crankset so I will try that first.

jsisidore

The Rookie wrote:

You may well find you need a chain guide to keep the chain on with that crankset.

I will definitely need one. Which one should I get? I know nothing about them.

How about this one?
https://www.evanscycles.com/hoy-pinnacl ... ews-header

I don't need anything fancy or expensive, definitely not expensive

The Rookie

That one would do the job just fine.

jsisidore

It appears I have a freewheel, and it also appears that 8 speed freewheels are rare, expensive and not safe for the axle? I managed to find a sunrace 8 speed 13-32 freewheel (double the price of a cassette) and I don't like the range. Can't believe this is happening but I will have to get a new wheel which raises a myriad of other questions, the width of the rim, the length of the freehub, and will all of it fit between the dropouts, I measured almost 138mm and I read you only need 135mm so I'm good?

jsisidore

So far I found these two wheels, price is fair but there's little description. Are these considered road, hybrid or mtb? And what is the difference between the two?

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Tru-Build-700c ... _32900.htm
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Tru-Build-Rear ... _26783.htm

cooldad

One says freewheel, which you already have, one says freehub, which you want. The pictures appear to lie. One of them anyway.
They say trekking wheels, so I wouldn't do any really gnarly stuff with them.

jsisidore

Trekking is fine, I think the 240 one is trekking as it has a wider rim but it does say freewheel...

cooldad

Which doesn't help.