Advice on swapping to a single cog up front

I bought a Voodoo Hoodoo the other day from Halfords, it was in their discount section as it had some replacement parts on it.

One of the differences is that it has 2 cogs up front, rather than a single one which is standard.

My question is, can I remove the granny ring and the front derailleur and just run it that way?

The riding I do with my kids, I'll never use that one anyway
I've attached pictures of the gears
I'm pretty sure it's not the most current Voodoo Hoodoo and possibly an older version



Comments

  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Yes but theres a strong chance the chain will keep jumping off the front ring so go on Amazon and buy a £15 narrow wide replacement and single cog chainring bolts for a fiver and all will be perfect.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • ed1973
    ed1973 Posts: 284
    Lots on the internet about it. Also on YouTube
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7nRo--i8kFM
    Does require some specialised tools, quite an easy job for your local bike shop (LBS) if you don’t want to tackle it yourself. But as @MattFalle has said it will defiantly need a Narrow Wide Chainring on the front.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    edited November 2022
    ed1973 said:

    Lots on the internet about it. Also on YouTube
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7nRo--i8kFM
    Does require some specialised tools, quite an easy job for your local bike shop (LBS) if you don’t want to tackle it yourself. But as @MattFalle has said it will defiantly need a Narrow Wide Chainring on the front.

    specilaised tools? eh?

    a 5mm allen key and a flat bladed screwdriver.

    if they are specialised lets not try changing a tyre.

    take off front mech.

    unship chain

    undo chaining bolts

    take off old chainrings, hit with hsmmer, set fire to, lob over hedge

    fit new chainring with new bolts

    no need at all for lbs

    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • edward.s
    edward.s Posts: 228
    Before you buy a new chainring (and Matt is right you'd need a narrow-wide one), do check if your existing chainset has the rings bolted or riveted on. Some of the cheaper end chainsets the rings are riveted in place and can't easily be replaced.

    If so, you may need a complete single ring chainset. A serviceable one with chainring from Amazon can be had for around £40.
  • ed1973
    ed1973 Posts: 284
    MattFalle said:

    ed1973 said:

    Lots on the internet about it. Also on YouTube
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7nRo--i8kFM
    Does require some specialised tools, quite an easy job for your local bike shop (LBS) if you don’t want to tackle it yourself. But as @MattFalle has said it will defiantly need a Narrow Wide Chainring on the front.

    specilaised tools? eh?

    a 5mm allen key and a flat bladed screwdriver.

    if they are specialised lets not try changing a tyre.

    take off front mech.

    unship chain

    undo chaining bolts

    take off old chainrings, hit with hsmmer, set fire to, lob over hedge

    fit new chainring with new bolts

    no need at all for lbs

    If the small chainring won’t come off past the arms on the crank then yes, it will need the crank off so a crank puller etc!
  • ed1973
    ed1973 Posts: 284
    I was also assuming here if the crank in question is a square taper.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Worse comes to the worst, £4.65.




    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    Or save yourself the time, effort and cost by leaving it alone. If you're only "riding with the kids", what sort of riding are you doing where you might want to save 250g that doesn't involve steep hills where that equipment might come in useful?
  • me-109 said:

    Or save yourself the time, effort and cost by leaving it alone. If you're only "riding with the kids", what sort of riding are you doing where you might want to save 250g that doesn't involve steep hills where that equipment might come in useful?

    It's nothing to do with weight savings, I just can't stand the noise of the chain rubbing on the front derailleur and no matter how much I adjust it, I can't get it spot on, so I'd rather remove it
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644

    me-109 said:

    Or save yourself the time, effort and cost by leaving it alone. If you're only "riding with the kids", what sort of riding are you doing where you might want to save 250g that doesn't involve steep hills where that equipment might come in useful?

    It's nothing to do with weight savings, I just can't stand the noise of the chain rubbing on the front derailleur and no matter how much I adjust it, I can't get it spot on, so I'd rather remove it
    best get rid then.

    mag to grid fella, mag to grid.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    me-109 said:

    Or save yourself the time, effort and cost by leaving it alone. If you're only "riding with the kids", what sort of riding are you doing where you might want to save 250g that doesn't involve steep hills where that equipment might come in useful?

    canal paths
    cycle paths
    urban areas
    the Fens
    housing estate
    the school run
    the shop run
    riding with the kids
    airfields
    industrial estates
    factories
    downhill
    shopping precincts
    military camps
    Centre Parcs
    camp sites
    ad infinitum

    he's riding with his kids and just wants to pedal along on his Hoodoo Voodoo Schmoodoo and chat to his kids and smoke fags and nip out when its dark to sell drugs and guns from under lampposts and street corners with maybe some pimping and a bit of debt collection and working on doors to get some extra cash to pay for his new tattoos..

    you don't need gears for that.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    It's going to be cheaper and easier to learn how to index it than make it 1x.

    Not replacement parts, just an older bike.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Cheers for the replies so far, I'll have another go at sorting out the gears and if it's still not 100%, I'll go and switch it to a 1x
  • Little update. Using the parktools site, I've correctly indexed the rear gears, but I'm still struggling with the front.
    I still have chain rub on the outer of the 2 rings. If I adjust it anymore, then the chain jumps off the outside.

    My front shifter seems to be from a 3 ring setup, as I can click it to 3 different settings, which is throwing me a little.

    Also the rings are riveted to the chainset, so not as easy to just remove one


  • Here is the shifter on the 3rd click (the red indicator is hidden by the black square)

  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    You usually have more than two clicks on a double chain ring shifter. It’s so you can adjust to prevent chain rub when you towards big and big or little and little.
    I would have thought on triple shifter it would 1, 2 ,3 on the indicator.
  • webboo said:

    You usually have more than two clicks on a double chain ring shifter. It’s so you can adjust to prevent chain rub when you towards big and big or little and little.
    I would have thought on triple shifter it would 1, 2 ,3 on the indicator.

    The only way I could get it with no chain rub, was to index it so that point 2 is the smallest ring and then to get to the outer ring, I move the shifter across to where number 3 would be. It's not like it has a little movement, it clicks across 3 times which was causing the chain to go off the outer ring. As I don't use the smallest ring, it'll never go off the inside.

    I'm still going to swap to a 1x setup, just not sure which one to pick on Amazon that would work

    I have this one in my wishlist as a possible
    ZTZ Mountain Bike 170mm Square Crankset with 104 BCD 32/34/36/38T Chainring,Aluminum Alloy MTB Crank Round Chainring and Crank, fit Shimano, SRAM, FSA https://amzn.eu/d/8OyNAf4
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    When you google Shimano Acern it shows a front double like yours with 1, 2 on it All the triples have 1, 2, 3 marked on the indicator
  • webboo said:

    When you google Shimano Acern it shows a front double like yours with 1, 2 on it All the triples have 1, 2, 3 marked on the indicator

    It looks like they've just put a sticker over the 3, it looks like it's starting to peal off 🤣