Singlespeed

roscoe
roscoe Posts: 532
in Workshop
I’ve got an old Carrera TDF gathering dust in the shed. I was thinking of turning it into a flat bar Singlespeed just for getting around the local area.

Is it as simple as buying a Singlespeed kit, chain, flat bar and brake levers from Wiggle and fitting them?

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    you need freehub spacers, a sprocket from a cassette, a chain tensioner and maybe you want to replace the rings in your chainset with a singe narrow wide chainring. At that point you are single speed and you can use a multi speed chain, most of them will fit, get the cheapest, which might be 10 speed these days. Otherwise you can get single speed specific sprockets and chainset, to use with single speed chains, which are a bit wider, but in my view it is more expensive and not worth it
    left the forum March 2023
  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 271
    Why flat bar? I would just take out the gear cables and keep using the original bars and brake levers, saves even more cash and doesn't impact handling etc.

    I converted an old Giant road bike to a singlespeed with a Planet X kit and a singlespeed chainring and chain, served me well for the last two years of commuting.
  • roscoe
    roscoe Posts: 532
    commuterlegs said:

    Why flat bar? I would just take out the gear cables and keep using the original bars and brake levers, saves even more cash and doesn't impact handling etc.

    I converted an old Giant road bike to a singlespeed with a Planet X kit and a singlespeed chainring and chain, served me well for the last two years of commuting.

    Good shout, thanks.

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,716
    You can even use an old rear mech as a chain tensioner. Get some long screws (generally M3 or M4) and use them as limit screws to line the mech up. Alternatively, use a really short gear cable with the shifter end in the barrel adjuster and line it up that way.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Cheapest of all, just leave the bike as it is, without changing anything - and just ride it in the same gear all the time...
  • roscoe
    roscoe Posts: 532
    imposter2.0 said:

    Cheapest of all, just leave the bike as it is, without changing anything - and just ride it in the same gear all the time...

    A very good shout, would give me an idea if my old knees can take SS
  • Munsford0
    Munsford0 Posts: 680
    I did a kind of singlespeed with an old steel framed 7 speed Peugeot. Just took off one chainring and the rear mech, shortened the chain and popped it on a likely sprocket, then tensioned it by sliding the wheel backwards in the semi-horizontal dropouts. It's a QR wheel but it seems to have held.

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