Rear gears no triple or double on the front - road bike

DonDaddyD
DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
edited September 2009 in Commuting chat
Do they still sell road bikes with just gears on the back and none on the front ?

And/Or

Is it possible to change my chainset on my Giant SCR3 to a single 42 - or 44 and still have 8speed gears on the back?

The reason I'm asking is that some of the feedback from my new repairs was that the bolt connecting my front mech to the thingy that keeps it on the frame is broken and the shop had to use a bigger bolt to keep the mech on and prevent it from moving. Eventually this will wear, evil will happen and the mech will need to be replaced.

With recent learnings about gear inches and single speeds I was wondering if its possible to simply reduced my chainrings to a single?

Not that I'm going to do this, I'm just curious?
Food Chain number = 4

A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
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Comments

  • jedster
    jedster Posts: 1,717
    Is it possible to change my crank on my Giant SCR to a single 42 - or 44 and still have 8speed gears on the back?

    Yes. Just remove a chain ring, front mech and gear cable. It's just the fromt half of a SS conversion!
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Coolio!

    I'm going to toy with this idea and eventually mention it to the bike shop man who will look at me like this: :shock:

    That said I do somewhat think this could be part of a larger project with a better frame... we'll see.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • Track / single front end and a Sturmley Archer 3 speed fixed hub.

    Sorted.
    FCN: 5
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Any links to bikes sold in this format would be greatly appreciated.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • _Brun_
    _Brun_ Posts: 1,740
    You don't even need to remove any chainrings. Just ditch the derailleur and leave the chain on the middle. What size is that currently?

    It would also be much cheaper to replace the front mech than buy a new chainset.
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    _Brun_ wrote:
    You don't even need to remove any chainrings. Just ditch the derailleur and leave the chain on the middle. What size is that currently?

    It would also be much cheaper to replace the front mech than buy a new chainset.

    Very true. When enthusiasm take hold I loose sight of practicality sometimes. :oops:

    I think my middle chainring is a 39, don't quote me I need to go check.

    A quick use of Sheldons gear inch calculator is telling me that I would prefer to have a 44 combined with my 23-12 cassette. That way I could comfortably use the first 5 rear cogs before I got into the 80s in terms of inches.

    This not considering any hills on my commuting - it is only London...
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • _Brun_
    _Brun_ Posts: 1,740
    It might also be possible to mount the big ring where the middle one is currently, although I'm not entirely sure whether that's actually possible or practical.
  • I have been trying to achieve the same end for ages now, all the "experts" I ask tell me not to do it. They say you need a type of chain guard on the front ring. Can't see why myself, I just hadn't had the courage to remove the front mech to try.

    Good luck
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    We'l see, I'll shelve the idea for now until the temporary bolt can no longer hold my rear mech onto the braze on thingy. Shouldn't be too long.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • MrBlond
    MrBlond Posts: 161
    I sometimes use my IF cross bike to ride in (wrong, I know) which has no braze-ons fro front mech at all Does have an outer guard on the chainring and something like this:

    http://www.webcyclery.com/product.php?p ... 255&page=1

    to stop the chain falling off.

    As Brun suggests front mechs aren't expensive though!

    That said, if you try this, said cross bike has 42 ring and 11-25 and is absoultely perfect for hacking about town.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    edited September 2009
    _Brun_ wrote:
    You don't even need to remove any chainrings. Just ditch the derailleur and leave the chain on the middle.
    +1

    If you do this, you still have the bailout option of shifting between rings manually (with a bit of practice you can do this underway). All you need to do then, is switch your middle ring for a 44 (or whatever you come up with).

    I'm now running a 28/40/50 I found on Ebay with a 12-21 cassette and the middle ring is good from a standstill up to around 28mph, so I almost never touch the front changer.

    Edit: Definitely don't need a front changer just to stop the chain falling off; when I was a poor student (and before you could buy used front mechs on ebay for less than a fiver) I did exactly this...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • You can usually run a big ring in the middle position on a triple, does depend on the cranks though.

    To run 8 out back you will need a chain guide of some description to stop the chain coming off at the extremes of the cassette. You can bodge one out of your rear mech, set the position using the low limit screw.

    The other option is a hub gear out back for up to 14 gears.
  • DonDaddyD wrote:
    We'l see, I'll shelve the idea for now until the temporary bolt can no longer hold my rear mech onto the braze on thingy. Shouldn't be too long.

    front mechs aren't terribly pricey, 105 is around the £30 mark fitting them isn't a issue setting them up is a bit more of art but still doable.

    to be honest I don't use gears much in london never a need to get out of the 50t and tend to be in one or two gears, certinly central there is argument for SS.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    You can usually run a big ring in the middle position on a triple, does depend on the cranks though.

    To run 8 out back you will need a chain guide of some description to stop the chain coming off at the extremes of the cassette. You can bodge one out of your rear mech, set the position using the low limit screw.

    The other option is a hub gear out back for up to 14 gears.

    Or just do it proper 70s stylee and run a five speed cassette. Assuming you can still get such things, they'll probably cost buttons and as long as the overall range is OK the gaps, whilst bigger than they would be on the 8, will still give you far more control of your cadence than a single speed does.

    Mind you, this is all heading towards a route of non-indexed, downtube shifting elegance which some folk might get sniffy about :D
    Faster than a tent.......
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Why not just ignore the left hand shifter? Cost and effort = 0
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    I just like the idea and look of none on the front elegance and 8 on the back a testament to technology. Plus of all the bikes I've had when I was a nipper I always had front mech problems... so I have no love for them and grew up riding bikes wtih the chain permanently on the big ring.

    In London, unless you live out South East or around the greater London boundaries/outskirts (try riding around Crystal Palace and tell me London doesn't have hills) you really don't need a bailout chainring but would need some options on the back. IMO
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • or just run a mtb 8 spd cassette for a wide range of ratios.
  • Rolf F wrote:
    Mind you, this is all heading towards a route of non-indexed, downtube shifting elegance which some folk might get sniffy about :D

    My current commuter is downtube (or in the case of my front mech downtube + lean down and push) based shifting.

    A bazillion times smoother than the 105's on my other bike - No clunk, no jump, just a quiet tick and in. Peachy.


    *sniffs*
    FCN: 5
  • DonDaddyD wrote:
    I just like the idea and look of none on the front elegance and 8 on the back a testament to technology. Plus of all the bikes I've had when I was a nipper I always had front mech problems... so I have no love for them and grew up riding bikes wtih the chain permanently on the big ring.

    In London, unless you live out South East or around the greater London boundaries/outskirts (try riding around Crystal Palace and tell me London doesn't have hills) you really don't need a bailout chainring but would need some options on the back. IMO

    front derailers are just brute force, so no elegance I do understand where your thinking I would just say beware of costs, one other option is to sell this bike and get one you'd like for the commute?
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    A bazillion times smoother than the 105's on my other bike - No clunk, no jump, just a quiet tick and in. Peachy.


    *sniffs*

    I do love the swift, faffless sweep through the gears the old style shifters provide - except, as I found this weekend, when you are battling up Wrynose Pass where there is enough to worry about without flailing around with the downtube :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • or just run a mtb 8 spd cassette for a wide range of ratios.

    this is exactly what my pub bike has on it, a single 39 up front with a 11-32 on the back. I don't use a guard (although a dog fang would hardly break the bank) and it's never fallen off. And I've got gears from 32" to 95" although I'll grant you there are some gaps.
  • Rolf F wrote:
    A bazillion times smoother than the 105's on my other bike - No clunk, no jump, just a quiet tick and in. Peachy.
    *sniffs*
    I do love the swift, faffless sweep through the gears the old style shifters provide - except, as I found this weekend, when you are battling up Wrynose Pass where there is enough to worry about without flailing around with the downtube :lol:

    Bar-end (ratchet) friction shifters by SunTour, coupled with a Cyclone rear mech. This was the peak of shifting technology and is yet to be bettered. No clicks, no faffing, no over-complicated integrated stuff, no need to take your hands off the bars.

    It's been downhill ever since they invented STI :-), and I don't mean that in a good way....

    Pass me my pipe & slippers, and I'll tell you about the time I watched a Shackleton fly past below me when touring up by Inverness.... :-)

    Cheers,
    W.
  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    CJ's bike (RIP) was in this format for ages. Both rings in place, but no front mech. Seemed to work fine for him (apart from occasionally dropping the chain).

    But I don't understand what is broken in the first place - not sure how this can be a terribly complicated problem. Piccie?
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Bar-end (ratchet) friction shifters by SunTour, coupled with a Cyclone rear mech. This was the peak of shifting technology and is yet to be bettered. No clicks, no faffing, no over-complicated integrated stuff, no need to take your hands off the bars.

    It's been downhill ever since they invented STI :-), and I don't mean that in a good way....

    Lol - I have a Raleigh Record Ace with Cyclone GT derailleur. Not many deraileurs made today that are as light.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • When I used to do a lot of city riding (in Edinburgh where it's built on 7 hills!) I converted my mtb to single at the front. Just dropped the big ring to middle ring position and removed mech, cable and shifter. Think it was a 7 speed rear and never had any problems without a chain guard.

    And I will even admit to the vanity of thinking it looked cool :lol:
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313

    My current commuter is downtube (or in the case of my front mech downtube + lean down and push) based shifting.

    A bazillion times smoother than the 105's on my other bike - No clunk, no jump, just a quiet tick and in. Peachy.


    *sniffs*

    Me too. Haven't used them for years but got right back into them, and have a cheeky bit of Dura-Ace on a £650 bike:

    IMG_0433-1.jpg

    There's something quite satisfying about the clutter-free bars and brakes that are just... brakes.
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • I took my rear brake/front shifter pod and front mech off my Kona a few months ago. Keep meaning to do the rings (either swap or remove) but havent gotten around to it yet. Only had the chain come off twice, both whilst hopping up/down kerbs, but I think thats mainly to do with a roadie cassette and an mtb chain length giving too much slack(another job I havent gotten round to yet!).
    Looks alot nicer too. I like it...
    '11 Cannondale Synapse 105CD - FCN 4
    '11 Schwinn Corvette - FCN 15?
    '09 Pitch Comp - FCN (why bother?) 11
    '07 DewDeluxe (Bent up after being run over) - FCN 8
  • @DDD - MTFU!

    If memory serves you already have a SS bike sitting at home so why not just commute on it for a few days and see how it feels. If the gearing is wrong, well it's not expensive to sort that. If you want to do hills you have geared bikes and there's no reason you need gears on your commute...
  • I ran this set up: 7 at back & big cog of chainset with no front derailleur or chainguard for about a year with no problems. Also used non-indexed down tube shifters, so I was very elegant.
  • I wouldn't recommend a setup where you have nothing to catch the chain if it falls off the outside of the chainring. Best case, your chain is caught by the pedal and you coast to a stop. Worst case, slack chain tangles in rear wheel/cranks and you skid. As the chain commonly drops when changing up (because the chain vibrates more on upshifts), this is likely to coincide with a dash across a junction/overtaking - most inopportune. So, I would always recommend having a outer chainring or chainguard to catch the chain.