What’s the easiest way to convert a mountain bike into a fixed gear?
dinohub asked:
Hi, I'm moving to the snow and want to build a mountin fixie. Since there aren't many of these out there, I will have to build this one myself. I was wondering if I could fix the rear wheel without having to rebuild it. Or maybe there is a retailer on the web that sells fixed back wheels. Also are there specific hubs I need special for a mountain bike? Anything other advice, comments, rants, raves....?
Hi, I'm moving to the snow and want to build a mountin fixie. Since there aren't many of these out there, I will have to build this one myself. I was wondering if I could fix the rear wheel without having to rebuild it. Or maybe there is a retailer on the web that sells fixed back wheels. Also are there specific hubs I need special for a mountain bike? Anything other advice, comments, rants, raves....?
Thanks a bunch.
Tags: Hubs, Moving, Rear Wheel
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August 16th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
The cheapest way is to remove the rear freewheel and both derailleurs, fit a single cog, respace the axle and have the rear wheel redished by a cycle shop. You will also need to either replace or shorten your chain. You can use the original chainset, although obviously you will only be able to use one of the rings – probably the middle one on a triple.
August 19th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Probably not worth the effort of fixing the back wheel you already have.
Fixed hubs are readily available. You will almost certainly need one which is 135mm over-lock-nuts (OLN). Track bikes are 120mm and ordinary road bikes are 130mm so you don’t want those sizes.
It’ll only work if you have sloping dropouts for your rear wheel, so that you can adjust the chain tension by moving the wheel itself.
You might need to change your chainset and bottom bracket to get the chainline right, though.
There is a lot of good stuff about building a fixie on (the late) Sheldon Brown’s website.
August 19th, 2007 at 10:33 am
The main problem is you need a way of adjusting the chain tension.
Either you need slotted dropouts or a chain tensioning device.