MMBA

by **Bertilak** » February 22nd, 2003, 9:06 pm

Does anyone have experience riding this single speed bike?

What do you like/dislike about it? Would it make a good starter single speed? What other complete single speeds under $500 should I also consider?

I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Thanks.

by **Farmer_John** » February 23rd, 2003, 12:04 am

My suggestion is to take your present hardtail and convert it. A Surly Singleator, a couple of old cassettes and a narrower BB would do it.

You'll spend a lot less and find out whether or not you like the simplistic, pure, unadulterated joy or not having the extra poundage of shifters, derailers and the extra cables and housings of a geared bike.

the Mono-Cog is a nice inexpensive bike, although heavy and limited for upgrades by a 110mm rear end. Standard MTB spacing is 135mm. this doesn't seem like it would be a big deal, untill you see that great deal on that Spot, Surly, Paul, Phil Wood or Chris King Hubset.

You'd have to throw away the rear, it wouldn't fit...

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 23rd, 2003, 8:01 am

Farmer_John wrote:My suggestion is to take your present hardtail and convert it. A Surly Singleator, a couple of old cassettes and a narrower BB would do it.

I agree with Farmer John, except I have never had to replace a bottom bracket on a SS conversion before. The adjustability of the chainline at the cassette should keep you golden. You can also swap chainring positions (middle to outside or vice versa). I would do the following personally:

I have some great single speed conversion links on my website. Scroll down past the SS manufacturers to the "Information" section.
http://www.altelco.net/~emenaker/bikingLinks.htm#singlespeed

With a conversion, you're out very little money if you decide that you don't like single speeding. Otherwise, you'll take a bath on selling your fancy, shiny SS bike in the classifieds or on eBay. If you absolutely sure you want to get a "real" SS bike, though, the Redline looks like a great complete bike for the $$$ (I'd shy away from buying a frame/fork and building one up, though...not cost effective). I'd also look at a Surly 1x1 or Kona Unit. Surlys should be able to be purchased for ~325 (frame/fork) from your LBS, and the Kona Unit (frame only) is on sale at Bikeman.com for $329.

Craig

by **Farmer_John** » February 23rd, 2003, 9:38 am

Craig is correct on the issue of the bottom bracket. when I did my SS conversion, I decided to continue to run my early 90s Shimano DX crank. When this bike was geared I had to run a 127mm BB to get the correct chainline. It now contently spins it's 34t ring on a 108. This lined it up with my Surly rear end perfectly.

by **Sherpaboy** » February 23rd, 2003, 11:53 am

Eeeeewwwww! Put that thing away :lol:

I know also that KHS has a new single speed, soft tail. But I'd have to agree with pre-trial first. Contact Macomb Bike and Fitness (Warren, MI - 586-756-5400). Ask for Rob (aka fourgrays on this bb) he could tell you personal experience with the redline. I rode his at the BBBB last fall, it felt good for a $400-$500 bike. He did mention the rear hub spacing, but had some sort of solution...I think he had an upgraded hub on it?

Just in case you don't have an old multi gear bike to convert. Other than that the suggestions above are both very good...Trying someone else’s bike is the cheapest means, then convert would be next cheapest...followed by buying a "cheaper" single speed.

Good luck

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 23rd, 2003, 12:28 pm

Farmer John,

That thing is so ugly and so cool at the same time. I love it!

Craig

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 23rd, 2003, 2:52 pm

Bertilak,

One other cheap alternative to a $50 chain tensioner is a "ghost" chainring. If you have old chainrings laying around, just add one in between the front ring and rear cog to take up the slack. I have this setup on my Cannondale Winter bike, and it works great. The front & ghost chainrings are 32T, and the cog is an 18T. Here's what it looks like.

Craig

by **wingzz** » February 23rd, 2003, 4:12 pm

Craig sometimes you scare me :?:

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 23rd, 2003, 5:23 pm

wingzz wrote:Craig sometimes you scare me

(my scary face)

Seriously, it works well. The chainring floats/spins in place and doesn't move. If I scare you for other reasons, I apologize

Craig

by **cyclodan** » February 23rd, 2003, 6:20 pm

I have never seen such a thing :!:

But I love the freak factor. Does the ghost ring have to be the same # of teeth as the front to work?

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 23rd, 2003, 7:01 pm

cyclodan wrote:I have never seen such a thing But I love the freak factor. Does the ghost ring have to be the same # of teeth as the front to work?

Nope. If you think about it, the chain travels across the bottom of the chainring at the same rate that it travels across the top of the ring. It just spins in place. If you have more slop, use a bigger chainring. Also, the closer you move the chainring to the small rear cog, the more tension you get. That's why it helps to have a lot of old chainrings laying around...to experiment a little.

I've seen it done before by other people (it's not my idea), but this is the first time I've tried it in one of my bikes. If you think about it, it's probably lighter than a chain tensioner, as well.

Craig

by **Farmer_John** » February 23rd, 2003, 7:09 pm

1x1_Speed_Craig wrote:Farmer John,

That thing is so ugly and so cool at the same time. I love it!

Craig

It's not quite so bad anymore. those red and Blue ACS/Ukai wheelset is now just taking up space. I like my Surlys.

But that's the point. I started with a converted rear wheel and used it until it blew up. then I built the ACS/Ukai set for around 30 bucks. when I bent the third axle on the re-spaced BMX rear hub, I made a deal for a Surly/Bontrager wheelset.

Someday, I'll look at that old GT that I love so much and just say, "Man, I really would like a new frame" and that will be that. the GT will once again hang in honor in my livingroom...

by **kevinp** » February 23rd, 2003, 9:50 pm

Craig - that is brilliant. How on earth did you think of that?

by **DaBbLe** » February 23rd, 2003, 11:54 pm

I think the extra chainring is used a lot in homemade tandems. There are some shown on Sheldon Browns site. If you use an old chainring, you have to be careful that it will fit between the rear cog and where the chainline crosses the chain stays.

I just used a Surley tensioner to convert my Schwinn.
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/mtbr/ ... vc-002f(14).jpg

by **1x1_Speed_Craig** » February 24th, 2003, 6:25 am

dbl wrote:I think the extra chainring is used a lot in homemade tandems. There are some shown on Sheldon Browns site. If you use an old chainring, you have to be careful that it will fit between the rear cog and where the chainline crosses the chain stays.

Yeah, people on the MTBR SS Forum have done it before, too.

Good point about the chainstay clearance. I did end up moving my chainline inward by adjusting the rear spacers and adding a set of ~2.5mm chainring bolt spacers up front. This gave me plenty of clearance on the chainstays.

Craig

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Redline Mono Cog

Redline Mono Cog

Eeewwww!

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