[paulbug]

I don't visit singlespeeds often, but often enough to know that there used to be some good stuff here.
Did it all get wiped away cause it was all vulgar?
I had some questions, and hope to get answers. This is a great forum.
Help!
First question:
I found my perfect gear combo that allows me to run a tight chain without a suckulator: 36-16 on my old mtb frame with vertical dropouts. But it's TOUGH around santa cruz. It's great for flat, but I ride uphill.
Soooo...I ordered a 34 ring and plan to use it with my 18t cog.
Is it true that if I decrease by 2 teeth up front and increase by 2 in the rear, I'll still have a tight chain?
Hopeful,
Paul

 

[Arsbars]

In my experience it didn't work...I tried it on a fixie road bike convert, and it didn't work at all.. but it could be different freewheels are made different, and different chanrings are differen't.. if that makes sense...

 

[paulbug]

Well,
I'll have to see when I get back home after stuffin down some bird at my sis-in-laws.
I'll keep you posted.
Paul

 

[jace]

Yeah the "rule of four." This should work. There are some variables though - chainstretch and tooth wear could potentially cause some issues which might be what Arleigh was running into.

 

[Arsbars]

if need be you can always get the eno rear hub... its sweeeeet

 

[paulbug]

Eno hub? How much is that? I see $129 plus 8.50 on ebay.
We're talking ghetto, slums, and greasy alley cats here. My bank account has $1527 in it right now, and my next VISA bill will be about $2500.
2 small kids--we're talkin diapers, bike toys, wife's hobbies, etc. etc. etc. Dang that stuff sucks up the money!!! And I don't even own a home. We only have one car.

Frist, I picked up a singleator for $20 (that's a lot of $ to me) without realizing it was a knock off. It actually worked ok on my old rigid Bridgestone MB-3 steel frame, but the thing had a 1" head tube! I had a crappy old Mag 21 that leaked, but it just wouldn't fit the bill for the trails I usually ride on my Enduro Pro in Santa Cruz. (How did I afford that? Long story...got a broken Specialezed hard tail frame from a guy for free, sent it in, got a new full susp. FSR XC. That broke, they sent me a new one, sold on EBAY for $600...Bought a used Enduro Comp for $550. THAT one broke too, so they sent me a brand new Enduro Pro. All from a broken pinkish M2 that I didn't break...my friends call me the king of free.)
I was determined to make the singlespeed ride enjoyable, so I headed down the the "bike church" in downtown Santa Cruz. Now THAT place is the ghetto of all ghettos!!! Some of you I'm sure know about it. I first visited huntercycles to give me some motivation to go cheap. Dang, those frames are sweet! I can't go $3600 on my visa, sorry.
This Rasta guy finally showed up late to the church, and I oogled at all the crappy old frames hanging around their cage. The only one that would fit me with a 1 1/8" head tube was an old green Giant--probably toooo tall for me, but oh well...the price tag? I had to ask the Rasta guy. Err, ahh, umm, how bout 15 bucks?
I told him all about my VISA woes, but he wouldn't budge. OK, 15 it is.
So I go home and slap all the crap on the new frame, including the cheapo singulo. Man, that thing sucks. I used some used stuff--front chainring, and an old chain. After reading all the good advice here, I went with a newer chainring and actually sprung for a new SRAM 7x singlespeed chain. That thing should last me a while. Well, the budget was gettin tapped out, but I had all I needed, so too it for a test ride at DeLaveaga. Nogo--I had chain skip. I was using one of those kits with the 2 black spacers and a 16 and an 18. My gear combo was 32-16. I played around with other combos, and other positions of the singleator. I even drilled a small hole in the frame to hold the spring pin in a different spot to increase the tension...no go. Never tried a used derailleur--that may have worked. I had the chain wrapped around that rear sucker about 80% and it still skipped.
Well, I got drastic and pulled a different crank off my wife's bike that she never rides. It was a 172.5 and I had to use a different bottom bracket, but whatever. It allowed me to use a 36t ring, and when I threw the 16 on the back, the chain pulled tight--perfect!!! After a couple tweaks and a new front tire, I took a sweet test ride up to UCSC and back. Man, that combo is tough!
So I figgered I'd try to decrease teeth up front by 2 and increase it in the rear by 2--34-16. 32-16 was good, so 34-16 I could grow into.
Thus the original question. I ordered a cheap front 34 ring, but I can't afford an eccentric hub for 137.50. Maybe someday I'll do a single speed right, but for now, my Full susp. is my main bike, and I'm just puttin this thing together for nut'n.
If you have any suggestions, feel free.

Anyone know why the other posts got wiped off this topic?

 

[Arsbars]

THe singlespeed forum is new, as in was made last night..

If you are willing to pay shipping i have a surly singleator that I'm not ever using. Maybe that would fix all your problems.

Also before that try a cheap derailleur with the set screws set for your chain line. That's what a buncha people use...

 

[paulbug]

Thank you very much. I will surely buy it if my 34-16 combo doesn't work.
After looking at Eric House's site http://www.peak.org/~fixin/personal/fmu/php/formfmu.php?dir=right&
which tells you, based on your chainstay length, what gear combos are possible within a certain range, I think that 34-16 will work, because, working backward, I saw that 36-18 (a tight chain on my bike) and 34-16 are both within .04 inches of each other on the chart--that's a small number, and should get me where I want to be.
If it doesn't work, I'll pay the shipping and go from there.
Thanks
Paul

 

[paulbug]

I figgered it out--mtbr has a singlespeed forum, and I thought ridemonkey had one too...that's why I thought the whole thing had been wiped out.
Anyway, sorry for the confusion
Paul