Single Speed

Comment

Comment by Matthew Allee on February 11, 2011 at 7:25am

Cool. Again I have to say how much I appreciate the responses on this forum. It is honestly why I decided to get into full on CX. The mtn bike forums are nothing like this. Thanks again guys.

Comment by L Peters on February 10, 2011 at 2:18pm

You should be able to use either mtn or road, just note the width of your BB shell and be sure what you get will work.

I think most SS crossers user a road crankset, but mtb may be better if you are planning on a lot of mtb trail riding.

Options like Middleburn or the White Uno are nice, but not necessary. I personally use an older Octalink D/A crank, which works great. I think you can find Ultegra Octalink cranksets for pretty cheap. Or just go used, which is how I found mine.

Comment by Matthew Allee on February 10, 2011 at 1:48pm

What bottom bracket and cranks would work?  Can I use mtn bike stuff or does it need to be road? It will be for the Sworks M4 CX I just picked up.

Comment by Paul Avila on February 9, 2011 at 7:35am

@Mike - you can use that same rear wheel. There are spacer & cog kits that will allow you to use the cassette body with a single cog. I see that done a lot.

Comment by Mike Wahlin on February 9, 2011 at 7:06am

When I purchased my Cannondale CAAD 10 road bike, I upgraded the wheels to a pair found on the higher-end Cannondale CX bikes.  When I switch to a pure Single Speed Cyclocross build I can’t use the same wheels right?  Meaning, wouldn’t the back wheel build be asymmetric to offset a geared drivetrain?  Hope I’m making sense here.  I’d appreciate any guidance.

Comment by Pirate Race Productions on February 6, 2011 at 5:00pm

This time of year you can do really well getting parts, ESP cross specific stuff, on eBay or the overstock places like cheapandsteep.com

Comment by Matthew Allee on February 6, 2011 at 4:37pm

Went ahead and bought the Sworks CX frame. Now to source some parts. Anyone know of a website with a budget full build kit?

Comment by Paul Avila on February 6, 2011 at 9:53am

One thing to consider when building a SS bike of any type is the bottom bracket. If you use a cheapo bottom bracket plan on that thing seizing at a bad time. I'd recommend spending a little time and resource and getting something bomb-proof. I've trashed 2 recently and won't be going cheap ever again. I'm shopping for replacements now and I'm thinking something with downhill strength will be best.

Comment by Pirate Race Productions on February 6, 2011 at 6:43am

Matthew - that is a fine bike to convert. There are two relatively easy and inexpensive ways to do it:

1) you can use your current rear wheel, you just need to get your hands on a bunch of spacers - there are 4 or 5 in a cassette, from which you can also cannibalize a cog. Otherwise, hit up your local shop for more, or break down and buy some. Get your cog spaced so that the chain is as straight as possible running from the chainring.

2) You can use your existing derailleur and chain. This will require keeping your shifter on the bike, because your can not limit down the r.d. to one gear, and then remembering not to shift. You need to run the chain the wrong way over the top flywheel, skip the bottom flywheel and go straight back to the chainring. Shorten the chain so that there is still just a little slack/play in the r.d. - a lot of people make their chains too tight. I had a lot of success doing this for a whole season, and it allowed me to race the same bike in both single speed and geared on the same day - I just switched to a shorter chain, pulled off the cassette and stuck on my spacers and cog.

3) If you want to dedicate the bike to single speed, I strongly suggest investing in a Soulcraft Convert. It can be a nightmare to set up the first time, but it is supremely reliable. I do not have any experience with half links, but that can make for an elegant solution, as it should negate the need for a tensioner at all.

 

4) There are a ton of tricks out there for keeping the chain on the front chainring. If you set up your drivetrain correctly, you, in theory, don't need anything, but I'd advise against it. The most popular route out there appears to be running a chain guard on the outside and some kind of chain keeper on the inside. Opinions on the chain keepers out there are all over the place. The super cheap plastic "fang" made by a couple different companies works for some people, for others, all it does is trap the chain and ruin your day. The Paul's keeper is very pretty and expensive, but I've heard mixed reviews as well.  The full-on pimp daddy way to go is to run two chain guards on either side of the chain ring, thus creating a love channel from which your chain never wants to its warm embrace. This is expensive, especially if you go the carbon ring route (note on the carbon rings - if you fail to hop over and obstacle, and the rings hit it, they break) can be very difficult to find the right length bolts to make the installation work, may result in you never property cleaning your chain ring because the install is so hard, and may ultimately prove impossible if the inside ring hits your chain stay, which is really hard to ascertain until you've already bought all the toys. That said, it looks really, really cool. A potentially more expensive and heavier but just as sexy way to go is to get the 'cross version of a DH chain guide from MRP. This consists of a bash ring plus one or two rollers that tension the chain at the chain ring, making it impossible for the chain to drop.

Comment by Peder Horner on February 5, 2011 at 10:16am

Gates sponsors a team here in Colorado, they are FAST. As far as I know, they haven't had any major problems. They were riding on Spot bikes, but I think the frames they're using now are Raleigh. The setup looks killer.

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