# Which freewheel sprocket do I get for my fixie please?



## Rimmer (30 Sep 2020)

On a whim I bought a fixie for a good price @ £55 - as pictured - but tbh, I just can't get used to not freewheeling. Now I know I need to simply screw on a freewheel sprocket but are they any size, teeth or quality considerations based on the configuration of my bike? 

Could you post a link so I can just get one that suits the bike. (sorry fixies are just not intuitive for me).

Thanks and here are the pics.


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## Sharky (30 Sep 2020)

Look at Dicta freewheels on velosolo. Cheap and not super quality, but should last a few seasons. An ideal gear is about 68", but depends on your terrain and fitness. If the flip side has a fixed sprocket, then never a worry about fails on the freewheel.

If you use shimano or other high quality ones, you need to be certain on the size you need, otherwise it will cost to keep changing.


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## midlife (30 Sep 2020)

Does that work as a fixed with that chain tensioner?


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## dave r (30 Sep 2020)

Do you have a flip flop hub, fixed one side, freewheel the other side?


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## Chris S (30 Sep 2020)

Peugeot make a single-speed with a 56 inch gear (36/18 x 28).
https://cycles.peugeot.com/urban/legend/lu01

It's probably best to check how many teeth are on your fixed sprocket and then get a freewheel with 2 more. It will be harder to pedal without the kinetic energy stored in the rear wheel.


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## Sharky (30 Sep 2020)

Chris S said:


> Peugeot make a single-speed with a 56 inch gear (36/18 x 28).
> https://cycles.peugeot.com/urban/legend/lu01
> 
> It's probably best to check how many teeth are on your fixed sprocket and then get a freewheel with 2 less. It will be harder to pedal without the kinetic energy stored in the rear wheel.


I would probably go the other way and use a larger freewheel than the fixed sprocket. My view is you need a ratio to climb the steepest climb on your normal route and for descents, you just freewheel if the descents are too quick.


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## Sharky (30 Sep 2020)

midlife said:


> Does that work as a fixed with that chain tensioner?


Didn't notice the tensioner, but I can't believe you need one with horizontal dropouts.


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## Chris S (30 Sep 2020)

Sharky said:


> I would probably go the other way and use a larger freewheel than the fixed sprocket. My view is you need a ratio to climb the steepest climb on your normal route and for descents, you just freewheel if the descents are too quick.


Sorry, that was a typo. I've now corrected it.


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## midlife (30 Sep 2020)

Sharky said:


> Didn't notice the tensioner, but I can't believe you need one with horizontal dropouts.



Yep, such an odd setup....


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## dave r (30 Sep 2020)

Chris S said:


> Peugeot make a single-speed with a 56 inch gear (36/18 x 28).
> https://cycles.peugeot.com/urban/legend/lu01
> 
> It's probably best to check how many teeth are on your fixed sprocket and then get a freewheel with 2 more. It will be harder to pedal without the kinetic energy stored in the rear wheel.



Looking at the website and they're talking about it as a fixed but showing a bike with a single speed freewheel.  I like it, but I'd want it as a fixed with a bigger gear than 56, my genesis has a 44 x 17 68" gear


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## All uphill (30 Sep 2020)

That looks like a nice frame and fork - Carlton, maybe?

Certainly a good buy so long as that fresh looking paint is not covering up any nasties. 

I agree with the other comments that the tensioner shouldn't be needed. Getting rid of it will reduce friction, noise and weight a little.

It looks to me like it's on something like 50/16. If you are strong and live somewhere that doesn't have hills that may be fine, but I couldn't get to the end of my road on that!

For me I'd keep the crankset and put a 19 tooth freewheel on the back.

You may need to apply some serious force to get the old sprocket off!


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## rogerzilla (30 Sep 2020)

A 60" gear works well for a singlespeed. Get one with 1/2.33 times the number of teeth on the chainring (or the closest available).


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## Sharky (30 Sep 2020)

dave r said:


> Looking at the website and they're talking about it as a fixed but showing a bike with a single speed freewheel.  I like it, but I'd want it as a fixed with a bigger gear than 56, my genesis has a 44 x 17 68" gear


Same 44x17 on my SS, but a slightly larger 50x14 on my fixed for TT's only.


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## Juan Kog (30 Sep 2020)

Can I put in a plea to persevere with fixed , your right it's not easy to start with , there will be a few " heart in mouth" moments, but if you stick with it you'll forget the scary bits and actually enjoy it.


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## dave r (30 Sep 2020)

Sharky said:


> Same 44x17 on my SS, but a slightly larger 50x14 on my fixed for TT's only.



I'm messing about with different gearing at the moment, I had 48 x 19 last winter and going with 44 x 17 for this one, my favourite is 44 x 18.


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## Rimmer (1 Oct 2020)

Sharky said:


> Didn't notice the tensioner, but I can't believe you need one with horizontal dropouts.



Many people have queried the tensioner - I don't know anything about the technicalities of bikes (I just bought this on a whim) so the mention of 'horizontal dropouts' draws a blank until I get used to all this lovely stuff


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## Rimmer (1 Oct 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Can I put in a plea to persevere with fixed , your right it's not easy to start with , there will be a few " heart in mouth" moments, but if you stick with it you'll forget the scary bits and actually enjoy it.



I do find it difficult-ish - I wouldn't mind a tip on how to slow down on a fixie while currently it is a fixie. Do you put a little bit of resistive force against the forward motion of the pedalling (plus brakes - in fact do you even need brakes when expert at this?) - or do you let your legs relax completely and just apply brakes?


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## Sharky (1 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> I do find it difficult-ish - I wouldn't mind a tip on how to slow down on a fixie while currently it is a fixie. Do you put a little bit of resistive force against the forward motion of the pedalling (plus brakes - in fact do you even need brakes when expert at this?) - or do you let your legs relax completely and just apply brakes?


Just use your brakes as normal to slow down and stop. Back force will slow you down, but at any great speed will rip your legs off. If both brake cables snapped, you could come to a stop, but would take a huge distance. 

You can do skid stops (I can't), but dangerous and illegal if you don't have a front brake as well.


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## Juan Kog (1 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> I do find it difficult-ish - I wouldn't mind a tip on how to slow down on a fixie while currently it is a fixie. Do you put a little bit of resistive force against the forward motion of the pedalling (plus brakes - in fact do you even need brakes when expert at this?) - or do you let your legs relax completely and just apply brakes?


Good question, braking technique I had to think about this. First my bikes have front and rear brakes so not a hipster fixie skidder . I use a combination of your method , to skim of some speed for example bends in country lane or turning left or right, a transmission brake technique back pressure on pedals.for more serious braking relax legs and use brakes and back pressure for final stop. I probably did more " leg braking" when I was younger, but the above way is better for my 66 year old knees . Hope this helps and good luck.


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## Sharky (1 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Many people have queried the tensioner - I don't know anything about the technicalities of bikes (I just bought this on a whim) so the mention of 'horizontal dropouts' draws a blank until I get used to all this lovely stuff


Remove the tensioner and shorten the chain and just slide the wheel fore/aft to take up the slack.


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## Rimmer (1 Oct 2020)

Here's a picture of my rear cog - currently (without taking the chain off) I think i can count 13 teeth on this cog. So - what freewheel cog should I put on the flip side?


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## midlife (1 Oct 2020)

the flip side has two threads......so its strictly for a fixed cog. (one set of threads for the cog, the other for the lockring)


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## Rimmer (1 Oct 2020)

midlife said:


> the flip side has two threads......so its strictly for a fixed cog. (one set of threads for the cog, the other for the lockring)



OK thanks for that - no five speed option here then - for now I will put on an appropriate rear freewheel single cog - what cog will work well with this bike considering it has such a large front chain ring?

If I wanted to go five speed I guess I just need to buy this (not sure though)? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/700c-REAR-Hybrid-Bike-Cycle-Wheel-5-SPEED-FREEWHEEL-/251696079161


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## Sharky (1 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> OK thanks for that - no five speed option here then - for now I will put on an appropriate rear freewheel single cog - what cog will work well with this bike considering it has such a large front chain ring?
> 
> If I wanted to go five speed I guess I just need to buy this (not sure though)? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/700c-REAR-Hybrid-Bike-Cycle-Wheel-5-SPEED-FREEWHEEL-/251696079161


Maybe/may be not.
The wheel above has a 135mm OLN (google this term). Your frame being an older model is probably less (126mm?). It's not going to be easy.

The wheel you have looks like a double fixed hub, but you will be able to screw on a single freewheel on one side.

I think you will need to pick up some new technical skills. Particularly how to split a chain and re join it. If you are going for a larger freewheel than you currently have, you will probably need a new chain.

Good luck


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## ColinJ (2 Oct 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> A 60" gear works well for a singlespeed.


For lovers of high cadence... That equates to ~29 kph (18mph) for 100 rpm! I prefer 90 rpm, corresponding to only ~26 kph (16 mph)

My 52/19 singlespeed gear is ~72", equating to ~31kph (19mph) at 90 rpm and I often feel undergeared on the flat. If I didn't have hills to consider I would prefer more like 52/17, ~81", giving me ~35 kph (22 mph) at 90 rpm.


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## Rimmer (2 Oct 2020)

Sharky said:


> Maybe/may be not.
> The wheel above has a 135mm OLN (google this term). Your frame being an older model is probably less (126mm?). It's not going to be easy.
> 
> The wheel you have looks like a double fixed hub, but you will be able to screw on a single freewheel on one side.
> ...



Yep - technical skills (other than IT which is my profession) are going to need to roll on in. For now - to keep things easy - do I simply get a freewheel 13 toothed cog which sits on the existing hub - then flip the rear wheel around?


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## fossyant (2 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> I do find it difficult-ish - I wouldn't mind a tip on how to slow down on a fixie while currently it is a fixie. Do you put a little bit of resistive force against the forward motion of the pedalling (plus brakes - in fact do you even need brakes when expert at this?) - or do you let your legs relax completely and just apply brakes?



You use your brakes and legs. Helps you stop even quicker. Let's just say my fixed was a bit of a weapon for commuting, and I'd wear rims out in 18 months because of all the braking needed ! 

You really don't want a tensioner on a fixed - not a good idea and fairly likely to cause the chain to come off or jam. Tensioners are OK on single speeds with a freewheel, but not fixed. Don't try leg braking with a tensioner.


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## Sharky (2 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Yep - technical skills (other than IT which is my profession) are going to need to roll on in. For now - to keep things easy - do I simply get a freewheel 13 toothed cog which sits on the existing hub - then flip the rear wheel around?


You won't be able to find a 13t freewheel, You can with a fixed sprocket, but a freewheel mechanism inside the freewheel restricts the size it can be.
Be aware that BMX sprockets can be smaller, but I think that the hub thread size is also smaller.

To get the right size, assume that your wheel is 27" in diameter, then multiply by the number of teeth on the chainwheel and divide by the number on the rear sprocket. If the result is greater than 70, then you are going to have hard time on any incline.

Good luck - as an IT person, you should be Agile.


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## Rimmer (2 Oct 2020)

Sharky said:


> To get the right size, assume that your wheel is 27" in diameter, then multiply by the number of teeth on the chainwheel and divide by the number on the rear sprocket. If the result is greater than 70, then you are going to have hard time on any incline.
> 
> Good luck - as an IT person, you should be Agile.



Interesting maths - well with 50T on front and 13T on rear - that equates to 104 !!!
Meaning I should really be looking for a 20T or 19T in that case


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## Sharky (2 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Interesting maths - well with 50T on front and 13T on rear - that equates to 104 !!!
> Meaning I should really be looking for a 20T or 19T in that case


The maths is to calculate the equivalent wheel diameter of a penny farthing. If it was a penny farthing wheel, you would need an inside leg measurement of more than 52".

This is where the long tradition of expressing gear ratios in inches comes from. 

There are online web pages (bikecalc) that does a more accurate calc based on metric wheel sizes.

A 104" gear is a monster. Dedicated timetrialists may use such a gear for short distance flat timetrials, but for general riding, you need one around 70" or less.

Yep a 19t or 20t is probably what you need or a smaller chain ring. 

Good luck


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## Chris S (3 Oct 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Meaning I should really be looking for a 20T or 19T in that case


Yes - you will probably be able to get rid of the chain tensioner as well.


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## 12boy (3 Oct 2020)

I'd suggest you look up Sheldon Brown gear inch calculator. Easy to figure out different combos. I second Sharky on losing the tensioner. It is not needed. 70ish gear inches are what many use as a good compromise between spinning out and being geared too high. The terrain you will ride on is the key here...flat or hilly and stout headwinds are what I look at. For winter riding, especially if studded snow tires are involved, I prefer lower gearing than summertime. I went to singlespeed from fixed because the hills I encounter would require me to spin at 140 rpm downhill and I prefer to grind along with much slower rpms. If you can get your gearing right you may find the simplicity of fixed and single speed to be a real treat. For some reason I find single speed or fixed feels easier than a geared bike with that same gearing.


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## Rimmer (5 Oct 2020)

Well I'm going to need to get some tools soon so that I can do this work myself - Aldi are selling this toolkit - will it be all that I need for the work necessary? Seems a good price for all that's included - but I need your opinions first...


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## 12boy (5 Oct 2020)

Looks complete although eventually you may want a cable/cablehousing cutter, a quick link pliers, perhaps headset wrenches, and cone wrenches but they can wait if you like. The question is how well are those made? When I've paid more for Park tools, I've found them very durable.


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## Sharky (5 Oct 2020)

Is there a pedal spanner in there?


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