# Joining the 'single speed project' gang



## SimonJKH (15 Jan 2014)

To add another string to my cycling repertoire bow, and thanks to exhortations from Andrew Culture as to the fitness benefits of pushing that one gear up any incline, I'm going to get myself some single speed action.
I'm starting with this:-

















I got it for £cheap off the Bay as a back-up commuter. Mainly so I could still get to work if the Triban suffered a major mechanical, and partly to have something with mudguards. It rides quite nicely, but needs a bit of work here and there, so I thought I'd convert it to single speed at the same time for added excitement! Order of business is:-
1) Convert to single speed




2) Convert to 700c wheels




3) Convert to calliper brakes




4) Fit a longer stem (just a comfort thing)




5) Change bar tape and saddle (just cosmetic stuff)









I'll take my time with this conversion. I plan to finance it all with ebay sales, so getting the new bits will depend on how sales go. But mostly I'm looking for advice. Please anyone with any suggestions, don't hold back. I'm all ears!


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## lip03 (15 Jan 2014)

many try and give up, but all the bits you want to do seem relatively simple and doable on a budget. 700c wheelset might be something that will cost you a little more but times on your hands I suppose. buying a set of single speed wheels will help in the quest to ss the bike and convert the wheels at the same time, making your crank set single should be simple enough as it dosent look like the old cotter pin type. there will be plenty more people on here that will help technically.


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## lip03 (15 Jan 2014)

biggs682 is a nice guy and helped me with a few bits in the past


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## mcshroom (15 Jan 2014)

Looking at the bike. If the inner ring is a 42 then you may be fine just using that as a singlespeed crank. Also if the wheels are fine (and preferably alloy rimmed) then I wouldn't get rid of them straight away. A little tweaking with a spoke-key and a new screw on freewheel would be all you need to turn it into a singlespeed if thats the case.

As for brakes, not sure what they are, but if you stay at 27" then modern cantis such as Tektro A520s should fit on those mounts.

If you do go for 700c wheels, then you will need long drop caliper brakes to cover the new distance between brake bridge and the rim.


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## SimonJKH (15 Jan 2014)

mushroom said:


> If you do go for 700c wheels, then you will need long drop caliper brakes to cover the new distance between brake bridge and the rim.


Thats certainly a good tip, thanks!


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## raleighnut (19 Jan 2014)

Looks to me like someone spent a lot of money on it as this frame would not have brake bosses on given its age , Sun was bought out by Raleigh/Carlton and Worksop was closed in the mid 80s.These brakes were probably fitted by a touring cyclist who found the centerpulls not up to the job when heavily loaded. Why not try to sell this to a classic touring fan and build a fixie from scratch as unless you grind off those bosses its going to look very odd. I'd buy it myself but I already have something similar and can't justify going up to 11 bikes. Try posting this one in the classic section of cyclechat and see if anyone will make an offer


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## 3narf (21 Jan 2014)

mcshroom said:


> if the wheels are fine (and preferably alloy rimmed) then I wouldn't get rid of them straight away. A little tweaking with a spoke-key and a new screw on freewheel would be all you need to turn it into a singlespeed if thats the case.



That's what I did, although mine did come with 700c wheels. When the rear just wouldn't stay true any more I bought a set of the Magnum SS wheels off ebay for £60. 

They've been good so far, I've only had the rear trued once in 4300 miles. The front hasn't been touched.


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## SimonJKH (22 Jan 2014)

Can't see any Magnum wheels on the bay at the moment, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. They sound ideal.


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## 3narf (23 Jan 2014)

SimonJKH said:


> Can't see any Magnum wheels on the bay at the moment, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. They sound ideal.


 
I think they're Raleigh Special Products, it could be worth searching for that or just single speed wheels.


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## Andrew_Culture (25 Jan 2014)

The Bicycle Doctor is a goldmine for odd bits and bobs. He sorted some long-reach brakes for a tenner for me!

That front chainring looks like it should be fine for conversion using singlespeed bolts, these are the ones I use.

I'd recommend changing to 700c wheels as they are easier to find and the tyres are a lot easier to find cheaply. If you get a pair of wheels with a freehub then converting to singlespeed becomes silly-easy.

Personally I'd recommend getting some better wheels for your Triban then using your Triban wheels on your singlespeed, that's what I'm doing for a friend in London at the moment.


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## philtalksbx (25 Jan 2014)

A lot comes down to budget, parts availability and persistence. On a similar base I put a 16t bmx freewheel on the 27in wheels and a stronglight 48t crank. The crank was inexpensive and the chain line was pretty good. It rode well for almost a year but then I started....

Eventually it evolved with a 700 flip/flop wheelset from PlanetX for about £100 and Tektro R559 long drop brakes for £35. The difference is huge - the wheels are solid and smooth and with 25mm Marathon Plus tyres are great for commuting. And as for the confidence in the brakes? Great, although I did go on to fit straight bars and suitable (bmx again) levers as I prefer the more upright position when I'm in traffic.

All down to preference but the wheels and brakes are what did it for me.


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## SimonJKH (25 Jan 2014)

Andrew_Culture said:


> I'd recommend changing to 700c wheels as they are easier to find and the tyres are a lot easier to find cheaply. If you get a pair of wheels with a free hub then converting to singlespeed becomes silly-easy.



That's a big part of my thinking. It makes life just a little easier if I can just keep popping the same spare tube into my pocket each ride instead of trying to remember which one I need.


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## SimonJKH (25 Jan 2014)

philtalksbx said:


> Tektro R559 long drop brakes for £35.


That's another one for the ebay watch list. Cheers!


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## mcshroom (25 Jan 2014)

SimonJKH said:


> That's a big part of my thinking. It makes life just a little easier if I can just keep popping the same spare tube into my pocket each ride instead of trying to remember which one I need.


700c tubes fit 27" wheels though 

I have some kenda tubes from Wilkos which are marked up for either 27"x 1 1/4" or 700x28c


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## SimonJKH (25 Jan 2014)

Really? 

Yeah, but still....


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## SimonJKH (8 Apr 2014)

Okay, as a first step in this adventure, I've stripped the frame as far as I think I need to.





See? I've been busy.

But I've already come across my first 'issue'....

The bottom bracket. It certainly seems knackered, so it'll have to go. But I can't work out what to replace it with. It doesn't look like any of the BBs in my copy of Zinn.
This is what I took out of the bike:-




Writing on one end says 'Campagnolo 1.370" x 24 TPI. Other end (lock ring) says 7N16.

So what is this? Do I need to find the same thing, or will more modern units fit? If so, which?
All help gratefully received!


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## 4F (8 Apr 2014)

You can replace with a new BB but you need to measure the width across the shell. See here if you can put up with the annoying bloke (skip to 2:35 mins in) Your shell will either be 68 or 73 wide. A UN 55 BB should suffice however then you need to consider spindle length which will have an effect with the chain line


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## raleighnut (8 Apr 2014)

SimonJKH said:


> Okay, as a first step in this adventure, I've stripped the frame as far as I think I need to.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If its not too damaged give it a good clean and new bearings it is after all an old (quality) campag BB


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## SimonJKH (8 Apr 2014)

4F said:


> See here if you can put up with the annoying bloke


Woah, you weren't kidding. And check his crazy hair!
BUT... quite a bit of good info in there, so thanks for the link. I had already measured a couple of things. I had the shell measured at 63, but I guess its 68 and I mis-read it. I'll check! And the axle measures 120ish. But if I'm going from two chainrings to single speed, I'll want slightly smaller, right?



raleighnut said:


> If its not too damaged give it a good clean and new bearings it is after all an old (quality) campag BB


Well I'll keep hold of it so I can try that in the future, but might be a bit out of my comfort zone right now!


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## 4F (8 Apr 2014)

Yes if you are going to single chainring then you will need a shorter spindle. For example on mine I went to 108 but that was also fitting a track chainset. Is it an old double chainset you are using but without one of the rings ? As it happens I have an older UN BB with a 108 spindle waiting to go into one of my bikes so if you wanted you could borrow this to see if that fitted OK before going out and buying one ?


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## Andrew_Culture (8 Apr 2014)

Both conversions I've done I've bought singlespeed chainring bolts from Charlie the Bikemonger and used a standard BB.


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## SimonJKH (8 Apr 2014)

Who???


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## Andrew_Culture (8 Apr 2014)

SimonJKH said:


> Who???



Ta da! http://www.charliethebikemonger.com...single-speed-double-and-extra-large-128-p.asp


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## SimonJKH (8 Apr 2014)

Aha! I see what you mean now.


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## fossyant (8 Apr 2014)

Just watch the threadding on the replacement Bottom Bracket. Could be British or Italian being a Campag BB originally. I would get the LBS to check first. You also need to be wary if re-using the cranks as well as all square tapers are not the same, there is JIS (most Japanese stuff) and ISO - Italian.


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## dave r (8 Apr 2014)

SimonJKH said:


> Thats certainly a good tip, thanks!



Useful stuff on these sites

http://singlespeedcomponents.co.uk/wheels.html

http://www.velosolo.co.uk/shoptrack.html


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## SimonJKH (16 May 2014)

Time for an update on what I've achieved. I acquired a pile of bits and pieces and whacked them together. This is what I came up with:-





After the CycleChat velodrome taster session, I decided I liked the feel of 'fixed' and that is the route I took. So I started off with a 'cheap as chips' wheel set from eBay. Rear was a perfect fit for my 120mm OLD stays. It is a flip-flop hub and I have whacked a cheap Dicta free wheel on t'other side, but so far I haven't even been tempted to try it. Matching front wheel looks very nice, but it has a straight-through axle and I discovered that these forks wouldn't take anything bigger than a QR skewer. So what you see here is the original front wheel from my Triban 3. It works fine but at some point I will convert the matching wheel to QR skewer as this wheel has a LOT of miles on it. Crank is also a 'cheapest on eBay' job. I don't really like it, and it arrived badly warped so I had to bend it back to flatness. I'll change it at some point I hope. After trying a couple of Shimano sealed units in the bottom bracket case I wasn't happy with how they fit, so I did indeed clean and re-lube the original campag bb that I removed. It seems to be running fine. Chain is KMC - accept no substitutes  - but the welded-on rear-mech hanger means that the rear drop-outs aren't as long as they once were, so I had to use a half-link to get usable chain-length. Seems to still run smooth though! Pedals are good old m520s. Brakes are Tektro long drop callipers. I had to order a second set once I realised that unless I wanted to start drilling holes in the frame (I did not!) I needed a 'nutted' fit. They work fine now. Brake cables are new inners (Wilkinsons finest!) with the original outers, as they were already cut to length and I am a lazy man! Saddle is a black charge spoon, courtesy of @jowwy OTP - thanks for that, I love it! Ummm... bar-tape is Deda, tyres are again the ones supplied with a Triban 3 and will need replacing soon!









As you see it here it weighs in at about 25.5lbs. I have already put a bunch of miles on it in this configuration - both leisure and commuting - and I blumming love it! I've even set a few PBs on segments I've done many times on geared bikes, so I must be doing something right 
Ok, when the next CC 100 mile fixed ride?


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## Andrew_Culture (16 May 2014)

It's gorgeous!


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## 4F (16 May 2014)

Nice work Simon and welcome to the club


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