# FIXIE REAR WHEEL HELP



## dingdongdead (2 Apr 2009)

ok so im currently building my single speed.
two questions.

1. the frame. at the back of the bike it widens to allow room for the rear block. is this a problem when fitting a rear wheel with just one chain cog at the back? it doesnt weaken the rear at all or anything does it?

2. with question one in mind, would it be best to get a rear wheel built so it has one chain cog, use an old wheel and tak the cogs off leaving one, or should i keep the rear block on but set it to just one cog?

i think the second ones sounds best but i want the aesthetics of a single speed too so im unsure. money is tight and i want to do it as cheap as possible.
ill be doing the paint job myself, aswell as fitting it all together etc (not that theres much)

it doesnt have to be expensive at all, the wheels dont have to be great, they just have to be sturdy enough for me to get to uni and back and for me to ride to th beach and in and around brighton.

if anyone has any free stuff they want to get off their hands, get in contact and ill take it off your hands 
if not, any advice will be excellent !


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## Amanda P (2 Apr 2009)

1. No, it doesn't weaken it. Triangles are stiffer than rectangles.

2. If you want cheap, just use a multi-sprocket wheel and cassette (or freewheel block if you're going _really_ cheap), and just use your favourite sprocket. (You'll need to shorten the chain to suit).

If you want aesthetic, you'll have to pay for a proper singlespeed hub and/or wheel. Because singlespeeds are so painfully trendy just now, decent ones tend to be a bit pricey.

If the bike or wheel you're starting with has a cassette and freehub (rather than a screw-on freewheel), you can buy a kit of spacers. This allows you to remove all the sprockets you don't want, replacing them with spacers. The one sprocket you do want remains on the freehub, held in place by spacers. You can adjust the spacers to give perfect chainline.


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## tyred (2 Apr 2009)

It should be possible to remove the unwanted sprockets from a thread on freewheel block as well. Make up spacers using large diameter plastic pipe or something. You will need the small sprocket to hold it all together. Or just thread on a BMX freewheel and respace the axle and re-dish the wheel to suit. This is what I did.


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## dingdongdead (2 Apr 2009)

spot on, cheers guys.
im gonna go into local bike shop tomorrow and ask a few questions. then re paint the bike.,


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## amaferanga (6 Apr 2009)

Just being pedantic here, but you're talking about single speed as opposed to fixed. If you want a fixed wheel bike you'll need to buy a fixed hub (or if your current hub is a disc hub you can buy sprockets that bolt onto the disc mount).


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## Joe24 (6 Apr 2009)

amaferanga said:


> Just being pedantic here, but you're talking about single speed as opposed to fixed. If you want a fixed wheel bike you'll need to buy a fixed hub (or if your current hub is a disc hub you can buy sprockets that bolt onto the disc mount).



Or if the hub you already have has a screw on block, you can just screw a fixed sprocket straight on to it. You wont have a lock ring, so you will need to put the sprocket on tight(pretty damn tight) so it doesnt come lose.


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## Eat MY Dust (7 Apr 2009)

Joe24 said:


> Or if the hub you already have has a screw on block, you can just screw a fixed sprocket straight on to it. You wont have a lock ring, so you will need to put the sprocket on tight(pretty damn tight) so it doesnt come lose.



Yes you won't have a lock ring.....but you need to get one. It's dangerous not to have a lock ring (it's in the name) as there's a chance when braking/skidding that you will unthread the cog, which you really don't want!


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## dingdongdead (7 Apr 2009)

aaaah nice one guys
i need to have a chat with the shop anyway so ill bring this up/ half way there to stripping the paint - by hand. awful awful job


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Eat MY Dust said:


> Yes you won't have a lock ring.....but you need to get one. It's dangerous not to have a lock ring (it's in the name) as there's a chance when braking/skidding that you will unthread the cog, which you really don't want!



Hmmm, not too sure about that. If its put on right then it wont come off. 
A few people i know dont bother with them, and someone i know went 9 years riding fixed, and he never really bothered with a lockring.
I do ride with a lockring though, on my track bike im borrowing one side has a lock ring one side doesnt. You just have to put the sprocket on tight enough, and then i do doubt theres a chance of the sprocket coming off.
I rode for quiet a while with a lose lockring and didnt notice. The sprocket never undid itself even under heavy leg breaking and lots of skidding.
So, to basicly, you dont _need_ a lockring if you put the sprocket on tight enough.


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## Eat MY Dust (8 Apr 2009)

On a track bike a lockring isn't required as you slow down gradually. If you're riding in traffic and back peddling hard for braking purposes, the though of a loose cog is pretty scary stuff.


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Eat MY Dust said:


> On a track bike a lockring isn't required as you slow down gradually. If you're riding in traffic and back peddling hard for braking purposes, the though of a loose cog is pretty scary stuff.



But it doesnt come loose when put on right. Are you aware how much it takes to take my sprocket off thats been put on right? It would take a hell of alot, and going by every time i power hard off the line or go up a hill it goes on tighter, its just going on tighter and tighter. 
Put the sprocket on tight with a chainwhip and it wont come off untill you need to take it off, then you have to use the chainwhip again.
The people i know that dont ride with lockrings all ride on the road, one used to go into Derbyshire every weekend and ride around with no lockring on his fixed, and he has obviously done some seriosue braking before. He also showed me how to do some pretty cool skids, and he never had a lockring.
You dont need a lockring, they are just there as added safety.
Oh, theres a guy down in London(hes on the Moving Target forum, i look on there sometimes for anything decent) and he rides with no lockring, and had his front brake 'stolen'
So he was riding around with no lockring and no front brake, in traffic. I dont remember ever seeing a post on about his sprocket coming off due to him having no lockring.


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## Eat MY Dust (8 Apr 2009)

A lot of fixed riders would disagree. But bash on.


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Eat MY Dust said:


> A lot of fixed riders would disagree. But bash on.



Its like the helmet debate. Theres no real proper answer to it. I use lockrings, but other people dont. 
Im building up my old fixed frame again, and if i dont get a proper fixed back wheel that fits im going to get a back wheel that had a screw on cassette on, and just put a sprocket on(well get my mate do, i dont have a chain whip and he has lots of sprockets that he just lets me borrow) and use that. The sprocket wont just unscrew itself, if it did i would be surprised. Its going to be used as a hack bike so its going to be skidded alot aswell.
Its like a helmet debate, but less people jump in on it saying both sides.
You dont need a lockring, but if you dont use one then make sure your sprocket is on correctly.
I do see both sides to it before someone comes in and starts moaning saying im completely wrong and dont know what im talking about and telling me all about lockrings and what they do and why they are good


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## Eat MY Dust (8 Apr 2009)

From Sheldon Brown: (but what does he know?)

_I should mention that there are those who say you shouldn't use a lockring. This theory is based on the fact that if the chain should come off the chainwheel and get caught, a sprocket without a lockring will just unscrew, rather than locking up the rear wheel. 

My feeling is that it is better to use a lockring so that you can rely on being able to slow the bike down with your feet, especially if you ride with only one brake._


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## Greenbank (8 Apr 2009)

I know some long standing fixed wheel riders (multiple PBP finishers) who've had incidents of sprockets without lockrings coming undone. It's rarely catastrophic as it is, apparently, obvious when the sprocket is starting to unscrew and you can simply apply the brakes whilst continuing to pedal. It may be a little hairy if this occurs whilst going downhill. Find a nearby hill and hnnnnnrrrgh up it and it'll be reasonable tight again.

If you're riding brakeless and it starts to come undone then it could be interesting, but then you're taking your life into your own hands riding brakeless anyway.

The main thing is that without a lockring there's always a risk that it can come undone and it does, albeit rarely, happen. Untightening doesn't always require a huge constant force (as you would apply with a chainwhip). Lots of jolts caused by skid-stopping and general pressure of leg-braking can do it over time.

I have to use a lockring as I use Miche Sprockets on a carrier. The sprockets sit on the carrier (they don't screw on to anything) and so a lockring is required to hold them in place.


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Eat MY Dust said:


> From Sheldon Brown: (but what does he know?)
> 
> _I should mention that there are those who say you shouldn't use a lockring. This theory is based on the fact that if the chain should come off the chainwheel and get caught, a sprocket without a lockring will just unscrew, rather than locking up the rear wheel.
> 
> My feeling is that it is better to use a lockring so that you can rely on being able to slow the bike down with your feet, especially if you ride with only one brake._



That isnt fact though, thats Sheldons opinion. It would be the same as Sheldons opinion on helmets. 
Im not saying he is wrong for wanting to ride with a lockring, and i wouldnt mock or think someone is wrong for using a lockring.
Im telling the person who has started the opening post about a cheap way of doing it, that still safe.
Its just a different way of doing it, and its my opinion that you dont need a lockring, if the sprocket is put on right.


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## Eat MY Dust (8 Apr 2009)

Joe24 said:


> That isnt fact though, thats Sheldons opinion.



Like I said what does he know. My lockring was free, so my method is as cheap as yours, but safer.


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Greenbank said:


> I know some long standing fixed wheel riders (multiple PBP finishers) who've had incidents of sprockets without lockrings coming undone. It's rarely catastrophic as it is, apparently, obvious when the sprocket is starting to unscrew and you can simply apply the brakes whilst continuing to pedal. It may be a little hairy if this occurs whilst going downhill. Find a nearby hill and hnnnnnrrrgh up it and it'll be reasonable tight again.
> 
> If you're riding brakeless and it starts to come undone then it could be interesting, but then you're taking your life into your own hands riding brakeless anyway.
> 
> ...




Exactly. Although, ive tried the riding up a steep hill to tighten the sprocket up. I didnt find it did it up as much as it needed.
If you use a lockring though, you can do this, then put the lockring on tight and it shouldnt move.
But when i did it and then didnt tighten the lockring up to the sprocket and i skidded, the sprocket undid itself to the lockring.
When my mate used his chainwhip(i dont have a chainwhip) to tighten up the sprocket, i could skid on it and the sprocket wouldnt move, even without a lockring on.


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## Joe24 (8 Apr 2009)

Eat MY Dust said:


> Like I said what does he know. My lockring was free, so my method is as cheap as yours, but safer.



So were my lockrings, i want a coloured one though


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## Greenbank (8 Apr 2009)

Joe24 said:


> Exactly. Although, ive tried the riding up a steep hill to tighten the sprocket up. I didnt find it did it up as much as it needed.



That's why I said "reasonably tight".

Without a chainwhip you can always use the "Rotafix" method which can impart much more force (well torque) than a chainwhip and doesn't require any special tools (but it does require a bit of messing around with the chain).


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