Cycling in and around Birmingham England

Converting to a single speed

I've got a Peugeot hybrid bike whose derailleur mech has seen better days. Totally knackered in fact, as is the front mech. All else is good. I'm enjoying my loaner single speed so much I'm going to make my own. It'll be my trip to the pub bike with little to commend it to the casual thief.

I can see single chain wheel 48 tooth chainsets on Fleabay. Anything I need to be aware of before I splurge?

The bike I've been riding is 52/21 which flies up hills and is OK on the flat. I don't pedal downhill ever! ;0)

So if I bought a 48 tooth (more common therefore more choice than 52 tooth it seems) then I'd use an 18 or 19 on the back. I realise the BB has to be selected with care to get the right chain line and spacers used with a single cog on the back hub. The current chainset is a cheapie so I don't have the option of unbolting the unwanted cogs.

Any advice/comments?

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Permalink Reply by Andy White on November 14, 2011 at 11:16

Brilliant! I need one as I have some oldish rims that I might need to replace. I replaced the rims on my Bianchi after less than 3 years as it was basically being used as a cyclo-X playbike. So where did you get it from (the link in your post seems to be broken).

On the same subject. Does anyone know if there is a 'rule of thumb' or something which relates number of brakepad replacements to the need to replace a rim? e.g. I'm on my 5th set of pads so the rim must be shot....

I appreciate that this wouldnt apply to offroad riding as the amount of grit embedded in pads can prematurely wear the rim faster than the pads!

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Permalink Reply by Robert on November 14, 2011 at 11:25

The link works OK for me, but I can't include it here as plain text (it always gets converted to an unreadable link). The company is "TickinTime World Of Watch Tools" (based in Liverpool) and the product is a "Jewellers Thickness Reading Gauge 00-15mm".

You can't rely on pad replacements as there are too many unknowns. How thick is the pad? What compound is it? How much grit has it seen? My rims have only seen one pair of pads, and the pads are only 50% worn.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Ingram on November 14, 2011 at 17:54

Ignore the wear grooves at your peril - they're there for a purpose!

Had I bothered to check, I would've seen they were hardly there anymore and had worn away. ;0(

Having junked the front as well I've got some nice new wheels on it now, courtesy of Ebay and it's running great.

My fave bike of the moment. Just a clunker but weighs in at 12kgs so half the weight of my Pashley! ;0)

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Permalink Reply by Robert on November 14, 2011 at 18:13

My rims have no such grooves (and never have :)), and I've no idea if something is going to magically appear that would attract my attention. I've had them for many, many years, so they may have no indicators at all. How they've lasted so long is a mystery; I've even been touring through Wales on them.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Ingram on November 15, 2011 at 7:28

Maybe wear indication grooves are a more recent development? Others will be able to tell you.

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Permalink Reply by Simon on November 15, 2011 at 9:22

Maybe wear indication grooves are a more recent development? Others will be able to tell you.

Yes, on most rims they are very recent - something that Chris Juden (CTC) has been pushing for for soe time as they are a very worth while safety measure. Some have a groove all the way around, others just have some small recessed circles.

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Permalink Reply by Andy White on November 15, 2011 at 12:43

Amazing service.

I ordered mine yesterday afternoon and got it this morning!

Thanks again for the link.

Andy

Andy White said:

Brilliant! I need one

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Permalink Reply by Robert on November 15, 2011 at 17:05

You're welcome. Ricky Ticktock certainly doesn't hang about. So how close were you to handlebar gymnastics?

I started to think about why my rims have lasted so long and I'm guessing it's because I don't like ice skating, which means my rims rarely if ever get sprayed with rock salt. Since that's hardly unusual behaviour I bet there are a lot of old alloy rims in use out there with no visual cues that they are about to blow. How well-known is this issue amongst ordinary cyclists (as opposed to enthusiasts)?