Re: Fixed Gear (Fixie) vs Single Speed Gearing

In my various experiments with SS and fixed gear bikes (filing notches,
eccentric hubs, etc), I've found that converting a frame with horizontal
dropouts was best. The pain in the rear, no pun intended, was too much to
warrant the time invested when converting a bike with vertical dropouts.

On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 3:59 PM, Jeremy Kindy <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 2:22 PM, Andy Goodell <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> > I think I remembered the flaw in my plan. With a rear derailleur
> > applying tension, if the wheel spins faster than one pedals, it will
> > throw any extra chain on the top piling up by the chainring. I think
> > there would need to be an additional tensioner on the top in order to
> > solve that.
> >
>
> I think a  tensioner on the top would be questionable at best and I'd
> still be worried about ripping off/mangling it or the rear derailer if
> I tried to coast on a fixed multispeed bike.  Also, part of the
> benefit of going fixed/single speed is that the drivetrain efficiency
> increases noticeably (at least, it did for me when I converted an old
> 12-speed to SS).
>
> Here's Sheldon Brown's take on the subject:
> http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
>
> "You CanNOT use any sort of pulley type chain tensioner on a fixed gear
> bike!
>
> You cannot use a derailer on a fixed gear bike, even as a chain
> tensioner, because when you resist the rotation of the pedals, you
> would bend the derailer. This presents a problem if you want to use a
> frame with vertical dropouts as a fixed gear, because there's no easy
> way to adjust the chain tension. This is also true of chain tensioners
> sold for singlespeed coasting bikes, such as the Surly Singleator.
>
> Even the chain tensioners used for downhill mountain bike racing are
> not strong enough to withstand the stress of resisting the pedals.
> These tensioners have to clamp on to the chain stay, which is more or
> less round. There is no way to make one that would be secure, short of
> installing some sort of brazed-on fitting."
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