single speed conversion - HELP

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After riding mountain bikes for years, am now getting into single speed. Have been riding a Colnago with horizontal drop outs, old wheels and 7-speed casette with shortened chain on 17T sprocket.
I need new wheels as old ones are knackered but am getting conflicting advice from bike shops.
Some say just get standard rear wheel with freewheel hub and split up a casette, use washers and choose best sprocket.
Others say get a wheel built with fixed hub and freewheel sprocket.

Help! What is the best way to go.

A real single-speed offers a bit better stance insofar as dish is concerned. Also, new wheels are shiny and pretty, and everyone knows that shiny, pretty things go faster.

If you need to buy a new wheel AND you know that you are going single-speed, there's no good reason to buy a wheel with a normal hub unless you want the option of converting the bike back to having gears. Buy or build a wheel with a flip-flop single-speed hub so that you have the option of going fixed or free. As previously mentioned, a geared hub is dished to make room for the cogset so a single-speed hub will make for a stronger wheel.

The way I went was to find a built wheel with a freewheel hub, re-dished (un-dished?) the wheel and ran a single speed freewheel. That's the CHEAPEST way.. If I had my druthers... I'd build a wheel with a Phil Wood Free/fixed hub...
Jeremy

My mtn bike has vertical drops. I used a White Industries ENO Eccentric hub. Love it.

My mtn bike has vertical drops. I used a White Industries ENO Eccentric hub. Love it.Eccentric hubs...horizontal dropouts...you kids these days, you're all spoiled!! Why, back in my day, I ran a chain pieced together from 4 different chains of all different degrees of wear to make it the correct length to work with a converted "Bridgestone"...then we had to ride up hill both ways...in the snow...always. ;)

I purchased a set of wheels from nycbikes.com that have flip-flop hubs. I run fixed most of the time but flip to the freewheel side in the snow and heavy rain.

After riding mountain bikes for years, am now getting into single speed. Have been riding a Colnago with horizontal drop outs, old wheels and 7-speed casette with shortened chain on 17T sprocket.
I need new wheels as old ones are knackered but am getting conflicting advice from bike shops.
Some say just get standard rear wheel with freewheel hub and split up a casette, use washers and choose best sprocket.
Others say get a wheel built with fixed hub and freewheel sprocket.

Help! What is the best way to go.

Eccentric hubs...horizontal dropouts...you kids these days, you're all spoiled!! Why, back in my day, I ran a chain pieced together from 4 different chains of all different degrees of wear to make it the correct length to work with a converted "Bridgestone"...then we had to ride up hill both ways...in the snow...always. ;)

Yeah, ditto, but where I grew up it was always blowin' dogs off chains...there and back...