General Question: How difficult to take a modern commuter/touring bicycle and make it Single Speed?

[Lobo Tommy]

In general, I am thinking a lot of purchasing a Bianchi SASS
for riding in parks and bike trails in excess of 5 miles for
fitness. I am having second thoughts because I am uncertain
whether or not I can carry stuff on it like water, tire
patch kit, pump, food, cell phone, tools, etc... I'm not
talking frivilous stuff here - basically necessities that
any beginners faq would recommend bringing along.

So it got me thinking - how difficult would it be to take a
Trek 520 or Breezer or any other touring bike and make it a
single speed? This to me would be the best of both worlds. I
have ton a ton of research but am still a newb. I've looked
at custom bicycle solutions but their seems to be a 3:1
ratio of single speed mountain bikes to street bikes - and
nothing for touring. And that's what I need for plus a
slightly meatier tire.

The commute/touring bicycle would likely be more comfortable
on the long haul.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated!

 

[Dan Daniel]

On 26 Mar 2004 08:44:14 -0800, [email protected] (Lobo Tommy) wrote:

>
>Any ideas or help would be appreciated!

You have probably found these already, but just in case-

http://www.bontrager.com/keith/rants.asp?id=8

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html

 

[Zoot Katz]

26 Mar 2004 08:44:14 -0800,
<[email protected]>, [email protected]
(Lobo Tommy) wrote:

>In general, I am thinking a lot of purchasing a Bianchi
>SASS for riding in parks and bike trails in excess of 5
>miles for fitness. I am having second thoughts because I
>am uncertain whether or not I can carry stuff on it like
>water, tire patch kit, pump, food, cell phone, tools,
>etc... I'm not talking frivilous stuff here - basically
>necessities that any beginners faq would recommend
>bringing along.
>
A small "under seat" bag or a large "saddle bag" fit SS
bikes the same as any other bike. A rack for carrying light
loads can be clamped to the seat post. Lacking eyelets and
bosses, a real rack can be fitted with special clips and
creativity. The SASS frame has braze-ons for mounting two
bottle holders. Mounting full fenders could be problematic
because the back wheel enters from the rear.

Or to preserve the purity you can stuff everything into a
"camelback" type pack.

>So it got me thinking - how difficult would it be to take a
>Trek 520 or Breezer or any other touring bike and make it a
>single speed?

Depends on the frame. Vertical dropouts will restrict the
placement of the rear wheel which affects chain tension and
gear choices. Other factors are the extraneous cable stops,
wheel dish and axle length.

>This to me would be the best of both worlds.

I've built all my own SS bikes from old frames with
horizontal dropouts for less than half the cost of the
Redline.

Do read - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html
--
zk

 

[Chalo]

[email protected] (Lobo Tommy) wrote:

> In general, I am thinking a lot of purchasing a Bianchi
> SASS for riding in parks and bike trails in excess of 5
> miles for fitness. I am having second thoughts because
> I am uncertain whether or not I can carry stuff on it
> like water, tire patch kit, pump, food, cell phone,
> tools, etc...

A handlebar bag would do the trick.

> So it got me thinking - how difficult would it be to take
> a Trek 520 or Breezer or any other touring bike and make
> it a single speed?

Breezer "Range" bikes and Trek touring bikes have
vertical dropouts. You'd be better off with horizontal
dropouts, to avoid having to use a chain tensioner. A
Breezer Town bike would be a great starting point, if you
can get it as a frameset.

Another option would be to get something like a Surly Cross-
Check (which takes really fat tires and has all the
customary braze-ons) and roll your own. The chainstays are
not as long as a true touring bike's, but it has most of the
other virtues of the breed.

Yet another option would be to visit your local used bike
peddler and buy an old, comfy road bike or MTB for a
pittance, subtract the multi-speed gear, and add as many
updates as you like. When you start with a decent bike
for double-digit dollars, you can afford a lot of
personalized touches.

Chalo Colina

 

[Steven Scharf]

[email protected] (Lobo Tommy) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In general, I am thinking a lot of purchasing a Bianchi
> SASS for riding in parks and bike trails in excess of 5
> miles for fitness. I am having second thoughts because I
> am uncertain whether or not I can carry stuff on it like
> water, tire patch kit, pump, food, cell phone, tools,
> etc... I'm not talking frivilous stuff here - basically
> necessities that any beginners faq would recommend
> bringing along.
>
> So it got me thinking - how difficult would it be to take
> a Trek 520 or Breezer or any other touring bike and make
> it a single speed? This to me would be the best of both
> worlds. I have ton a ton of research but am still a newb.
> I've looked at custom bicycle solutions but their seems to
> be a 3:1 ratio of single speed mountain bikes to street
> bikes - and nothing for touring. And that's what I need
> for plus a slightly meatier tire.
>
> The commute/touring bicycle would likely be more
> comfortable on the long haul.
>
> Any ideas or help would be appreciated!

See http://commutebike.com

Forget about a touring bicycle, since you're the only person
in the world that wants a single speed touring bicycle the
manufacturers don't make them!

There are several internal rear hub bicycles that you could
convert to single speed with a new rear wheel with a single
cog. There are custom single speed bicycles for $400 that
perfectly match what you are looking for. But you're looking
more and more like a troll, so I think this is the last post
for me on this subject.

 

[Top Sirloin]

Lobo Tommy wrote:

> So it got me thinking - how difficult would it be to take
> a Trek 520 or Breezer or any other touring bike and make
> it a single speed? This to me would be the best of both
> worlds. I have ton a ton of research but am still a newb.
> I've looked at custom bicycle solutions but their seems to
> be a 3:1 ratio of single speed mountain bikes to street
> bikes - and nothing for touring. And that's what I need
> for plus a slightly meatier tire.

The typical 70's-80's horizontal dropout road frame that
gets built into a singlespeed/fixie has plenty of tire
clearence. If everything is optimal you can build one
_cheap_, like $60 in parts cheap (including the bike). If
you end up having to rebuild the rear wheel, buy a
different seatpost, replace the tires, etc. you can end up
around $150 or more.

--
Scott Johnson / scottjohnson at kc dot rr dot com