mountain bike or fixed gear singlespeed:thanks everyone

[Brink]

I am a road biker for the most part. I also have a beater mountain bike that i use for local chores.
I do not off road mountain bike. The Mountain bike is at a point where i have to do some parts
replacement.

The front chainrings are completely chewed up and need to be replaced along with the cranks and
chain. I only have the 2 bikes (road and mountain). When i replace the chainrings, I am considering
either making the bike as is with 3 chainrings in the front or removing all of the clutter and
having a fixed gear bicycle. Please only make comments if you have experience with both styles of
bicycle (mountain and singlespeed) or let me know if you do not have any experience with one style
of bike. Any input would be appreciated.

I don't post here a lot, but i am a frequent reader. I really appreciate the comments of some of the
frequently posting people on many of the other topics posted, and I wanted to say thanks to you for
helping all of the other visitors who are not as knowledgeable on the subject as yourself. The input
does go much farther than you think.

Thanks Matt Brink

 

[Zoot Katz]

28 Jul 2003 19:58:17 -0700,
<[email protected]>, [email protected] (Brink) wrote:

>When i replace the chainrings, I am considering either making the bike as is with 3 chainrings in
>the front or removing all of the clutter and having a fixed gear bicycle. Please only make comments
>if you have experience with both styles of bicycle (mountain and singlespeed) or let me know if you
>do not have any experience with one style of bike. Any input would be appreciated.

I've a fixed gear bike made from an old 10spd road bike, a single-speed MTB set up for the street
and another one for polo. If your frame has horizontal drop-outs, the rest is easy.

I used a road-double crank spider and EggBeaters on both. The rear wheels were built up for the
bikes to get the dish right. The chain-line is the most critical factor. If you're a riding fixed
gear on the street, use brakes for safety sake.

Check out Sheldon Brown's website for lots of useful information.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harart-fixed.html http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html
--
zk