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I have an old trek 4500 which Currently has 27 speed setup (but is in bits and unridable atm) and want to singlespeed it for the winter and muddy conditions as I was fed up trashing my spesh epic in the winter.
What do I need to convert it to a single speed.
A beard
Superstar do a conversion kit, about £10 iirc. You may need a half link chain, or a half link for a normal chain. Or even a tensioner, again about a tenner.
A beard? Will I need sandals to go with that?
ok charlie the bike monger - go and look
tensioner /doofer, rear cog with spacers, possibly a chain and possibly some new [short] crank bolts for your middle ring
Circa £40 + dependent on spec the Superstar tensioner I had was poo I would avoid it personally broke after less than one years use
EDIT: SPD sandals that's the spirit you will fit right in
Beard, Sandals (flipflops will do in a pinch), and a pint of ale in jug!
I've had the latter 2 for ages & just added the beard for a bit of short term fun 🙂
HTH
At the bare minimum you just need a spacer/cog kit from somewhere like velosolo. You can use your mech as a tensioner - I found the rear mech to be a much better tensioner than the dmr roller one, just doesn't look as good.
Try it. What's the harm?
gonna order the bits over the weekend.
Q2. What ratios should I be running? Looking to use it to train for hill climbing on the road bike
Put your money Charlie Bikemonger's way: [url= http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/ ]http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/[/url]
Info here on how to singlespeed, including a handy table on gear ratios:
[url= http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/faqs-4-w.asp ]http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/faqs-4-w.asp[/url]