Bike! (part 1)

Repairing and maintaining my main commuter bike has been an on and off activity for me for the last 20 years.  About 2 years ago I decided that the bike I'd had for about 17 years was finally past it and I invested (thanks to the Cycle To Work scheme) in a fancy new model.  A Kona Dr Dew.  It had all the bells and whistles a bike can have - pneumatic disk breaks, many many gears and a bell etc.  I added a hub dynamo and german lighting.  But, I never really got on with it.  Too much to go wrong and maintain.  Ultimately, I was really disappointed with it.  I seemed to spend as much time tweaking and fixing it as I did riding it.

A chance discussion with a cyclist friend introduced me to the idea of single speed and fixed wheel cycling.  Suddenly I found myself staring and wondering at the rusting 18 year old bike I had turned my back on.  A wistful nostalgia coupled with an urge to get my hands dirty led me on a 18 month project to rebuild my old bike!

I started with the Dawes Hybrid Synthesis that I had had since 1993 - it would have looked something like this originally (only it was in silver):

Dawes 1993 Synthesis Hybrid

I did a lot of reading of Sheldon Brown's brilliant cycling website and started planning what I needed to  do for a single speed conversion.  The Dawes had horizontal dropouts which was the main requisite for a conversion so all looked good.

To make the conversion work, I essentially had to remove the derailer, the rear gear cassette and replace the chain.  To tidy things up you then remove all the gear cables and on this bike, replace the integrated shifter/brakes with just brakes.  I soon realised that my front chainset was cheap and a single integral piece with the right hand brake.   It was also cracked and deformed, I wanted to be have a clean look with only a single chain ring so I decided to replace the existing integrated chain ring/pedal with separates.  For best results I've found it pays to use a single speed chain.  Normal chains have wider gaps to accomodate the angle in the chain as it moves up down the gears via the derailer.

The next thing I did was head to my local cycle shop.  They were very helpful and sold me a bag of second hand bits cheap.  This got me new brake handles, a new pedal and front chain set.  I ordered a new single speed chain and a flip flop wheel.  This gives the option of swopping between single speed freewheel and single speed speed fixed wheel.

So to work.  Whilst I waited for the chain and wheel I set to work removing the gears and swapping out the pedals.  With my newly acquired pedal removal tool (love a tool) I eventually got my new chain ring and pedal in place.   I felt a nervous excitement as I gutted my bike of it's gear cables and shifter.

Mk1 was ready for testing.  With the chain hooked round a low gear on the cassette I went for my first test ride.  It seemed OK but I wouldn't really know until I got the single speed wheel fitted.

The wheel I had chosen was a Mach 1 Omega rim track wheel from the Raleigh Tru-build range.

The wheel arrived a week later and I fitted it with a single speed freewheel and position it onto the bike.  Getting a good chain line and maintaining chain tension has always been tricky with my frame.   The wheel tends to move in dropout over time and that can lead to the chain coming off.  Recently I put a spacer onto the rear axle which has slightly improved the chain line.  I've also found that I need to retension the chain every couple of months and replace the chain about every 12 months.   If I keep an eye on these then the chain performs pretty well.

Anyway, the bike was ready (and cleaned) for daily use in around April 2010 and I haven't stopped loving it or using it since.   It really has reinvigorated my enjoyment of cycling.  I love single speed and would never go back to gears!  There really is a "clean" and direct feel of cycling with single speed, a better connection with the bike and the road.  It's hard to explain until you've tried it.