First single speed/fixie: What should I know? Trick to tightening chain?

[apple]

Picked up a single speed locally, motobecane track complete with some extras for $100. Good shape, a few surface scratches, flip flop hub, one brake, rides great. Pretty nifty. I went ahead and popped on a set of apex brakes I had sitting around so I would have better braking (and two brakes!). Adding some ss ergo levers and a longer seatpost, but otherwise checks out. It's a 48/16, but will probably put on a larger chainring, perhaps a 52.

Its purpose is to be locked in my parking garage and used for coffee rides and grocery shopping and whatnot without the production of putting on my kit and bike shoes. And without the worry of a huge loss in the event of theft.

Anything I should know about having a single speed, or motobecane? It has the fixed hub on one side with the flip flop, but I think I'll stay away from the fixed hub for the time being.

Also is there a trick to tightening the chain? I loosen the hub bolt and slide the wheel back, but still seem to have a lot of chain slack.

[FlashUNC]

Some chain slack is good. You don't want it bursting-at-the-seams tight.

It should flex when squeezed, but it shouldn't be flopping around either.

[CampyorBust]

I am no fixie guy by any means, but I have built a few single speeds. Chain slack is not a entirely a terrible things, just not too slack, so it does not fall off should you need to jump a curb.

[eBAUMANN]

Also is there a trick to tightening the chain? I loosen the hub bolt and slide the wheel back, but still seem to have a lot of chain slack.

Get chain tensioners like this. (http://www.modernbike.com/product-2126224994?gclid=CNqa0_r6680CFQEmhgodzGMMCg)

They will make your life a lot easier.

Beyond that, the trick is such:

1 - Pull wheel back in dropouts until taught.

2 - Tighten the non-drive axle nut with the wheel slightly off center in the chainstays, biased towards the ND side.

3 - With your thumb, push the rim at the chainstays toward the drive side, forcing the drive side axle backward into the dropout, tensioning the chain.

4 - tighten the drive side axle nut.

5 - check chain tension, for SS use it really doesnt need to be all that tight, should have a little slack actually as it wont wear your drivetrain as quickly and will run smoother.

6 - if too tight, repeat process until optimum tension and centered-ness is achieved.

or, just get chain tensioners and dial it in perfectly the first time, easily. set and forget ;)

THE CONSEQUENCES OF A TOO-SLACK CHAIN CAN BE VERY VERY SERIOUS.
Imagine you go to pedal out of the saddle as you hit a bump that knocks your chain off...suddenly there is ZERO resistance in the pedals and you fall forward onto the bars, lucky if you dont crash immediately.
Its almost happened to me on a couple occasions, no tensioner, neglected commuter bike...dangerous combo.

[sandyrs]

52/16 is a massive gear for riding to the coffee shop...

[fiamme red]

52/16 is a massive gear for riding to the coffee shop...Yes, but then you look much cooler sitting next to your bike outside the coffee shop. :)

For that kind of riding, I'd go with a lower gear than 48/16, either a 48/18 or 48/19.

[eBAUMANN]

52/16 is a massive gear for riding to the coffee shop...

hahah i didnt even register that first read-through, yea, thats absurd.

id ride 49x17 if i wanted to ride around fast or 46x16/17 if just cruising.
the ability to accelerate quickly is more useful around town than top speed.

[p nut]

I typically ride 47x17. 52x16 is waaaaay too high, unless you're headed to the track.

[PSC]

Agree with lower gearing suggestions. I ride a 42/17 and have no problem cruising at 17-20 mph and I can get it up to 28 mph or so before I start to spin out.

[mjf]

hahah i didnt even register that first read-through, yea, thats absurd.

id ride 49x17 if i wanted to ride around fast or 46x16/17 if just cruising.
the ability to accelerate quickly is more useful around town than top speed.

On 49x17 here, hasn't been an instance where I've felt overburdened by it, between top speed or ability to get up to speed.

[FlashUNC]

Maybe the OP just wants to go get his coffee, like, right now.

[Joxster]

What type of terrain are you riding? My fixed is set up 39x17. If your not running mudguards then run your hand between the seat tube and wheel, that will push the wheel back to take up the tension. Use the spanner to see if the chain will come off, NEVER USE YOUR FINGERS.

[Vinci]

48x16 is pretty tall unless your area is really flat. You can get away with it in Florida, but the headwinds still make you second guess the choice some days. You won't be happy with that gearing while carrying much of a load.

I had a Dawes singlespeed/fixed for a few years that I commuted on. Probably about the same thing your Motobecane is (BikesDirect). It was perfectly serviceable, though everything was pretty low end. I resolved to just use whatever wasn't an ergonomic problem until it wore out. After several years and many thousands of miles of abuse, not even the bottom bracket had failed. Even the Forumla/Alex wheels were great.

For what you paid, just set it up so it's comfortable and run it into the ground.

[Shoeman]

maybe the op just wants to go get his coffee, like, right now.

lol!!!!!!!!

[smontanaro]

I typically ride 47x17. 52x16 is waaaaay too high, unless you're headed to the track.

What he said. I ride 47x17 on my fixed gear commuter (typically 700x32 tires, so a bit higher effective gear than if you're riding skinny 21-23mm tires). It's a skosh high at the stop lights, but I can drop in with the morning ride group before work too. Tops out at around 22mph (I can't spin smoothly much beyond that), which is high enough. I'm not a young'un anymore.

[sandyrs]

Just another data point, I ride 44x17 around town. It's easy to spin up to a reasonable cadence, and I figure any benefit to my cycling I get from riding a couple miles on my fixed gear should go toward my spin technique rather than my ability to drive a bigger gear at a lower cadence.

[oldpotatoe]

Picked up a single speed locally, motobecane track complete with some extras for $100. Good shape, a few surface scratches, flip flop hub, one brake, rides great. Pretty nifty. I went ahead and popped on a set of apex brakes I had sitting around so I would have better braking (and two brakes!). Adding some ss ergo levers and a longer seatpost, but otherwise checks out. It's a 48/16, but will probably put on a larger chainring, perhaps a 52.

Its purpose is to be locked in my parking garage and used for coffee rides and grocery shopping and whatnot without the production of putting on my kit and bike shoes. And without the worry of a huge loss in the event of theft.

Anything I should know about having a single speed, or motobecane? It has the fixed hub on one side with the flip flop, but I think I'll stay away from the fixed hub for the time being.

Also is there a trick to tightening the chain? I loosen the hub bolt and slide the wheel back, but still seem to have a lot of chain slack.

The chain will be tight-loose as you spin it. No crank or rear hub perfectly round and centered. Tight pretty tight, little bit of slack but loose part not too loose. Remember, tightening right hand bolts will rotate wheel/axle forward in drops, do LH one first.

[gavingould]

eBaumann's got the facts on tension.

when i rode fixed around town for about 5-6 years, i usually had 46x17 on there. if it were hilly at all here, i probably would've liked 44x17

when i raced track, gearing was usually 49x15 - i was a masher.

[witcombusa]

The gold standard for fixed gear road use is 65 inches. Great place to start until you get some miles under you and can better evaluate what you need for the riding it will see.

It will 'remind you' when you geared bike habits don't match your new bikes operational realities... :beer:

[Joxster]

when i raced track, gearing was usually 49x15 - i was a masher.

Thats a warm up gear these days, for a bunch race is 49/50x14, Team Sprint/Pursuit is 52/53x14

[john segal]

My commuter sports a 39 x 17, which suits me just fine for around town (NYC) riding. For "road" riding/training I switch to my Merckx, which has currently a 39 x 15. I've never once wished for anything higher.

[11.4]

A few comments:

1. Warmup gears on the track are still low. For most tracks it's a 48x16 (81 inches) and better riders will often warm up in something lower, like 46x16 (77 inches). Racing gears have gotten bigger, but you still work into them -- first couple jumps in lower gears, then gear up, then gear up again. Especially for any amateur, stepping right up into a close to 100 inch gear is a way to lose speed and injure yourself.

2. Gearing while riding a fixie to work depends partly on your riding conditions. If you have routine traffic stops, I'd really stick with a low gear. The classic winter training gear on a fixie is either 63 or 66 inches (42x18 or 44x18). You can spin it up easily, develop a nice high cadence, and it's also much more manageable in terms of controlling the bike compared to being in a big gear. That would always be my recommendation for a fixie commuter.

3. Fixed chainrings and cogs have gotten a lot better these days. Old rings and cogs could be hugely out of round; I'm not quite sure why because they still were using milling equipment that knew how to cut concentric circles. TA track rings were horrible, FSAs for a while were pretty bad, and so on. Nowadays they are all pretty good. The Tibia Genetic rings from Britain were cheap, nicely machined, and perfectly round, and come in 42 and 44 sizes for 144 BCD cranks -- very happy with them. You should always check your equipment for roundness, but frankly, it'll usually be the chainring (it's hard for the cog to contribute that much to out-of-round problems) but if either is an issue, I'd return them these days and get something else. The best you can do on a bike with such equipment is not let the chain get too tight at one point in the pedal rotation and hope for the best. You certainly don't want it to be too loose at any point either. Still, this shouldn't be much of a problem any longer. They are all CNC'd these days and that usually makes it pretty good. (The issue was usually with chainring holes not being concentric with the teeth. The rings were technically round, but they mounted eccentrically with regard to the cranks. And often the crank arms were the bigger problem, mounting any chainring off center.)

4. And when it comes to tension, the usual advice to beginning trackies (who always want a specific measure so they get things right) is to have a 3/4" to 1" vertical compliance in the chain at midpoint when everything is put together and there's no pressure on the pedals. People who like to do skid stops and ride without brakes claim that less slack makes skid stops better, but lesser slack is harder on your legs as well. You really want a little slack to accommodate vagaries of your pedal stroke and to keep constant back pressure off your legs. Experienced track riders often use a good bit more slack. Take any wrench you have at hand and try to push the chain off the top of the chainring while rotating the cranks. If you can push it off, it might come off while riding. If you can't, nothing's going to pull it off and you're good. Specific chain slack measurements depend on chainline, length of chain stays (and where your hub sits in the stay ends), the design of the chainring teeth, and other issues. The bottom line is not to be able to push it off the chainring. Some people like to just hold the bike sideways and shake it, but I've seen chains come off that don't come off with a basic shake. (BTW, the point of using the wrench is that you don't want your fingers anywhere near that chain when it's touching the chainring. The nature of the wrench doesn't really matter. However, many fixed gear riders and mechanics have lost fingers because a fixed gear setup is unforgiving if you get your finger caught under the chain going into the chainring. The momentum of a wheel, even on a bike stand, is enough to mangle or amputate a finger. Just don't do it.)

[seanile]

Also is there a trick to tightening the chain? I loosen the hub bolt and slide the wheel back, but still seem to have a lot of chain slack.
-loosen the bolts.
-stick your hand down between the tire and the seat tube, and try to make a fist.
-lift the rear wheel off the ground briefly to make sure the pavement wasn't holding it from sliding back.
-make sure it's straight and evenly spaced between the chainstays.
-tighten with your hand still in place.

[Stephen2014]

I have the bike upside down and push the wheel towards the back with my hand at the seat tube side of the wheel, keeping it tensioned and centred, very easy.
I would definately get into the fixed side of it. Singlespeed is great but fixed feels whole and complete, the way the energy you put in keeps the pedals turning, cancelling out the dead zone and helping you ride.
Mine is 46x16 on 650a wheels.

[ptourkin]

A few comments:

1. Warmup gears on the track are still low. For most tracks it's a 48x16 (81 inches) and better riders will often warm up in something lower, like 46x16 (77 inches). Racing gears have gotten bigger, but you still work into them -- first couple jumps in lower gears, then gear up, then gear up again. Especially for any amateur, stepping right up into a close to 100 inch gear is a way to lose speed and injure yourself.

2. Gearing while riding a fixie to work depends partly on your riding conditions. If you have routine traffic stops, I'd really stick with a low gear. The classic winter training gear on a fixie is either 63 or 66 inches (42x18 or 44x18). You can spin it up easily, develop a nice high cadence, and it's also much more manageable in terms of controlling the bike compared to being in a big gear. That would always be my recommendation for a fixie commuter.

3. Fixed chainrings and cogs have gotten a lot better these days. Old rings and cogs could be hugely out of round; I'm not quite sure why because they still were using milling equipment that knew how to cut concentric circles. TA track rings were horrible, FSAs for a while were pretty bad, and so on. Nowadays they are all pretty good. The Tibia Genetic rings from Britain were cheap, nicely machined, and perfectly round, and come in 42 and 44 sizes for 144 BCD cranks -- very happy with them. You should always check your equipment for roundness, but frankly, it'll usually be the chainring (it's hard for the cog to contribute that much to out-of-round problems) but if either is an issue, I'd return them these days and get something else. The best you can do on a bike with such equipment is not let the chain get too tight at one point in the pedal rotation and hope for the best. You certainly don't want it to be too loose at any point either. Still, this shouldn't be much of a problem any longer. They are all CNC'd these days and that usually makes it pretty good. (The issue was usually with chainring holes not being concentric with the teeth. The rings were technically round, but they mounted eccentrically with regard to the cranks. And often the crank arms were the bigger problem, mounting any chainring off center.)

4. And when it comes to tension, the usual advice to beginning trackies (who always want a specific measure so they get things right) is to have a 3/4" to 1" vertical compliance in the chain at midpoint when everything is put together and there's no pressure on the pedals. People who like to do skid stops and ride without brakes claim that less slack makes skid stops better, but lesser slack is harder on your legs as well. You really want a little slack to accommodate vagaries of your pedal stroke and to keep constant back pressure off your legs. Experienced track riders often use a good bit more slack. Take any wrench you have at hand and try to push the chain off the top of the chainring while rotating the cranks. If you can push it off, it might come off while riding. If you can't, nothing's going to pull it off and you're good. Specific chain slack measurements depend on chainline, length of chain stays (and where your hub sits in the stay ends), the design of the chainring teeth, and other issues. The bottom line is not to be able to push it off the chainring. Some people like to just hold the bike sideways and shake it, but I've seen chains come off that don't come off with a basic shake. (BTW, the point of using the wrench is that you don't want your fingers anywhere near that chain when it's touching the chainring. The nature of the wrench doesn't really matter. However, many fixed gear riders and mechanics have lost fingers because a fixed gear setup is unforgiving if you get your finger caught under the chain going into the chainring. The momentum of a wheel, even on a bike stand, is enough to mangle or amputate a finger. Just don't do it.)


Much truth here. The serious and smart people who aren't too lazy to swap wheels rings and cogs warm up around 47 48 49 16 and move up. The dumb lazy people (me most of the time) try to loosen up 49-15 and end up mashing a low cadence before swapping up to 50-15 etc... I've been told to consider swapping up when you're able to get about 135 rpm - depending on the event, of course.

My Seven fixed is 70 inches (48-18) on the road most of the time and that's really too much for San Diego hills and I end up mashing. 63-66 is great. Leave the big gears on the road for the kids.

The inexpensive FSA track rings are pretty well machined now.