Single Speed Cheap

[brianW]

After almost 16 yrs of service my rear shifter finally broke. Since my bike almost qualifies as an antique and I am in the market for a new bike, I am not about spend money to fix it. My long term goal for the bike is to slowly turn it into a single speed.

My question, can I do a cheap job of turning it into a single speed now with the parts/removal of parts on the bike w/out buying anything now?

Plan: Remove the derailleurs, cables and shifters and shortening the chain so it fits on the middle chainring and the cog that lines up the best.

Or is it best to ride it as is, a three speed? thanks -brianW

[ted]

Short answer is no.
You should not run a single speed setup with chainrings and rear cogs with "shift enhancements" as the chain will derail.
The best thing to do is pony up a few dollars and do it correctly.
Or you could ignore this advice and pay "thousands" in medical bills.
One other thing: chances are you won't have the proper tension on your chain when you have it set up in the gear you desire.

This subject could go on forever, but it would be best if you went here:
forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46

[bgredjeep]

I used a conversion kit I got on Ebay for ~$30 to convert my Trek 7000. It included the desired rear cog, spacers, and tensioner. I just removed all the shifters, front outer and inner chainring, and cassette and installed the new parts with no trouble. The bike lost a lot of weight in the process as well.

You could go cheap and make spacers for the rear cog w/ PVC pipe or something of the sort (1.25" id.) but I felt the kit was worth the money and it looks a lot better than PVC.