Conversion to singlespeed

Sheldon Brown said:

I .sigged:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sheldon "42/14" Brown

A sexually adventurous vaquero said:

Isn't that a bit of an oversimplification?

Kinky "32x18 or 34x16 or 42x15 or 50x16 or 49x15" Cowboy

Yes. That's my preferred combination for street fixed gear, 559 wheels.

Actually, "/" is more accrate than "x" because the operation is
division, not multiplication.

Sheldon "26/8, 26/9, 33/18, 40/16, 40/14, 42/14, 42/15, 42/30, 46/14,
48/16, 52/17, 53/18, 53/12" Brown

I can see your point about dividing rather than multiplying, but when
did mathematical accuracy ever get in the way of a convention?

32/18 x 57-559 for hilly stuff
34/16 x 57-559 for flat trails
42/15 x 23-622 for road fixie
50/16 x 20-622 at Calshot velodrome
49/15 x 20-622 for fixed gear time trials
50/13 x 25-622 on the rollers

That dash isn't a minus sign, but if you want proper math

(32/18) x ((2x57)+559) etc
Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

Kinky Cowboy said:

Calling it SAE is just typical American cultural imperialism. Feet and
inches are Imperial measure.

Calling it "Imperial" is just typical British imperialism! ;-)

..."imperial"...depends which empire you're thinking of. I'm guessing
you're thinking of the American "empire" in your first sentence, and the
British Empire in your second.

However, the metric system is also "imperial" (or impériale, s'il vous
plait) as its spread across Europe was enforced by the troops of the
Corsican Tyrant.

I agree that calling a tape measure "SAE" is a bit much; that
designation is correct for American sized, inch-based threads, fasteners
and wrenches.

This would be as distinct from the now extinct British Whitworth system
of inch-based threads, fasteners and spanners.

I would submit that referring to inch-based dimensions as "imperial" is
insular, as it seems to assume that the (late) British Empire is the
only one that counts

When I was in France last summer, I bought a number of very nice
stainless steel rulers with metric markings on both sides. This sort of
ruler is virtually unobtainable in the U.S. That's a shame, because it
is nice to have an "ambidextrous" ruler that can be read either to the
left or to the right, in the same convenient units.

You can see my favorite at http://sheldonbrown.com/reach

Sheldon "Light-Nanoseconds" Brown
+----------------------------------------------+
| Endless Loop: n., see Loop, Endless. |
| Loop, Endless: n., see Endless Loop. |
| --Random Shack Data Processing Dictionary |
+----------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Thanks for all the replies and the discussion about my steel rule.
Maybe I'll put it up for sale on Ebay! But how about some feedback on
my original query.

To me it *looks* safe to remove that extra bit of metal but then I'm
just a software guy and don't have expert knowledge in
engineering/metalwork/mechanics etc so I could be deluding myself. I
don't want to land on my head - I need to use it; most days...

Cheers - Phil Meades

Quoted message said:

Thanks for all the replies and the discussion about my steel rule.
Maybe I'll put it up for sale on Ebay! But how about some feedback on
my original query.

How about quoting some context so it's possible to tell what you are
talking about?

Quoted message said:

To me it *looks* safe to remove that extra bit of metal but then I'm
just a software guy and don't have expert knowledge in
engineering/metalwork/mechanics etc so I could be deluding myself. I
don't want to land on my head - I need to use it; most days.

I seem to remember a couple of posts recomending that you "go for it."

Go ahead, cut that little bit of metal away! What purpose do you
imagine it could possibly serve?

Jim,

Quoted message said:

Go ahead, cut that little bit of metal away! What purpose do you
imagine it could possibly serve?

Thanks, I guess I'll cut it away as suggested and get a bit of extra
chain adjustment. Actually, I have no idea what purpose that bit of
metal might serve - perhaps it adds a bit of (unnecessary?) extra
stiffness or strength at that point?

Quoted message said:

How about quoting some context so it's possible to tell what you are
talking about?

Sorry about the lack of context. As an excuse I guess it's because I
posted via Google at work and I overlooked that you don't get the
message you're replying to included.

Quoted message said:

I seem to remember a couple of posts recomending that you "go for

it."

Oops. Sorry, I missed the Sheldon Brown reply of 'Yes, Go for it'.
Newsgroup messages are sometimes a bit of a jumble of text and I
must've overlooked it. Apologies.

Cheers - Phil Meades

ODH_Bikes said:

catzz66 said:

Do people generally use mountain bikes or road bikes for single speed
bikes? I was going to try and use my old Fuji Supreme steel frame
since
I mostly ride a road bike, on pavement.

Looks safe to me...but then again that's why they call me Hooptie.

Regarding Catzz66, if you are planning on just riding on the road use a
road bike for sure...generally it's easier to find horizontal drops on
the road. MTB 1-speeds are a blast off-road...or you can do a
combination...like my Project Sea Otter Franken-bike...700c rear, 26in
front.

http://www.odhbikes.com/Hoopties.html

I need to make an update on this...bike is getting faster and faster by
the day...Sea Otter is just days away.

The Fuji has horizontal drops, which is what I think I need. I am
hoping it will work. It is otherwise in pretty good shape to be as old
as it is. It has wider tires than my road bike which has 700X23, so it
actually should be a little more comfortable ride.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Go ahead, cut that little bit of metal away! What purpose do you
imagine it could possibly serve?

Thanks, I guess I'll cut it away as suggested and get a bit of extra
chain adjustment. Actually, I have no idea what purpose that bit of
metal might serve - perhaps it adds a bit of (unnecessary?) extra
stiffness or strength at that point?

Kind of looks like it is there just to position the axel. Doesnt'
look structural at all.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How about quoting some context so it's possible to tell what you are
talking about?

Sorry about the lack of context. As an excuse I guess it's because I
posted via Google at work and I overlooked that you don't get the
message you're replying to included.

Yeah, I blame most of that on Google. Lots of those context-less
posts popping up all over usenet. Every time I see one it was posted
from Google.

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeffWills said:

Kinky Cowboy said:

Quoted message said:

Sheldon "42/14" Brown

Isn't that a bit of an oversimplification?

No, it can be simplified further: "3".

Which now reveals Sheldon as a closet Dale Earnhardt fan.

Jeff "44/17" Wills

oooh! a prime number sprocket!

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

and as a good Canadian I'd be happy to help people out with metric/inch
scales, or check the Starrett catalogue

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Jeff "44/17" Wills

oooh! a prime number sprocket!

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

What reason do you have to prefer prime number sprockets?

--
Benjamin Lewis

Evelyn the dog, having undergone further modification, pondered the
significance of short-person behavior in pedal-depressed panchromatic
resonance and other highly ambient domains... "Arf", she said.

flaneur said:

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

We've got 'em!

http://harriscyclery.com/130

Sheldon "38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48..." Brown
+--------------------------------------------+
| And the end of all our exploring |
| Will be to arrive where we started |
| And know the place for the first time. |
| --T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

flaneur said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

JeffWills said:

Kinky Cowboy said:

>
>Sheldon "42/14" Brown

Isn't that a bit of an oversimplification?

No, it can be simplified further: "3".

Which now reveals Sheldon as a closet Dale Earnhardt fan.

Jeff "44/17" Wills

oooh! a prime number sprocket!

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

Unless On-One have renamed their bike to avoid offending lily-livered
colonials, you'll be getting Il Pompino, not Il Postino. I expect
Canadians can handle the implications, if Cove bikes naming scheme is
anything to go by.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

Benjamin Lewis said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Jeff "44/17" Wills

oooh! a prime number sprocket!

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

What reason do you have to prefer prime number sprockets?

For some kinds of cicadas, the answer lies in adaptations. For example,
the dog-day cicadas that are common in the South are fast fliers. Other
species use camouflage to hide from predators.

But the 13- and 17-year cicadas don't have any good defenses. They're
slow, easy to spot, and apparently very tasty. So how are they going to
live long enough to reproduce?

This is where the prime numbers come in. Clay suggests that having a
prime numbered life cycle keeps you out of synch with the life cycle of
predators, which prevents any particular kind of predator from being too
dependent on the cicadas for food. In other words, if you're a predator
with a one-, two-, four-, or even eight-year life cycle, you're not
going to get too used to catching cicadas that show up only once every
13 or 17 years. So evolution will select predators that target other
kinds of prey.

The problem of course, is that lots of cicadas get eaten anyway. But
that's okay, as long as some of them survive to reproduce. That's why
it's useful for the cicada brood to emerge all at once, instead of in
drips and drabs: no matter how easy they are to catch, predators can't
possibly eat them all. This is called the "predator satiety" theory--but
you might also call it "safety in numbers." According to this theory,
conformity is a good thing: cicadas with genes that make them emerge a
little earlier or later than the pack would be spotted and eaten right
away.

Oh, were you asking about sprockets?

Never mind.

Emily Latella

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

Ted said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

Quoted message said:

> Jeff "44/17" Wills

oooh! a prime number sprocket!

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

What reason do you have to prefer prime number sprockets?

For some kinds of cicadas, the answer lies in adaptations. For example,
the dog-day cicadas that are common in the South are fast fliers. Other
species use camouflage to hide from predators.

But the 13- and 17-year cicadas don't have any good defenses. They're
slow, easy to spot, and apparently very tasty. So how are they going to
live long enough to reproduce?

This is where the prime numbers come in. Clay suggests that having a
prime numbered life cycle keeps you out of synch with the life cycle of
predators, which prevents any particular kind of predator from being too
dependent on the cicadas for food. In other words, if you're a predator
with a one-, two-, four-, or even eight-year life cycle, you're not
going to get too used to catching cicadas that show up only once every
13 or 17 years. So evolution will select predators that target other
kinds of prey.

The problem of course, is that lots of cicadas get eaten anyway. But
that's okay, as long as some of them survive to reproduce. That's why
it's useful for the cicada brood to emerge all at once, instead of in
drips and drabs: no matter how easy they are to catch, predators can't
possibly eat them all. This is called the "predator satiety" theory--but
you might also call it "safety in numbers." According to this theory,
conformity is a good thing: cicadas with genes that make them emerge a
little earlier or later than the pack would be spotted and eaten right
away.

Oh, were you asking about sprockets?

Never mind.

Emily Latella

Dear Emily,

You may be thinking of how some bamboo flowers, since there
were once bamboo-frame bicycles.

S.J. Gould

Quoted message said:

I'm looking at a brand-new $1.49 Harbor Freight Cen-Tech
#38936 tape measure that says "12 ft. SAE & Metric" on the
packaging. (The 16-foot #38937 model is a foul lie that
costs $1.99, with no metric markings despite its claims.)

It's made in India.

Umm, I pick up 10'/3m combo metric/inch tape measures from a local
wholesale supplier for under a buck each; I keep them on hand to sell
at gaming conventions because the folks who play war games with
miniatures use them to check their shot ranging. Mostly, the ones I
get are made in Korea or Taiwan. (My *personal* dual-scale tape
measure is much longer, and came from a retail source.)

Sometimes dual-scale tape measures can be found in dollar stores.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Quoted message said:

I'm looking at a brand-new $1.49 Harbor Freight Cen-Tech
#38936 tape measure that says "12 ft. SAE & Metric" on the
packaging. (The 16-foot #38937 model is a foul lie that
costs $1.99, with no metric markings despite its claims.)

It's made in India.

Umm, I pick up 10'/3m combo metric/inch tape measures from a local
wholesale supplier for under a buck each; I keep them on hand to sell
at gaming conventions because the folks who play war games with
miniatures use them to check their shot ranging. Mostly, the ones I
get are made in Korea or Taiwan. (My *personal* dual-scale tape
measure is much longer, and came from a retail source.)

Sometimes dual-scale tape measures can be found in dollar stores.

Dear Werehatrack,

You might enjoy "A Transport of Terrapins" in the late
Gerald Durrell's "Fillets of Plaice" with Colonel
Anstruther, both for the war game and for the "47" that
foxes them all and gives him a bit of pre-internet privacy.

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=z2nVj2hl3Q37iMmsPdp5yigBp50_9487771144_2:4:6

The title, as the introduction explains, is a naturalist's
pun on his brother Lawrence's "Spirits of Place," but
Gerald's books are immensely more enjoyable to read.

Carl Fogel

Sheldon Brown said:

flaneur said:

Now if only I could get a 130 BCD 41+43 (no pins, ramps, or other
shifter goo-gaws), and a collection of 17, 19, and 23s for my new (still
in the mail) On-One Il Postino)I'd be a happy camper.

We've got 'em!

http://harriscyclery.com/130

Sheldon "38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48..." Brown

He'd only be interested in the 41, 43, or 47, though. But he might want
an 11 (although those probably do not exist) and a 13 sprocket to go with
the 17, 19, and 23.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster." --Greg LeMond
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |