Kalukis said:Now that I have my fixed gear -- a Bianchi Pista (for all
of 20 hours), a couple of questions.
1. How do you get the rear wheel off? Do they all have
master links?
You don't break the chain for wheel removal, just loosen the
axle nuts, slide the wheel forward, and derail the chain
from the chainring. This will give you enough slack to slide
the axle back and out of the fork ends.
Unfortunately, most fixed-specific frames have these old-
fashioned rear-opening fork ends instead of the more modern
"drop out" type where the opening is forward.
The rear opening design makes wheel changes slower and
messier, for no functional advantage--it's just an atavistic
styling exercise.
Quoted message said:2. I hear people talking about have two different gears -
on on each side of the wheel. Sure enough, my bike does
appear to have both sides threaded for a fixed gear 2a.
What is needed to put a new gear on the other side - a
cog and a lock ring?
You can thread a fixed sproket or a single speed freewheel
onto the opposite side of the hub, but that side doesn't
have the smaller left hand threads for a lock ring.
Since there's no provision for a lock ring on the other
side, it shouldn't be relied upon for stopping--the sprocket
might unscrew at the worst possible time.
See: sheldonbrown.comfixedOpen ↗
conversion.html#freewheelhub for details and techniques for
dealing with this.
Unfortunately the Pista isn't set up for a rear brake, so I
really can't recommend using the opposite side of the hub.
If you do, use the side with the lockring for the lower
gear, because that's the one that's more liable to unscrew.
Quoted message said:2b. What about chain length? I suppose that the
vertical drop outs are long enough for some different
in gear diameter, but how much room for different
gears do you practically have? I've got a 16 cog on
the gear right now and I'd like to put a lower gear
(ie, more teeth) on the other side.
The Bianchi Pista doesn't have vertical drop outs, it has
rear-opening horizontal fork ends. See:
sheldonbrown.comgloss d.htmlOpen ↗
There's plenty of adjustment room. For each tooth added
or subtracted to either sprocket, the axle only moves
1/8" (3 mm)
I've gots of lots of other fixed-gear info at:
sheldonbrown.comfixedOpen ↗
Sheldon "Fixed Gear" Brown +---------------------------------------------------
+
| There was a man with a tongue of wood | Who essayed
| to sing. | And in truth it was lamentable. | But
| there was one who heard | The clip-clapper of this
| tongue of wood | And knew what the man wished to
| sing, | And with that the singer was content. | --
| Stephen Crane |
+---------------------------------------------------+ Harris
Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX
617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗
sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗
