Single Speed

Sounds magnificent. 😄

39x16 is way low for the street. Definitely 42x16 or even a 44 (if you
can find one) up front.

Have fun and post a picture of your beast!

maxo said:

Sounds magnificent. 😄

39x16 is way low for the street. Definitely 42x16 or even a 44 (if you
can find one) up front.

depends where you live! in san francisco, that's hard work. i go 39-15.

Quoted message said:

Have fun and post a picture of your beast!

Ricardo said:

Just got my Surly 1x1 put together with left over parts and a little help
from ebay. Replaces a single speed, Surly Cross Check, stolen out of my
attached garage, with the door closed, but not locked. I was in the house
when it left. Anyway, it is so cool. 26x1.25 city slicks, single front
brake. 39x16, I think 42 would be better. Ritchey Rizer mountain bars. It
is my flat land urban assault bike, chained up behind a locked door. What
is this world coming to? This whole thing of theft paranoia takes a lot of
the fun out of just getting around on a bike. Other than that, I am happy
dog. Ricardo

1. Was the bike insured? If not, you should look into it - renter's
insurance is cheap for me and it took a lot of the sting out of having
a mountainbike stolen a few years ago.

2. Surly 1x1s are a lot of fun. If you convert your rear hub to use a
quick-release axle (easy with some hubs), you will have 2 gear choices.
Surly also makes a fixed gear/freewheel flip-flop hub that you might
want to check out at some point. That way, you can keep the 39 ring
and use a 14 or 15 tooth cog.

-Vee

Vee said:

Ricardo said:

Just got my Surly 1x1 put together with left over parts and a little
help from ebay. Replaces a single speed, Surly Cross Check, stolen
out of my attached garage, with the door closed, but not locked. I
was in the house when it left. Anyway, it is so cool. 26x1.25 city
slicks, single front brake. 39x16, I think 42 would be better.
Ritchey Rizer mountain bars. It is my flat land urban assault bike,
chained up behind a locked door. What is this world coming to?
This whole thing of theft paranoia takes a lot of the fun out of
just getting around on a bike. Other than that, I am happy dog.
Ricardo

1. Was the bike insured? If not, you should look into it - renter's
insurance is cheap for me and it took a lot of the sting out of having
a mountainbike stolen a few years ago.

Don't they increase your premium so that you just back it back over time?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil said:

Vee said:

Ricardo said:

Just got my Surly 1x1 put together with left over parts and a little
help from ebay. Replaces a single speed, Surly Cross Check, stolen
out of my attached garage, with the door closed, but not locked. I
was in the house when it left. Anyway, it is so cool. 26x1.25 city
slicks, single front brake. 39x16, I think 42 would be better.
Ritchey Rizer mountain bars. It is my flat land urban assault bike,
chained up behind a locked door. What is this world coming to?
This whole thing of theft paranoia takes a lot of the fun out of
just getting around on a bike. Other than that, I am happy dog.
Ricardo

1. Was the bike insured? If not, you should look into it - renter's
insurance is cheap for me and it took a lot of the sting out of having
a mountainbike stolen a few years ago.

Don't they increase your premium so that you just back it back over time?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I'm insured by a different company now, and the policy is still very
affordable. It would take a company many years to recoup the payout
for a stolen $4,000 mountain bike. They presumably make it up on all
the people who never have major claims.

-Vee

why would you need a quick release axle to use two gears? why not just
carry a small wrench? In fact, if you don't carry a wrench when riding
on solid axle wheels, you better pray you don't get a flat.

FWIW, I've used a Surly Steamroller w/ two chainrings and a flip/flop
hub on the back for years, and depending on the rings/cogs combo I can
get 3 usable gearing setups without changing the chain length. Oh,
yea,... I use a wrench that I cut off to fit in my seat pack.

Squid-in-Training said:

Vee wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1. Was the bike insured? If not, you should look into it - renter's
insurance is cheap for me and it took a lot of the sting out of having
a mountainbike stolen a few years ago.

Don't they increase your premium so that you just back it back over time?

Bike insurance in the Netherlands is generally a one time fee, about 20%
of insured value for 3 years of retail price insurance in the risk areas.
Quite often brokered by the LBS and with the limitation of payback in
another equivalent bike, rather than cash.

Renter's insurance presumably only covers the bike if it is actually
inside?

Jasper

Jasper Janssen said:

Squid-in-Training said:

Vee wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1. Was the bike insured? If not, you should look into it - renter's
insurance is cheap for me and it took a lot of the sting out of having
a mountainbike stolen a few years ago.

Don't they increase your premium so that you just back it back over time?

Bike insurance in the Netherlands is generally a one time fee, about 20%
of insured value for 3 years of retail price insurance in the risk areas.
Quite often brokered by the LBS and with the limitation of payback in
another equivalent bike, rather than cash.

Renter's insurance presumably only covers the bike if it is actually
inside?

Jasper

No, the renter's insurance policies I've had are surprisingly broad.
Although my policy insured me at an address in a small Wisconsin town,
my bike was stolen from a car in Denver, Colorado. I filed a police
report, notified the insurance company, and they covered it.
I've never heard of "bike insurance." Does such a thing exist in the
US? Are such policies common in Europe? I did a Google search...
looks like they're common in the UK and maybe Australia.

-Vee

jim beam said:

maxo said:

Sounds magnificent. 😄

39x16 is way low for the street. Definitely 42x16 or even a 44 (if you
can find one) up front.

depends where you live! in san francisco, that's hard work. i go 39-15.

LOL--I wouldn't even think about riding fixie or single in SF, well not
as my primary ride. I'd get some sort of internally geared
Rohloff/Nexus/SA type hub. :P

On 22 Oct 2005 17:29:10 -0700, "Scott" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

why would you need a quick release axle to use two gears? why not just
carry a small wrench? In fact, if you don't carry a wrench when riding
on solid axle wheels, you better pray you don't get a flat.

FWIW, I've used a Surly Steamroller w/ two chainrings and a flip/flop
hub on the back for years, and depending on the rings/cogs combo I can
get 3 usable gearing setups without changing the chain length. Oh,
yea,... I use a wrench that I cut off to fit in my seat pack.

I ride fixed and have quick release on the front wheel; I live in a
major metropolis and employ this as an anti-theft device.

Vee said:

No, the renter's insurance policies I've had are surprisingly broad.
Although my policy insured me at an address in a small Wisconsin town,
my bike was stolen from a car in Denver, Colorado. I filed a police
report, notified the insurance company, and they covered it.
I've never heard of "bike insurance." Does such a thing exist in the
US? Are such policies common in Europe? I did a Google search...
looks like they're common in the UK and maybe Australia.

Google on Dutch: "Fietsverzekering", and German "Fahrradversicherung", for
accurate numbers in the relevant countries.

Jasper

maxo said:

Quoted message said:

39x16 is way low for the street. Definitely 42x16 or even a 44 (if you
can find one) up front.

jim beam replied:

Quoted message said:

depends where you live! in san francisco, that's hard work. i go 39-15.

The O.P. did mention this was a "flat land" bike.

I run 42/14 on my Bianchi B.a.S.S. most of the time, though the bike
also has a 38/18 gear for off road use. Both gears are fixed, thanks to
a brazed together Freehub body.

The 42/14 is dandy for the rolling terrain where I live, at least for
this 61 year old fat guy.

http://sheldonbrown.org/bass

Sheldon "Learning To Tolerate The Fugly Color" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Anyone who can't use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate, |
| and should not be allowed to vote. --Robert A. Heinlein |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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

Scott said:

why would you need a quick release axle to use two gears? why not just
carry a small wrench?

Because it is quicker and easier and lighter.

Quoted message said:

In fact, if you don't carry a wrench when riding
on solid axle wheels, you better pray you don't get a flat.

Right, that's another reason to prefer quick release hubs.

Sheldon "QR" Brown
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an |
| "intellectual"--find out how he feels about astrology. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+------------------------------------------------------------+
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

Sheldon Brown said:

Scott said:

why would you need a quick release axle to use two gears? why not just
carry a small wrench?

Because it is quicker and easier and lighter.

Quoted message said:

In fact, if you don't carry a wrench when riding
on solid axle wheels, you better pray you don't get a flat.

Right, that's another reason to prefer quick release hubs.

Sheldon "QR" Brown

The issue at question was why you'd "need" a quick release axle, not
why you'd "want" one.

Scott said:

Sheldon Brown said:

Scott said:

why would you need a quick release axle to use two gears? why not just
carry a small wrench?

Because it is quicker and easier and lighter.

Quoted message said:

In fact, if you don't carry a wrench when riding
on solid axle wheels, you better pray you don't get a flat.

Right, that's another reason to prefer quick release hubs.

Sheldon "QR" Brown

The issue at question was why you'd "need" a quick release axle, not
why you'd "want" one.

But, as Thoreau said, we shouldn't "stop short at [bolt-on axles],
because our pilgrim forefathers got through a cold winter once on a
bleak [velodrome] with these."

-Vee