I plan on going singlespeed soon enough on my 08 GT Avalanche 3.0 disc but I was wondering, If I go single speed, do I have to run a chain tensioner or can I run the bike without a chain tensioner real clean looking, you know? :thumbsup:
take the granny & big ring off, and the middle should still work fine as far as the cranks go. may need to get some shorter chainring bolts though.
it is possible to find a 'magic gear'....aka a cog/chain ring combo that fits snuggly (tensions itself perfectly) when you have a new chain. you'll probably need a half-link, and a couple different sized cogs/chain rings to swap back and forth until you find a combination that works...and then you'll more or less be stuck with that. and you may end up buying new chains more often (under $10 for a pc-1, not too big of a deal)....because the chain wear will make the chain look droopy. (functionally it'll be fine...but atheistically it may look funky)
the other option is to buy an eccentric rear hub ($130)
I have an '05 or '06 (I think) GT Avalanche 1.0 converted to single speed, running a magic gear of 33:16, with a half link, and dedicated ss cog at the rear. The new chain has a little slop, but it hasn't caused me any problems yet, and I do give the bike hell. I would think that 34:17 would be perfect, as this should eliminate the need for the half link.
But that's assuming that the '08 has the same length chainstay as the '06 (42.00cm), which I think it does.
I've found you can usually luck out and use the little washers that space the chainrings to fill the gap when you need shorter chainring bolts. Saves a trip to the LBS and a couple bucks. If they don't have washers or they're the wrong size, just get some washers at a hardware store, no biggie.
I have an '05 or '06 (I think) GT Avalanche 1.0 converted to single speed, running a magic gear of 33:16, with a half link, and dedicated ss cog at the rear. The new chain has a little slop, but it hasn't caused me any problems yet, and I do give the bike hell. I would think that 34:17 would be perfect, as this should eliminate the need for the half link.
But that's assuming that the '08 has the same length chainstay as the '06 (42.00cm), which I think it does.
I get it. A "link" consists of one narrow section and one wide section. The half link joins a narrow section to a wide section using only "one" section rather than "two".
I get it. A "link" consists of one narrow section and one wide section. The half link joins a narrow section to a wide section using only "one" section rather than "two".
As a matter of fact i have "said" bike that i turned into a SS last week. I got it from a guy for a good price. Decided that a SS would be fun to build up with parts i had laying around to see if i liked it. So i got this bike 3.0 and trew away the kendas and put on some 2.0 maxis larsons. used a old set of firefex cranks. pulled the granny and big ring and put on bash guard. pulled stock breaks and put on some shimano hydros i had from a take off bike. and the forte SS conversion from perfomance and ditched the stock saddle for a forte carbon one. Into the bike for a total of about 200 bucks. so far having fun, and seeing if i want to stick with this SS thing. Just to warn you with stock fork, wheels, tubes, bars, seat post, and stem, this is a pretty heavy bike. mine came in a around 28 lbs. but i imagine that you could shave weight pretty quick if you changed some things out.
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