SS newbie questions

[bob]

I've decided to take the single speed plunge and convert a hardtail I built last year to a single speed. The frame is a Giant XTC and the rear hub is an XT. Any idea how many spacers I will need to convert from cassette to single gear?

Are there any advantages to SS specific cranks over just converting my present triple rings?

Or, should I just sell the XTC and buy a complete Surly 1x1 (around $900)?

Bob

[Hollywood]

welcome.

my humble advice:

On my XT hub I have 10 spacers with a Chris King cog. But 8 are the thinner ones (2mm?) and 2 are the fat ones (4mm?). Best bet is to take the wheel to a shop and play around with the set up. With XT you should be able to use any cog, fat or skinny based, without damaging the hub body. Check out Shimano DX cogs for a cheap way to get started.

for peace of mind you can add a non-ramped & pinned middle chainring, see Salsa or Blackspire or TruVativ or... just nice to know that nothing is trying to derail your chain as you grind up a hill. Keep your cranks.

and convert the Giant! Play with your new rig first, upgrade later. And take pics

Jeff

I've decided to take the single speed plunge and convert a hardtail I built last year to a single speed. The frame is a Giant XTC and the rear hub is an XT. Any idea how many spacers I will need to convert from cassette to single gear?

Are there any advantages to SS specific cranks over just converting my present triple rings?

Or, should I just sell the XTC and buy a complete Surly 1x1 (around $900)?

Bob

[Burnin' Love]

Excellent Advice.

welcome.

my humble advice:

On my XT hub I have 10 spacers with a Chris King cog. But 8 are the thinner ones (2mm?) and 2 are the fat ones (4mm?). Best bet is to take the wheel to a shop and play around with the set up. With XT you should be able to use any cog, fat or skinny based, without damaging the hub body. Check out Shimano DX cogs for a cheap way to get started.

for peace of mind you can add a non-ramped & pinned middle chainring, see Salsa or Blackspire or TruVativ or... just nice to know that nothing is trying to derail your chain as you grind up a hill. Keep your cranks.

and convert the Giant! Play with your new rig first, upgrade later. And take pics

Jeff

[pimpbot]

Aosty just hooked me up with the final bits to build my SS. I may to a test build before I do the paint to see how it all goes together.

He sold me some old cruddy wheels with LX hubs, and gave me a couple of old cogsets so I can drill out the rivets and use the spacers. Same deal, will the spacers from two cogsets be enough? I know I'll have to play with the stack of spacers to get the chainline dead-on-balls.

[Johnnygun]

spacers from two cassettes should be plenty

Aosty just hooked me up with the final bits to build my SS. I may to a test build before I do the paint to see how it all goes together.

He sold me some old cruddy wheels with LX hubs, and gave me a couple of old cogsets so I can drill out the rivets and use the spacers. Same deal, will the spacers from two cogsets be enough? I know I'll have to play with the stack of spacers to get the chainline dead-on-balls.