The latest upgrades to my Singlespeed/Townie bike

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I finally took the plunge and decided to singlespeed my old rigid steel frame Fila Taos MTB, so i slapped a Surly Singleator on it and tensioned it up

there’s something just plain cool about a singlespeed bike, the drivetrain is silent, there’s no rattle or clunk from deraileurs, and maintenance is almost nonexistent, just make sure the chain is clean and lubed, no derailers to drift out of adjustment, jam, or fail

and it seems like the bike accelerates faster, heck, i can hit almost 25 MPH on the flats just hammering the pedals, and i can still climb hills with no problem

since i’m doing a bit more riding after dusk and at night, i decided to increase the bike’s visibility, i have a Cygolite Metro dual halogen light setup and a Blackburn Quadrant LED light (set up as a blinkie) for front lighting, and rear lighting consists of a Trek Disco Inferno and 2 Blackburn Mars 3.0 blinkies

i also added some TrailBlazer reflective safety tape to the frame and rack for better night visibility, during the day, the tape is almost undetectable, thanks to the fact that the bike’s paint job is almost the same color as the tape, from a distance, you’dnever even notice the tape, unless the light was angled perfectly…

here’s the bike in it’s daytime config (before i installed the lights)

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday2.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday3.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday4.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday5.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycleday6.gif

and at night, showing off the effectiveness of the tape

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle2.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle3.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle4.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle5.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle6.gif

http://homepage.mac.com/mactechg4/.Pictures/Lightcycle7.gif

and a QuickTime movie of me driving up my driveway to illuminate the bike, it’s not a perfect angle as the bike’s leaning on the kickstand, but you get the idea (DIALUP WARNING, 4 MB)

think i overdid it a little?, i was going for the Tron “Lightcycle” look…

2

Try out fixed wheel, you don’t need all the weight of the gear cluster, nor even a back brake and the chain is dead in line with the chainring, add to this that a fixed rear wheel is built so that the spokes on either side are the same length, and so the hub sits dead central, and you get a much stronger and yet a lighter wheel.

Mind you, it does take some getting used, but its used extensively in specialist hillclimb events.

Cycles are very satisfying to work on, you make your own modifications fairly eaily an quickly see the results of your work.

3

It looks good MacTech, but too many cogs remain on the bicycle. What are they still on there for?

What gear are you going to be turning?

4

Yeah, chuck that whole rear cassette and hub. Commitment, damnit! Same goes for the crank! Do it!