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@zootsuit
Hi
I've just bought a cheap beater for my commute and want to run it single speed . It has a 7 speed thread on freewheel (not freehub) To keep it cheap without buying a bmx sprocket and re-spacing & re-dishing the wheel, I figured I would use one cog of the existing 7 speed freewheel and one chainring up front, as I see this set up on a few other bikes around town.
So I stripped the gears at work. Whilst on my maiden voyage home last night I heard some strange noises coming from the drive train . I figured it was just the chainline (which didn't look too bad) but I suddenly lurched forward and almost crashed. Turned out the QR skewer had snapped off right where it protrudes for the drive side dropout and the wheel almost fell out. Luckily I was on a canal path away from any traffic.
It appears the chain had jumped up a sprocket on the freewheel , (though this my have just happened afterwards once wheel moved) . I'm wondering if the cause of the skewer snapping could have been the chain wanting to move up a sprocket to correct the chainline, which in turn put pressure on the skewer as the chain was effectively shortened. Does this sound likely? Like I said I cant be sure if the chain jumped up a sprocket before or after the event once the chain was slack.
I know the advice will probably be to get a proper set up, but I really want to keep it cheap as ill be leaving the bike overnight at the station, In theory it should work right?