Genesis Flyer - chainline issues when set up fixed?

My comments were about the Paddy Wagon that I owned, not the Genesis.

Update to this thread...

Finally got my LBS (Crouch End Two Wheels Good) to fit a fixed sprocket. Lo and behold - the chain is no longer dead straight.

So.... looks like Evans were correct after all! SHOCK!

The question is - is it worth losing any sleep over? The chain makes a slight clicking sound but not much more than I remember on the freewheel side.

Then again... it just niggles me! So I guess I need a different BB?

Thanks,

John

It will all wear quicker, and yer chances of launching the chain (and therefore yergoodself!) will be higher.

Thought a solution to this came up in a different thread, but can't remember what it was...

Step away from the BB !

I have a Flyer and have run it both fixed and freewheel. The problem with the bike straight from the shop is that the rear cog supplied is 1/8"s pitch (it's also cheap and nasty) and the freewheel and chain are 3/32". Which sounds terrible.

Buy a 3/32" rear cog and all should be dandy without spacers.

i'm running my flyer fixed with a dura ace 16t sprocket and although the chainline may have slight discrepancy it's nothing i'd lose sleep over... as eddie said the knuckleheads at genesis supplied a different width fixed cog, which is just sheer stupidity but it's not that expensive to get another one so hey, never mind...

edit: fixed

Ped-ant: It's width, not "pitch". 3/32 and 1/8ths of an inch are measurements of the width.
Pitch is the distance between the rollers on the chain.

I'm pretty sure the sprocket fitted is 3/32. It wasn't the one supplied with the Flyer - Evans didn't actually give me one when they bought the bike! Nice of them....

The chainwheel is further out from the frame than the sproket.

I seem to remember a guy in Holborn Cycle Surgery suggesting mounting the chainwheel the other side of the spider... bet it would look ugly though!!

It seems that the flip-flop hub is the problem, am I right? How much would a decent fixed hub cost, and how much would a shop charge to replace the one on my bike?

I'm very annoyed with Genesis for messing up this bike, how hard can it be?

John

it is pretty shocking whatever the problem. try doing the chainline measurement and work out how far you are out before mounting the chainwheel on the inside.

I was worried about getting the flyer after reading the posts on here about the chainline but just got a surly cog and a 2mm spacer and all is good (photos on flikr http://www.flickr.com/photos/phunkymunky/1336818041/ ). I got a 1/8th fixed cog supplied with the bike but obviously it doesn't fit with the 3/32 chain. I got my LBS to chase this up up with Genesis/Ridgeback/Madison whoever it was and the reply was as so :

The flyer is NOT sold as a fixed wheel it is sold as a single speed bike, the fixed cog supplied with the bike actually comes from the manufacturer of the rear hub and is supplied with the hub (as a package) so Genesis have no input on this.

I rode it as a single speed for 2 weeks to get used to it then put the Surly cog on and haven't looked back. Went out on my geared hybrid a couple of weeks ago and found it really hard to coast so looks like i'm staying fixed. ( and I just learnt to skid yesterday on the way home so I will probably be wearing out some tire soon!! )

ps There isn't enough room to put the chainring on the other side of the spider, the chainring is only about 2 - 3mm from the frame in the outside position.

phunkymunky

Thanks for this thread guys! Saved me some agro with my new Flyer.

Condor took my Genesis wheelset back from me after the rear cog slipped while exerting drivetrain resistance and acknowledged the chainline issue when riding with fixed. They updraded the cogs and rims, added a spacer, and now the machine runs smoothly and silently on the cog that they sold it with. I think the cog was put on by Condor rather than came with the bike, as when it was out on the showroom it did not include the fixed cog. I'm going to order an EAI because I want a higher gearing.

At any rate, respect due to Condor for the extra mile they went for me. There's a lot of great things about the Flyer, but the hub/cog set is not one. One of the reasons I love riding fixed is the total silence of the bike. Now the chainline is dead straight the only sound the bike makes is the whisht of the rubber on the tarmac. Nice.

I didn't use a spacer with an EAI sprocket. Seem to be fine without.

Sorry - I meant to write that they upgraded the hubs and rims, not the cog and rims. The cog is the same as I was riding when I had the chain rasp and the slippage. The hub is a new Ambrosio and all troubles forgotten.

Has anyone any experience of, or considered buying a Specialized Tricross single speed ? This comes with a single freewheel only and the facility to put a fixed cog on the other side and then flip the wheel round if you want fixed.

Speak to benjamin1750. He bought one lately.

Toyed with the idea of selling me Unit and buying one. Can't see it being a winner for fossicking duties though.

I've been making some enquiries and poking around and there do seem to be some differences in base widths amongst sprockets which, at the margins of tolerance, may (or may not) mean the difference between a good chainline or not or whether you may need a spacer or not.
I'm not sure if there is any difference in threaded surface on flip-flop hubs fixed gear side and that available on `real' track hubs. ? It was pointed out to me that spacers may start to push the sprocket out to where they would hang on less thread and reduce a lockring's abilities, so some spocket/spacer combos may be safer than others.
Anyway anyone having issues, check out the sprocket table near the bottom of: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainline