First single speed project - help!

i have seen the willier track up close, i had a long hard look and couldn't see where the extra £200 had been spent? does it come with the money stashed down the seat tube for emergencies?

i guess you could say it's overpriced :-)

don't bother with a freewheel there's no need for that kind of nonsense.

jashburnham Just to update you all, I've ended up going for a Pearson Touche in blue (hate the name) after a chat to the guys @ Pearson. I've always heard good things about Pearson and at least they're not as ubiquitous as say Specialized, nice to support a British firm as well. Spoke to the fellas at cyclesurgery about the Wilier Pista but they couldn't give me any info on the geometry and seemed a tad clueless. The touche has a flip flop hub so I can experiment with fixed when I want. Gone for a 48 16 SS to start, with a 17 fixed I believe. Sent Pearson over all my bike fitting measurements from my cyclefit trip a few years back, so they shold have a good idea of what I'll need.

Doubtless I'll get the upgrade bug in a few months, anyone recommend a good place in London to build me some wheels? I'd like some blue rims to match the frame. Also what tools will I need for maintenance, wheel removal etc? I have a chain whip, allen keys and a shimano/camy lockring tool.

Finally is it possible to put a SRAM powerlink (or similar) on a ss chain or am I being a noob?

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry I've not fully embraced Fixed at the first attempt, but give me time...

I have a liking for the Pearson Touche. I am considering splashing out on a new bike and I'm overwhelmed by the huge choice. Fuji, Flyer, Paddy Wagon, etc etc.
Continue to keep us posted as to how you get on with the Pearson plus other comments as to the quality of the bike and the service from the shop etc.
My impression ( rightly or wrongly ) of the Pearson is that it has traditional geometry and therefore probably minimises the problem of catching your toe or toeclip on the front wheel. Good luck with your new bike.
17teeth

Good choice mate. Pearson make nice bikes. The guy in the pro shop (can't remember his name) makes a good wheel too. if not mr rowland at BLB is highly recommended I believe.

Strip the stickers of that touche and it'll look the dogs knackers.

Yeah it has trad geometry so no toe overlap at all supposedly - although my size 11's may well see to that. I'm hoping the decals will be easy to remove. Gonna add some blue tyres and maybe a blue chainring a bit later down the line. Can't wait for her to arrive now.

jb, get a blue bin and throw your rear brake in it. you know you want to ride it fixed. go on.

Enjoy. I want to see you and Hippy race.

jonnywilkinson jb, if you are sarf of the river you could try moose in colliers wood who have the Charge Plug and Giant Bowery. putney cycles have Bob Jacksons but for that price you may as well satisfy your penchant for Wilier

Just bought a Charge from the boys at Moose and they really nice and helpful. Still on the freewheel at the moment until I buy some spd pedals for the beast - loving it though! The Giant although lighter is just not as pretty as the Charge and i'm not a fan of full drops..

Well the Touche arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased with it, not tried fixed yet but planning to have a go in Richmond Park this weekend. I do have a question about the gearing though, looks like Pearson have put a 48x17 on and I find I am spinning out far too quickly, to the extent that I actually got overtaken on my commute last night, and that has happened for a long time. Given that the bike is prob never going to leave London I think i need to look at changing the rear cog, would 48x15 be unreasonable for London? Basically I want to be able to hit 23/24/25 mph without having to spin at 130 rpm! At the moment I reckon I can barely hit 18 before I'm spinning annoyingly fast.

keep the gearing for a while, i used to run single speed witha heavier gear, now running 48x18, and am happy with that

But it is already annoying the hell out of me! I like to cycle quickly and would also like to use the Pearson as a winter trainer so I really need to get this sorted. Will dropping down to 16 make much difference at all? Bear in mind I am 27 and in fairly good shape, I have plenty of summer miles in my legs and whilst I'm happy spinning, the current revs are just too high for my liking...

just got the wee beastie back from andypancake at cavendish and was riding for the first time fixed, friend was saying he runs I think 48x17 for use in and around town, gives him more low speed control. and he was much quicker in and and out of traffic than i was, most of the riding you'll do in london will be ducking and diving, bobbing and weaving thru the mass of automobiles, so thinking the 48x16 I've got might be possibly as big as you want to go, otherwise you'll have an awfully difficult time hitting the gaps.

Spinny - spinny spin-spin .. I was running 39x16 singlespeed for a short while - ridiculous!! Are you doing training runs or commuting?
Gearing for SS / Fixed is up to personal preference - SS go as high as you want but fixed be aware of the new and unusual stresses on your knees.. I'm still new to fixed (relatively) and am happier on my low gearing.

Cadence calculator for ya.
http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/ecadence.htm

Where do you ride? 48/17 gives you 35kph at a nice 100rpm. I hit about 170rpm going through Euston underpass on 42/16.
There's not many places in London you can hold 35kph for more than a minute. Then it's stop start slow avoid crash etc.
If you're like most Londoners you've probably been riding over-geared for most of your life :) Spin to win!

Yeah the fixed sprocket is on 17 and I was advised to leave that as is, but for the freewheel I'd like a bit more grunt! My commute is on fairly straight roads and they are never that busy - hence not much weaving/bobbing required. I'll also be training in RP which is a pretty straight shot for me, plus early morning = less traffic. What sort of speed/rpm will I get from a 48x16 or 48x15? I'm struggling to get a feel for this given I'm so used to having a compact 54/30 x 11/25. I reckon on the road bikes my favourite combo is 54x15, I reckon that gives me 87.6 gear inches, whereas the 48x17 gives me 74.2. So a 48x15 would give me 84.1 which sounds better. I'm not very technical, but am I along the right lines here - or totally wrong?

provenrad Spinny - spinny spin-spin .. I was running 39x16 singlespeed for a short while - ridiculous!!

That's not ridiculous. I ran 32/15 for ages in Melbourne. 1hr proper commute each way (not this stopstart London ball locks).

hippy Where do you ride? 48/17 gives you 35kph at a nice 100rpm. I hit about 170rpm going through Euston underpass on 42/16.
There's not many places in London you can hold 35kph for more than a minute. Then it's stop start slow avoid crash etc.
If you're like most Londoners you've probably been riding over-geared for most of your life :) Spin to win!

My commute is from Pimlico to Bermondsey - really not far so I like to go as fast as I can. Training rides will be RP and maybe out into Surrey, however I do have 2 roadbikes so I don't really need the Pearson setup to be comfy on longish hills, I'd much rather have the speed on the flats... Don;t get me wrong, I am not a grinder and do spin, but I know what feels right for me and the current gearing just doesn't! Sorry to be so unscientific, but without fitting a cadence/speedo I can't give you any accurate figures...

jashburnham Yeah the fixed sprocket is on 17 and I was advised to leave that as is, but for the freewheel I'd like a bit more grunt! My commute is on fairly straight roads and they are never that busy - hence not much weaving/bobbing required. I'll also be training in RP which is a pretty straight shot for me, plus early morning = less traffic. What sort of speed/rpm will I get from a 48x16 or 48x15? I'm struggling to get a feel for this given I'm so used to having a compact 54/30 x 11/25. I reckon on the road bikes my favourite combo is 54x15, I reckon that gives me 87.6 gear inches, whereas the 48x17 gives me 74.2. So a 48x15 would give me 84.1 which sounds better. I'm not very technical, but am I along the right lines here - or totally wrong?

I guess it depends what you are after? 54x15 for me would be a frickin' TT gear! Do you have any idea what you avg. cadence is now?
When you get to a 'normal' bit of your ride, count your pedal going over for 10sec and multiply it by 6. 100rpm is a nice, cruisin' cadence.
If you're a sprinter you'll wanna be spinning faster. If you're a TT'er you'll want a bit lower (this is a GENERALISATION btw but works for most people)

If I were you then, I'd buy a few £10 cogs from On-One and test out different ratios. If you're really not happy spinning then up your gear. Try a 15T.
Is it 3/32 or 1/8th setup?

jashburnham hippy Where do you ride?
My commute is from Pimlico to Bermondsey - really not far so I like to go as fast as I can. Training rides will be RP and maybe out into Surrey, however I do have 2 roadbikes so I don't really need the Pearson setup to be comfy on longish hills, I'd much rather have the speed on the flats... Don;t get me wrong, I am not a grinder and do spin, but I know what feels right for me and the current gearing just doesn't! Sorry to be so unscientific, but without fitting a cadence/speedo I can't give you any accurate figures...

3mi? Okay I guess it's more like a pursuit than a commute :) Totally flat too. Throw on a 15T and see how you go. If you are SS then freewheels are cheap.

I've got a 16T 1/8" you can have for a fiver. Whisper if you want it.

Right, I can be scientific about this. Just looked over some ride info (thank you Garmin!) and my average cadence for 50 - 100 mile rides in the Surrey Hills, and riding London to Rye (in East Sussex) with some fairly substantial hills - my average cadence was around the 85 mark. When I say my favourite roadie gear is 54x15 i should qualify by saying that is on my commute, on the flat so it is kinda TT in a way! Argh, this is all so confusing, I don't want to waste time and money buggering around with different sprockets, but need to get this right.

48:16 would be the lowest i'd suggest, which i rode for a bit, but is a bitch in traffic. my winter commuter is 44:16 which is awesome on hills and in traffic, but shit going down hills. 48:18 in my other bike was not bad.

hippy [quote]jashburnham Yeah the fixed sprocket is on 17 and I was advised to leave that as is, but for the freewheel I'd like a bit more grunt! My commute is on fairly straight roads and they are never that busy - hence not much weaving/bobbing required. I'll also be training in RP which is a pretty straight shot for me, plus early morning = less traffic. What sort of speed/rpm will I get from a 48x16 or 48x15? I'm struggling to get a feel for this given I'm so used to having a compact 54/30 x 11/25. I reckon on the road bikes my favourite combo is 54x15, I reckon that gives me 87.6 gear inches, whereas the 48x17 gives me 74.2. So a 48x15 would give me 84.1 which sounds better. I'm not very technical, but am I along the right lines here - or totally wrong?

I guess it depends what you are after? 54x15 for me would be a frickin' TT gear! Do you have any idea what you avg. cadence is now?
When you get to a 'normal' bit of your ride, count your pedal going over for 10sec and multiply it by 6. 100rpm is a nice, cruisin' cadence.
If you're a sprinter you'll wanna be spinning faster. If you're a TT'er you'll want a bit lower (this is a GENERALISATION btw but works for most people)

If I were you then, I'd buy a few £10 cogs from On-One and test out different ratios. If you're really not happy spinning then up your gear. Try a 15T.
Is it 3/32 or 1/8th setup?[/quote]

I guess it depends what you are after? 54x15 for me would be a frickin' TT gear! Do you have any idea what you avg. cadence is now?
When you get to a 'normal' bit of your ride, count your pedal going over for 10sec and multiply it by 6. 100rpm is a nice, cruisin' cadence.
If you're a sprinter you'll wanna be spinning faster. If you're a TT'er you'll want a bit lower (this is a GENERALISATION btw but works for most people)

If I were you then, I'd buy a few £10 cogs from On-One and test out different ratios. If you're really not happy spinning then up your gear. Try a 15T.
Is it 3/32 or 1/8th setup?[/quote]

It's a 1/8th. Reckon I'm gonna go for the 15T.

andrewleitch86 I've got a 16T 1/8" you can have for a fiver. Whisper if you want it.

Thanks Andrew, i'll try a 15 first but will def keep your offer in mind. Is the sprocket new? Also what tools do I need to change a sprocket on a SS. I have a chainwip and a shimano/campy cassette removal tool...