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@ChadTheInhaler
My 12 year old mtb needed a facelift after several years languishing in the shed. So i decided, as i was in a bike tinkering mood, to give it a single speed conversion.
Above is how it looked after i had stripped off the gear mech and derrailier (spelling?). A strangely satisfying experience, especially snipping the wires.
I cut off the old grips as they were worn out, and it made getting the shifters off easier.
With this toolkit, a shimano specific one according to the ad when i got it, i was able to remove the cassette and front chainrings. This left the bike looking clean and ready for a re-fit. I also removed the rusty old pedals. This bike did have SPDs for a while until i got sick of falling off on steep hills.
I did some research into single speed cogs and front chainrings, deciding that what i needed was a 104bcd 4 arm chainring with about 40T and a rear cog with 16T with spacers. I went for the Gusset Tribal R chainring up front and a Gusset 1er cog on the rear with a set of Halo spacers. The chain was originally for my commuter but wasn't quite long enough for that and seemed to suit the chunky mtb better. I used a Gusset 1/2 link 1/8" slinky chain.
I'm really happy with the look of the new components on the bike. As Gusset seemed to do well out of my conversion i thought it only right to get a sheet of stickers to give the frame a little character. You can also see i have put chrome bars on, i put the Scott bars on my commuter, and the grips that i got when i bought my commuter originally.
It took a fair bit of fiddling with the spacers but in the end i got a perfect chain line, which i am pretty chuffed with. When i gave the bike a test run it was really smooth, the 40/16 ratio is just right for cruising around and hopping up and down curbs.
This angle makes the chain look a little loose, but it isn't really. The pedals are Diamondback platforms. Glad i went for them and not the green plastic Wellgo ones next to them in the shop.
Next stage is to get rigid front forks, a more comfy seat, different grips, the brakes work well so no need to change unless for cosmetic reasons. I'm happy with it so far.