Vertical Dropouts

How easy is it to make a singlespeed/fixed out of a frame with vertical dropouts? Don't want to use a chain tensioner. Don't want pay out for those White Industries fancy hubs! What are the possibilities?
Anyone succeeded? Half links work?

Half Links, filing the dropouts for magic gears, cams (ENO, other cam hubs, EBB). MTBR has a good FAQ for SS that covers this.

http://www.mtbr.com/faq/ssfaq.shtml#ssConversionsChainTension

Bear in mind that sh1t like phantom cogs, chain tensioners wont work for fixed. Well, they might work until you apply back pressure and then you're fscked..

i was runing my racing bike single speed with vertical dropouts, i just found a magic gear but it was a bastard up hills 46-12 but great fun on flat roads

or chop the dropouts off and weld on some horizontals. Just remember to put the welding mask on. Flash really hurts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNf9rEPoc8Q

hahahaa :)

blast vertical dropouts!

has anyone tried using an eccentric bb? are they any good?

doesn't Muna (Moonbeams) ride with one? Pretty sure Ted was lacing up her wheel with one at polo a few weeks back…

yeah wish was easier would love to set up an old steel kona fixed up

lpg has anyone tried using an eccentric bb? are they any good?

i have one on my ss mtb, tandems use them, the real advantage of an EBB is when using a rear disk brake, not something you have to worry about riding fixed.

Used to hear tales about movement and squeaking on ss mtb forums.. plus there's the whole frame modding thing if you don't have an EBB BB shell..
Have you considered the White Industries ENO hub? Cool, coz once you've built the wheel you can use it on other vert. drop frames. Also cool coz you can get 135mm for road frames or mtb frames..

the bushnell ones creaked if not looked after as they have a system of expanding wedges and allen bolts, the phil wood ones are just 2 bolts in the shell and are generally trouble free.

Oh you need a special bb shell?

Isn't there a BB on the market where the spindle is not completely centred in the circle? I.e, the spindle lies 3mm to the right of the 'true' centre, so turning it in the frame allows 6mm adjustability?

basically, using the same idea as the Eno, but for a BB instead.

Yeah, but they typically require an oversized bb shell to deal with that offset axle. .

This guy says he's built one: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=244841

Thread ends before release info though

FYI: This is what they (the normal ones) look like

Yeah, i suppose having an oversized shell with give more movement.

I have used a magic gear before though, and from experience i know that when using fixed with vert drops, you usually only need 1-2mm ...

in that case a file and a little bit of time will do? and get a half-link or a halflink chain you can't go wrong with this...

hippy
Bear in mind that sh1t like phantom cogs, chain tensioners wont work for fixed. Well, they might work until you apply back pressure and then you're fscked..

Now then, I'm not sure I totally agree with that: Why would a phantom cog have a problem under back pressure? Unlike the chain tensioner gizmo, the phantom cog has full rotational symmetry so should work just as well 'forward' as 'backward'.

Of course, I am not at all convinced that I would trust a free floating sprocket in the middle of my chain line at all. But, that's a different argument.

I have seen a phantom cog setup once, can't remember where, CM maybe? I don't know if it was SS or fixed.

Maybe it's worth a go, for the oprice of a begged / borrowed cog...

I tried it once with SS without much luck.. you're welcome to try.
Just remember what I said when your drinking your next 6 months worth of meals.. :)

It's mentioned here as possible: http://www.cyclingforums.com/archive/index.php/t-391467.html
But I'm not gonna try it.. I'm paranoid enough about dropping chains.. I don't need something forcing them off the cogs..

*> Given that one cannot use a conventional derailer-type chain tensioner for a fixie because

backpedaling would rip it off. I think I saw on a tandem one time, as a chain tensioner for the
sync chain, a chainring (with diameter greater than the vertical distance between chain runs)
suspended between the upper/lower chain runs. As the top run went forward, the rear run went
backward, and the ring stayed in the same place. Could such a contraption be used as a "chain
tensioner" on a fixie w/ vertical dropouts?

The "phantom chainring" technique is well known for use on homebuilt tandems, I've done it myself,
but won't work on a conventional single frame 'cause the chainstay is in the way of where the
phantom chainring would need to go.*

Ahhh, yes, I remember going through this mental loop before and suddenly realising about the chainstay.

So now I am wondering where on Earth I saw the phantom cog. Maybe it was just a piccie of a tandem or a Sheldon special that has lingered in my brain.

I've seen it done on mtb ss.. even tried it.. there's bound to be someone in London who thunk the same..
Depends on the stays - some will work some wont.

I've got an ENO and i think its the shizzle. i skid it and hop it and have it on an old alu moutain bike frame. I got it from hubjub the wheel wasn't cheap but its very very smooth and easy to use.