Light(ish)weight Pompetamine

Jeez, this is more complicated than I thought - and there's me thinking SS is simple.

Just so I'm clear, Miche BB is too short, so would need a longer length like the Shimano you reference, in order to get a chain-line that works with the Hope SS hub.

Your view is that standard 9/10/11 SP road cranksets with conventional road BBs are better value, better quality and better suited to road use. You've mentioned a couple of Ultegra models. Is there any reason others would/wouldn't work? If I bought say a Campag Veloce or Chorus double, or a Shimano 105 and ran just the small chainring in the big chainring position, would that work ok too? Or are there only specific crankset models/BB combinations that'll perform correctly and align with the Hope?

Campag and Shimano also make CX cranksets with removable chainrings. Can I throw them into the mix as well, or are they less suitable?

Sorry to be constantly coming back with more questions, but I thought SS meant SS cranksets. The whole thing now seems to be wide open, so I just need to make sure I've understood everything properly.

Thanks as ever tester.

Sorry - one more question. At this price bracket, I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't just cash in my chips and go for a Campag' Pista crankset and BB. Is there any reason (aside from the ludicrous price) that would be a bad idea?

Sorry - one more question. At this price bracket, I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't just cash in my chips and go for a Campag' Pista crankset and BB. Is there any reason (aside from the ludicrous price) that would be a bad idea?

Yes, the chainline on the Campag won't work with the Hope hub,

Any road crank will work, SRAM (except Red Exogram) and Shimano are easy, Campag are a bit more tricky due to the hidden fifth bolt, but the stock inner ring will fit if you use a spare chainring bolt instead of the original long stepped one at that position, plus a bit of shimming as the inner rings are typically thinner than the outers. Have a look at my UltraTorque Pista thread for why this matters.

Using the inner ring is preferred because road outers have lowered teeth to aid shifting, which tends to aid dropping the chain too. You can get singlespeed specific 3/32" rings in road pcd, or you can get track rings in suitable pcd too if you decide to go with a ⅛" drivetrain. Again, the hidden bolt on Campag causes problems because most SS specific rings are cut from thicker stock than Campag road outers, so you need to mill either the back of the crank or all of your rings. There are one or two cases where "full" track rings, i.e ones with just a plain circular bore rather than the 5 arms usually cut into road rings, can interfere with the crank, so you have to mill away a bit of the ring to provide clearance. The one thing you can be sure of is that cranks with a hidden fifth bolt will be immune to this particular issue!

Again, thank you Tester.

If I go for SRAM, does it matter if I use GXP or BB30 models?

pomp is not bb30. avoid!

Thanks dron. Is SRAM Omnium an option?

Sorry, last cranks query - the new Shimano 'Hollow Glide' cranskets have a hollow outer ring. Are the crank arms still capable of accomodating the small ring in the outer position, or has this new design meant that's no longer possible?

don't know about the shimano chainrings.
and omniums have track chainline at about 42mm.

Is SRAM Omnium an option?

No, chainline is too narrow and not adjustable. Also the thick spider arms might hit the stays, given that Pompetamine stays have to flare out 7.5mm more than track bike stays and even some track frames have issues.

the new Shimano 'Hollow Glide' cranskets have a hollow outer ring. Are the crank arms still capable of accomodating the small ring in the outer position, or has this new design meant that's no longer possible?

You can do it, but you'd be throwing away the really expensive part of the design, and making a hideously ugly chainset even worse, hard though that is to imagine.

Thanks guys. FC-6601 in slate grey it is + Shimano 16t cog and Wipperman 9 speed.

Really appreciate your help with this.

I do like the Ultegra SL Cranksets, nicer than the newer ones imo (not that it's hard)

get am 8sp chain. will last longer

Thanks Chisa - I'm thinking 9spd is a fairly good compromise between strength and weight, but you may well be right.

Thanks guys. FC-6601 in slate grey it is + Shimano 16t cog and Wipperman 9 speed.

don't know about the shimano chainrings.
and omniums have track chainline at about 42mm.

I was going to suggest the alfine crank, but it has the same chainline IIRC, which is curious given the alfine hub was designed with XC use in mind.

Does anyone know if the Hope SP2 Single Speed rear hub has a conventional spanner head or hex socket on the axel nuts?

They are 8mm Allen key, but you can replace with M10 screws which take a 17mm a/f spanner

Thanks tester. Hex key is good. Heavy spanner in saddle bag is less good.

Sorry it took so long. Bike was finished about 6 weeks back. 8.8kg and rides like a dream, although only have a couple of hundred miles on it so far ...

http://imageshack.us/a/img843/8935/dsc02269os.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img832/8677/img0619vi.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img208/1456/img0622sc.jpg

Good stuff:

• Feels light and fast, rides kind of like a road bike, but more relaxed
  
• Love the single speed thing - this is my first and after about 30 minutes I stopped missing gears. Anything flatish is great, uphill generally not a problem, downhill less good as I hate free-wheeling and feel like a twat pedalling at 150rpm.
  
• Wheel tyre combo rolls really well but also soaks up far more bumps, potholes etc. than my road bikes.
  
• Hope flat pedals are great - paired with a pair of 5 Tens you almost feel like you're clipped in, apart from climbing.
  
• Frame is a bargain at £99 - don't know how they do it.
  
• I think it looks pretty cool.
  
• You can do bigish rides on it - I've only done up to 2 hours, but it's comfortable, light and fast enough to go further.
  
  

Less good:

• Not much really ....
  
• I have a long stem and slightly steeper rake on my forks which gives it a road-bike feel at the front end. Might be too twitchy for some.
  
• Tyres are a fu#4er to get on. Had one puncture and tore my thumbs to pieces. Now pack a little bottle of fairy liquid in the saddle-bag.
  
  

Thanks to all here (esp. Tester) for advice on spec.

Jules

Nice work Jules. Now put some mudguards on.

Maybe next winter ...

Actually, I did buy one of those mudguard things you stuff under the back of the saddle (Ass Saver). Not a proper solution but it does at lest stop the stripe of crap that normally goes up your back.

Maybe next winter ...

It's only rain in winter?

Yup - 9 months of sunshine here in Cheshire .... ahem

Where are you in Cheshire mate? It's where I grew up.

Knutsford. Grew up in Adlington and was up that way (Pott Shrigley, over towards the Goyt valley) on bikes today. Sunny and beautiful. Makes life worth living.

Moved back up 10 years ago after 12 in London.

Heh, I know it well. I'm from Holmes Chapel myself but never cycled much back home. Only really got into it living in France and Germany and then here in the capital.