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Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 15 May 2019 07:36
by Hels147
Ok, so I’m not too sure about whether I'm going to do any more track racing atm, so I have a bike currently sitting around doing nothing that I’d like to be able to use for commuting.

I’m assuming I can easily fit a front brake coz the fork already has a hole in, but what else? Am I best going for a single speed, rather than keeping it fixed as I’ll be commuting on it?

Any thoughts, advice, tips greatly appreciated.

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 15 May 2019 14:14
by petemarshall
Single speed. If you have a flip flop hub, that is it has a screw thread on both sides you can have a freewheel on one side and a fixed sproket on the other. If not you will have to replace the sproket with a thread on freewheel. Pick the ratio carefully. Better to spin out downhill than to run out of legs going up 😀
A freewheel obviously works only with a rear brake. If you can't fit a rear brake it will only be legal as a fixed with front brake.

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 20 May 2019 12:42
by Si_Walker
I use a single speed with a freewheel hub. Myself, I'm not happy using it as fixed in the traffic, although the wheel has a flip flop hub. The advice on choosing the correct size sprocket is important though and you need to consider the gradient of hills you are likely to encounter in that decision.

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 28 May 2019 17:04
by Fenella
My fixed wheel bike had a double-sided fixed wheel hub because I used to use it for Audaxes (had a gear for fresh legs and a gear for dead legs).

Now I've put a freewheel on one side so that it's easier for commuting (scooting up long queues of traffic with one foot on the kerb).
I found that I had to drop the gearing by about 3 inches on the freewheel compared to the fixed wheel as the freewheel seems harder to ride uphill.

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 03 Jun 2019 15:03
by JessRJ
Hi Helen - you will need brakes front and rear if going single speed - does it have a rear brake hole as well? Something like a 48t front / 18t rear would be good for commuting - that's a 72 inch gear :)

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 05 Jun 2019 16:14
by Hels147
JessRJ wrote:
03 Jun 2019 15:03
Hi Helen - you will need brakes front and rear if going single speed - does it have a rear brake hole as well? Something like a 48t front / 18t rear would be good for commuting - that's a 72 inch gear :)
Hi. Not sure. TBH, I’ve parked this idea at the moment. I’m too depressed about my summer bike and waiting to hear back from from the insurance company about it... I may need to sell the track bike to help fund a new summer bike! *...)

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 06 Jun 2019 07:30
by JessRJ
Oh no! What happened to your summer bike?

Re: Track bike to commuter.....

Posted: 12 Jun 2019 15:13
by Hels147
JessRJ wrote:
06 Jun 2019 07:30
Oh no! What happened to your summer bike?
I’ve managed to bend the rear dropout. *...)