Things You'll Need:
- Old bike frame
- Allen key
- Free wheel remover
- Chain tool
- Chain whip
- Crank puller
- Extra cassette spacers
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Step 1
Take off all derailers, shifters, tubing and cables. You can also remove the rear brake if your comfortable having only the front brake for stopping. This is best recommended for fixed gear and not single gear bikes.
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Step 2
Remove rear wheel from bike. This process will work best with a bicycle that has horizontal dropouts, check your dropouts to see if they are vertical or horizontal or somewhere in between. Remove the cassette from the wheel. This is done with a freewheel remover and a chain whip.
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Step 3
Take apart your cassette. Most new cassettes can be popped apart with a screw driver and the plastic spacers can be reused. If you have a solid, older cassette, you can purchase a sprocket and spacers at your local bike store. Reposition the sprocket on the hub so It will line up with middle chain ring of a three-ring or the low ring of a two-ring system. Put the wheel back on the frame.
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Step 4
Remove the crank arm and chain rings. Move the middle chain-ring, or the ring of your choice, to the front position and refasten. You will need to either use shortened bolts or spacers to make up for the loss of the other rings. This will give you one chain ring to one sprocket. While your crank is removed unfasten the chain from the frame. Replace the crank assembly.
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Step 5
Place the chain over the chain ring and around the sprocket. Find a chain length that will allow you to tension it by pulling the wheel firmly back into the horizontal dropouts. Replace the link in the shortened chain and place it around the sprocket pulling back firmly to tension the chain. Tighten the bolts or quick release to fix the wheel in place. The chain should have little vertical play but should run smoothly.
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Step 6
For those with vertical dropouts don’t give up hope. You too can convert to a single-gear. But it may take filing down the axle, finding a less than perfect gear ratio or even filing the welds on the dropouts slightly to get the right tension.
