I am looking to turn an old road bike into a single speed and was wondering if there were kits out there that came with everything I would need to do the job? There's a guy in town that gets old bikes, fixes them up and sells them for around 50 bucks. I'll find a road bike that fits me and the project will begin. This will be my commuter to school and back so I don't want to spend a lot of money, just in case I get ripped off. I figure I'll strip off every thing gear wise, keep the brakes, maybe get a new crank and rear cog. That's were I need a kit that has spacers and maybe even directions, that would be great.

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Well, I don't know about the hub you'd be getting, but I built my fixie up from the IRO build kit #1 and it's working like a charm. Good quality parts, easy to install. www.irocycle.com (http://www.irocycle.com) should give you some more info.

Here you go.

http://www.misfitpsycles.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/25?osCsid=fd9e7c4c052c65e49c7dfe652908e656

Check out Sheldon Brown's website for some pretty good instructions.

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html

Thanks for the response. I have Park Tools' home mechanic set, is this something I can do at home?? Turning a geared bike into a SS...or will I have to take this into the shop?

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Whats the difference in set up if I want to be able to coast....instead of peddaling all the time?

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Whats the difference in set up if I want to be able to coast....instead of peddaling all the time?

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If you want to coast it's an hour job at most. Single speed converstions are easy

You need:

1. BMX chainring bolts- these bolts are shorter than your current bolts- about $5-$10
2. Single speed cog- You could use one of the existing cogs from your cassette but the teeth are longer on a single speed cog- $12-$20
3. Spacers for your freehub to replace the cassette cogs your aren't using- $5-$10.

This is assuming the bike has horizontal dropouts. If the bike has verticle dropouts, you will also need a chain tensioner. These run from $20 to $50 depending on who makes it.

Do an ebay search under "single speed conversion" There are many conversion kits that will sell everything you need.

below are the steps needed( this is assuming you don't need a chain tensioner)



1. Remove your chain
2. Remove your shifters and derailleurs
3. Remove the chainring bolts on your crankset
4. Take off the big ring and leave the small ring. Install the shorter chainring bolts
5. Remove the rear wheel.
6. Remove the cassette
7. Install approx 3 spacers, the single speed cog and then the rest of the spacers. lighten the lock ring. You want the cog to line up with little chainring. You might have to play with the spacer/cog combination to get it to line up.
8. Put the rear wheel back on
9. Wrap the chain around the little ring and cog and shorten the chain so you have the proper chain tension.
10. go ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should give you everything you need for 30 bucks. It has spacers, cogs, tensioner and a lockring for a 8-9 speed hub in one kit. Really a pretty good deal. You'll be hooked in no time.

Nashbar Single Speed Kit (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=14063&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Show%20All%20Products)