jwolfe

Found out my current 700c rear wheel cannot be converted to SS. (unless I just get a new hub? Maybe someone can confirm on that)

I prefer a vintage 700c wheel to match (aesthetically) to my front Araya, but it could be new as well.

The wheel doesn't have to currently be SS, it just has to have the ability to be converted to one.

polished/silver finishes only. Not looking to spend a boat load.

Thanks.
Justin

JohnDThompson 

Is the wheel in the picture above the one you were told cannot be converted to single speed?

I don't see anything that would preclude converting that wheel to single speed use. There are at least two options:

1) low budget. Pick a cog on the freewheel/cassette you wish to use and trim the chain to fit around that cog.

N.B. if by chance the hub has metric thread freewheel, this is likely your only reasonable choice.

2) if this is a freewheel (thread-on cluster), remove the current multi-cog freewheel and replace it with a single-cog freewheel such as used for BMX wheels, and trim the chain to fit.

3) if this is a cassette (slide-on cluster), remove the cassette and replace it with single-speed conversion spacers and a cog of your choice, and trim the chain to fit.

jwolfe

Correct. That is the wheel. I too was surprised as I surely thought it could just be converted, but the shop said something along the lines of "the wheel isn't centered enough on the axel therefore there's way too much space on the driver side for spacers/whatever it needs to work." But it does seems like all they need to do is take the 7 speed cassette out, and re-space the hub so its centered between the dropouts.
Thanks for the input.

tiredhands 

Sounds like they don't actually want to do any work!
If you respace the hub, you'll also have to redish the wheel to get the rim alignment centered over the hub. It's not hard, all it takes is a good spoke wrench and some patience.
You might be able to get away with not respacing or redishing your hub, depending on your chainline. I've gotten a straight chainline with a narrow bottom bracket and running the chainring on the inside of the crank. But there's a lot of variables that have to come together to make this work, so you might have to respace/dish after all. Worth a shot if you want to dip a toe in the SS waters. Definitely recommend respacing/dishing if you want to go permanent.

3speedslow

smoothness 

You can find cheap sets of single speed wheels online for under 120.00. That being said, if you just want a rear one, I do have a cartridge hub CR18 silver on silver that I could sell you - you'd just have to be willing to pay for the shipping. Let me know via PM if you're willing.

Bikerider007

You can also find cheap SS bikes on OfferUp if you watch. So many bought fixed/flip flop and did not realize its not easy to ride. And no hill gears. Just get a junker and pull wheels, or keep that one as road. Might need to check axle size or rear spread, though I'm sure its doable.

bwilli88 

First step is to respace the hub in other words make the hub centered on the axle. This involves moving the cones and spacers. I first take off all the spacers and just have the cones and bearings on the axle. Then I alternately loosen the cone on the side that has the longest axle and tighten opposite cone until the axle is centered in the hub then put on the lock nuts and set the bearing play. The next is to put matching spacers on either side of the axle until I have the desired spacing to match the rear spacing of the bike. The next is to redish the wheel. It can be done 2 ways. One is to put the wheel on the bike and using the brake pads as a guide for rim centering to slowly tighten, 1/2 turn, the NDS spokes and loosen, also; 1/2 turn, the DS spokes. I start at the valve holes and go clockwise one revolution and counterclockwise the next. The 2nd way is to loosen all the spokes and retension the wheel centered from the start. Then find a single speed freewheel and have fun.

Iowegian

^That's a good description but when I'm doing this my first step is to setup the front chain ring, then I adjust the rear hub spacing get the chain line right. After that, dish the wheel and you're good to go. Adjusting the front chain ring can be harder than doing the rear and since you will need to re-dish the rear wheel regardless, I get the front setup first, then adjust the rear to match it.

bwilli88 

The thing is that most SS hubs and even those 5, 6, & 7 speed hubs that I have re-spaced to SS give a chain line right around 43 - 45mm from the center of the hub. Centering the rim on the hub and the hub centered on the axle will give the strongest wheel. Most cranksets are spec'ed with a bottom bracket to center them right around 45mm from the center of the frame. I just measured 8 bikes with factory bottom brackets and a single chainring and they all were at 45mm from the center of the frame. I also measured 2 double cranksets and the inner rings were set 45mm from the center of the frame along with the middle ring of the one triple I have, I think I put bottom brackets in the doubles that are a bit too long as they were my builds not factory.