Rear Freewheel how do i take the rear wheel off of my bike?
i have i fixed gear/freewheel bike and right now its on the freewheel side. i wanna switch it to the fixed side but ive never done it my self. can anyone tell me how to take the rear wheel off and switch it?
It's not difficult to do this. The only tool you will need is a wrench for the rear wheel's axle nuts.
1. If you have a rear brake, flip the release lever to provide additional clearance for your tire
2. Loosen the axle bolts on both sides of the rear wheel
3. Now that you have some slack in the change, lift the chain off the chainring in front
4. Slide the wheel backward and out of the drop outs, remove chain from the rear cog so the wheel is completely free of the bike
5. Turn the wheel around and line it up with the drop outs again
6. Put the chain back on the cog before sliding the wheel back into the drop out
7. Slide the wheel all the way into the drop out, and then put the chain back on the front chainring
8. Slide the wheel backward to tension the chain, then tighten the axle nuts again. You don't need the chain super tight--a small amount of bounce is OK, but not so much the chain could ever bounce off your chainring or cog.
9. If you have a rear brake, don't forget to flip the release lever back so it works properly again
The chain tensioning part in step 8 is the trickiest part of the job. A good video talking about that is available at
nano motor electric bike kit: freewheel demonstration
Need help converting a Mountain Bike to a Single/Three Speed!?
I want to run a triple gear crank and a single at the rear hub. Do I buy an 1/8" or 3/32" Freewheel as my rear cog? Do I need to know anything about gear ratios?
Does anyone know anything about the Paul Melvin Chain Tensioner? It seems to be the best option for tensing the chain on this particular setup.
Any help would be great...thx!
Sounds like fun. I'm not sure about the triple up front. I think that you will have some major chainline issues. White Industries makes a "double" freewheel called the "dos" that you can use with a double crank in the front, basically giving you two gear options. The trick with their setup is using the same total number of teeth for each gear ratio. For example, you might have a 38 and a 36T chainring up front with a 17/19T freewheel in the back, giving you a total of 55 teeth for each ratio. The 38/17 would give you a 58 inch "high gear" and a 36/19 would give you a 49 inch "low gear". The advantage is that you could change gears without having to adjust your brakes, since the rear axle would remain in the same place, and you wouldn't have any chainline issues either. This setup is highly advantageous on a bike with track ends (read horizontaly slotted dropouts). I'm assuming that you are converting a regular "vertical dropout" MTB to SS, so this doesn't apply as much to your situation. If you are using a dedicated single speed MTB hub (not a standard MTB hub with spacers) I'd recommend getting a White Industries "Dos" freewheel and using a double up front. You might be able to get away with running the chain from the inside chainring to the outside freewheel cog (or vice versa) to give you a wider selection of gears, but be warned that it may not work because of chainline issues, although chainline with SS freewheel isn't as critical as it is with a SS fixed setup. Regular MTB stuff is 3/32, so that's what you're going to want to run. I have a buddy who uses a double 3/32 fixed cog with a 3/32 double up front and a 1/8 chain and he says it works just fine. His theory is that the larger chain allows a little "wiggle room" for chainline issues. Another thing you could do is use a regular MTB cassette wheel with 2 cogs and spacers to achieve the same thing you would get with the White Industries "Dos". Of course, you could always do a free/free flip flop hub, and run two freewheels. The possibilites are endless. Again, I don't think that the triple up front is going to work out for you. It's just too much chainline variation, and I'd also be worried about chain wrap. Regarding Paul's Components, I've never used any of his stuff (pricey!) but I have friends who have, and they love it. E-mail me, or post another question with a little more info regarding your frame, rear wheel, brakes, etc., and we'd be happy to help you out some more.
Rusty
EDIT- I don't think this guy is trying to use a front derailleur with this setup, and I don't think that he's trying to use a three speed hub either. A two up front, two in the rear setup isn't stupid, and neither is a flip-flop rear hub. If it wasn't for the flip-flop rear hub, Tulio Campagnolo wouldn't have invented the quick release. Now obviously a three up front, one in the rear wouldn't work, but at least this guy's "creative". Don't be closed minded.
