Show us your bicycle.

+1...exactly my thoughts.

Again...I don't get why people are bent over the singulator. I've seen people try to fabricate other kinds of fixes like converting the dropouts to horizontal w/ bolt-ons...but those end up looking even sillier, and are less functional. The singlulator is absolutely the definition of simplicity and elegance here, giving adequate chain wrap, and versatility when it comes to swapping out the wheel, or changing up the # of teeth.

the initial purpose was to use it as a commuter bike and I think it turned out pretty good. It should be functional, solid and simple -- which it is. I think the singulator is the only option for vertical dropout besides having an eccentric BB.
The plan is that I eventually put on a 10 speed and will post a picture for the chain tensioner haters...
In addition, this is MY project and I did post it here to contribute to the "Show me your bicycle" thread.
BTW, did I mention that it rides really nice...

My bad, you're right - the tensioner gets the job done when there are vertical dropouts and no eccentric bottom bracket. Another option might have been a Phil or White Industries eccentric axle, to get enough adjustability for proper chain tension. Or one could go all Ricky-hacky and file some flats on the axle, to gain some room for adjustment, or even further - shorten the axles and just let the quick-release bolt slide around in the dropout.

Sheldon laid out the basic options pretty well:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html

- Eccentric hub (though I'm not sure how well that'd play with the disc brakes, and it'd be a much more expensive and only marginally more elegant solution than the tensioner).

- Setting chain length very precisely, possibly using half-link.

(I'm not actually disagreeing with you, just listing options without regard to actual practicality.)

To the OP of the bike in question: One suggestion I've heard that makes a lot of sense is to position the tensioner so that its sprocket is on the outside of the chain, pushing up, rather than inside pushing down, as you currently have it. That way the tensioner causes the chain to engage with more rather than fewer teeth on the rear sprocket, extending sprocket life.

Eccentric hub...news to me! Sometimes it pays to assume I'm clueless.

I'd never get one though.

In fact, the tensioner in the pic made too much noise and I changed it to one that pushes the chain up.

Here is a pic of a eccentric BB

ok all you road bike prficient guys out here tell me what i need to know for mounting up a carbon fork.... i can do headsets all day long but do i need to know anything special about a carbon fork, like TQ specs and such? also any specifics for stem types?

This question is better asked in the bicycle thread in Sports

M

My 1980 Mongoose Kos Cruiser.

gotcha... still learning my way around this frickin mansion of info....LOL

Z-Man99, that is a sweet bike!

These are my bikes:

Excuse the bubble wrap, This is my 2007 Specialized Tarmac Pro. First bike I ever built up, second road bike ever. Commuter, road racer, general fun times bike.



And my Surly LHT: Back when I first finished building it up in May 2011, 2nd pic is at the far end of the jetty in Lubec, Maine, USA, looking across the straight to New Brunswick, Canada. True story: I was more than a little misty-eyed when I took the pic of the bike on that jetty. One of my favorite shots ever.



^Looking back at Lake Tahoe, from US-50, CA, USA

^Getting close to home, near the end of my Tour, a few months ago.

Righteous.

I'm eyeballing a cross-check myself.

Nice! Surly makes some amazing frames. I bought the LHT as a frame and fork only, and built the rest with the components I wanted, so I can't testify firsthand about the pre-built bikes they sell, but the frame has been through a lot, and is still in excellent shape. The ride is smooth, and everything about the fit and finish is bang on.

:eek1 I remember those! My first BMX bike was a Mongoose, in that same color. Should probably get that rear innertube stem straightened out.

Great looking bike.

Did you ride one-way? Or, cross-country and back?

Is your tour blogged somewhere?

Absolutely Bitch'n! Glad you still have it (as I still have my late 70's Race Inc).

Kenny

Nice Kos man! I see some Bullseyes, is that an old Goose double clamp stem?

I just can't wrap my head around guys paying ridiculous amounts of cash for 80's BMX stuff and turning it into a "show" bike.

Whatever.

Taking one of these heavy duty Worksman frames I paid $45 for and mocking up a cruiser, maybe black frame and fork, or chrome, or raw and clear powder.





Still have my original 70's JMC from back in the day. Maybe I should make a "show" bike out of it. oser

All this discussion brings back memories of Torker,PK Rippers and such.

One of my other ones, never too old for some BMX shenanigans

Thanks! It served me well, and got compliments all the time from people even while I was on tour! I did 49 US States, working in a kind of sine wave, from home in CA, to Boston, Mass, then carpooled with my bike on a rack from Boston to Reno, NV, and then rode home from there. Facebook.com/ProjectRunaway.

There is a real blog, but I didn't update it very often while I was on the road. I'm writing a book, so wait for that, ha! The hundreds of pictures on the FB page are the best part of that link. Enjoy!

If you've got some time, I'd be interested to know what technical problems you had along the way, if any, and what you did to solve or prevent them.