briderdt

"I bought this conversion kit as part of an "on the cheap" bike build for a single speed off-road rig that I could ride on the trails here at work through the winter. I caught it on a particularly good sale, as it usually runs about $29-35, but even at that price, I think it's a great product. I was salvaging my old 7-speed wheels from my long-dusty MTB, and was a bit nervous about the kit not working on the freehub body. No problem -- it installed flawlessly. The kit contains the chain tensioner (which replaces the rear derailleur), three cogs (16, 18, and 20T), and enough spacers of two different thicknesses to get the chain line right on about any bike. The only buggaboo I found was that the cogs don't tolerate partial chain wrap (it'll skip), so the chain needs to be ALMOST tight in order to alleviate this. The tensioner really just allows you to use a single cog on a bike without horizontal dropouts. Once I got the chain length right, the system has run perfectly. There is a little bit of buzz-hum at the rear end, and that is characteristic of SS and track cogs, as the teeth are deeper. If you've ridden a track bike, this is a familiar sound. I've ridden this set-up for about a month now, and have never had a problem with it. High-tension hills, rough stuff, sand, it just keeps rolling along. And it gives the bike a very clean look (no shifters, front or rear derailleur)."briderdt