2-Speed

[South Bound]

As part of my ongoing plan to sneak the Kona back off road (no sweetie, it is just my commuter, but it saves having a car so is worth spending a little bit to keep it running!), I was thinking about running a 2-chainring set-up. Plan was to keep the tensioner tight for big ring and hopefully still have useful tension for a no-mech shift to middle ring. Very useful for getting to the routes I ride which are a couple of miles from home.

I expect issues with chainline, but don't ride too hard.

Anyone tried it?

 

[orange71]

yes - but a single wheel tensioner won't work with the jump from big to middle ring. I use a Rohloff 2 wheel tensioner and it works a treat. You can also try Paul's Melvin.

 

[South Bound]

Want a better gear for pedaling to the trail? Run two chain rings up front and a 1mm spacer between two Kick-Ass-Cogs in the back for two perfect parallel single speeds! To minimize readjustment concerns, simply have the sum of each gear combo equal the other. For instance 36/15 and 32/19 (36+15=51, 32+19=51) are a great pair for pedaling from downtown Asheville to go ride Pisgah.

Just found this on another thread, ignore me folks, thanks!

 

[orange71]

so 2 up front and 2 at the back. Yes that'd work but possibly fiddly to change gear? With my set up I can kick down to lower gear with a deft swish of my foot! A brief stop and hook up onto bigger ring works in the other direction.

 

[Max P]

Keep it simple - SS or geared. Anything else is too faffy!

 

[Andy R]

Keep it simple - SS or geared. Anything else is too faffy!

Yeah - agree with this completely . If you have to only ride a couple of miles to your trails then using something like 32:18 is no problem.
Just spin along and it gets you warmed up nicely....actually, I don't really think of it as "putting up" with low gearing on the road - I rather like it.