[palu]

I was looking into fixing up an old road bike (pun intended). I found the bike (pictured below) but wasn't sure of the rear drop out situation until I got to the place. I was hoping for horiz. drop outs, but that's not the case. But it does have a very slight slant to it. Do you think, with some half-links, it would be possible to do this conversion without an ENO hub?

(Also, I have no idea what kind of a frame it is. Posted in the retro sub-forum in hopes of finding out. If anyone knows, please post. ).

 

[FatTireFred]

choose your gearing wisely

 

[Dave Hickey]

Those dropouts will work fine fixed as long as you choose the correct ring/cog combo... When ever I've tried to run fixed with vertical dropouts the proper tension was a few millimeters...

 

[palu]

Forgot about the magic gear ratio. My current fixed gear (Steamroller) is at 48x18, and looks like 42x16 is about perfect (about the same GI). Thanks for the inputs.

 

[bikes4fun]

Nice frame. If you can't get the chain tension, the White Eno Eccentric hub will take out any chain slack. White makes some nice gear...

 

[palu]

Quick question for those that have used magic gear ratio: Are they pretty dead on? I've measured The chainstay from center to center (16.125") and it's spitting back 42x16. Just don't want to spend the money for those parts to find out it doesn't work.

I will be going with ENO hub in the near future, though.

 

[JCavilia]

Don't know about the accuracy of those calculations, but there's more leeway in chain tension than a lot of people realize.

BTW, it's never "some" half links. You'd never use more than one, since two is the same as one regular link.

 

[waldo425]

You can get am Eno hub or a tensioner for the bike. I would probably just get a couple of half links for the chain. Like Mr. Hickey stated: the tension can be very subtle at times.