[AlanS]

I am transforming a road bike to SS for my 'city bound' son of 27. He said he didn't want to hassle with gears, so I had a bunch of stuff lying around.
Questions:
I bought a thingy that hooks on the dropout to take out the slack, as well as an adapter to change to a single cog in the rear. I will use a 42 front ring that I had from an old Shimano crank that still has life to it. The adapter company says that the cog they supply works best with an 8spd chain. BUT, the front ring is probably a 9spd. So, what chain to get? If it is an 8spd front ring, what chain is recommended (inexpensive, but reliable)? If it is a 9spd front ring, what chain do I use? Will the 8 be compatable? Should I just get a new front ring to match the steel 17 they provide?

 

[m_s]

8 speed will work fine. I usually just get the cheapest 8 speed SRAM chain I can find. 850 or 830.

 

[Dave Hickey]

+1....agree.......I use 8 speed Sram or Sram PC1 single speed....both are cheap

 

[OldZaskar]

That setup - the conversion - is NOT intended for a SS chain - which is wider. So as others have mentioned just get an 8 or 9 speed chain.

 

[perttime]

The chain being a little wide for the chainring does not really matter. A too narrow chain wouldn't be good. My SS parts have always been 9 gear sized, except for the first chain that was 8 gear. That cheap chain soon stretched and i replaced it with a Shimano CN-7701 (my standard solution for anything that fits a 9 speed chain).

I've successfully used a gearie chainring on a SS bike, but I had good chain tension and perfect chain line. Singlespeed chainrings with taller teeth can be more troublefree.