[ctrapeni]

I broke my rear derailleur cable earlier this week and had to ride home using just one cog on the rear cogset. BTW, don't let your cables break on the 10 speed Shimano shifters, the pieces are a bear to get out!

So, to ride home, I adjusted the limit screw to the 16t cog in the rear and had three gears to choose from. That gear range worked remarkably well!

I have a single speed at home and like riding it, but never ride far since I am not a pedal masher and there are hills in Vermont. My franken-setup gave me a very usable range for both up hills, flats and down hills. I would think that this gear range would be sufficient for most of my basic commuting. Is there anything actually made like this? I know there are 3sp internal hubs, but they don't have the gear range I get with a 30, 44, 52 mated to a 16t. The one big problem is that if I ran an actually single speed rear hub, I would have to add something to adjust chain tension like a dummy rear derailleur. That would eliminate any benefits of the setup. Is there anything that could take up the chain tension with the front derailleur so that there is only one set of hard ware in the chainline?

I don't think I would really do this, but I was surprised with how happy I was with the gear range.

 

[JCavilia]

You might be able to use a spring-loaded chain tensioner like the ones sometimes used on single-speeds
View attachment 280751
But I don't know if they can wrap enough slack for the range of a triple crankset.

BTW, you're wrong about this.

I know there are 3sp internal hubs, but they don't have the gear range I get with a 30, 44, 52 mated to a 16t.

A Shimano 3-speed with 42 and 17 would give you more range -- a slightly higher high, a slightly lower low, and a middle about 10% lower -- than your 3x1.

 

[ctrapeni]

I use one of those for a mtb converted to a single speed. It wouldn't work for this situation since the chain distance would change when the front derailleur changes. Again, the idea of a triple with a singlespeed rear wheel was just a thought and it might not be worth the effort.

 

[cxwrench]

just leave the derailleur on the bike to take up chain slack as you shift in the front. run a derailleur cable from the barrel adjuster to the anchor bolt (about 2") and clamp it so the derailleur is on the cog you want to ride. use the barrel adjuster as normal to fine tune.

 

[looigi]

FWIW: Shimano Nexus and SRAM i-Motion 3 speed hubs have a range of 1.86 compared to your 1.73.

 

[encee1]

You know I'm noob but came here to look for this exact setup. I've seen it on a Torker U-D. I know it had a Shimano device that tensioned as the front switched but it also allowed for switching automatically (not electric) as speeds increased. I loved that set up as I flew off on dead starts and rarely ran out of gear on flats, Was sweet in urban environments.

I'm currently looking to change my 42/12 single gear setup to a 3 gear front. Unfortunately I missed opportunity to get the details of that setup and I'm such a noob I'm starting from scratch. Any way, if someone wants to direct me to correct thread that'd be much appreciated!

If I figure it out I'll post back in here.