3X8 to 1X8 old bike

[megachris]

Yeah, drilling out the spotwelds will free the granny from the middle. At a guess the big ring is held to the middle with that ring of 5 single spots.

Only thing i can think off that might leave you unstuck is that your middle ring is ramped, so it may drop the chain more often/quite easily unless you are very careful with chain length.

So, if I drilled free the granny, left the big ring as a guard (grind down the teeth) and perhaps threw one of those fancier chain guides on the seatpost and I should be good to go. Never drilled spot welds, probably going to make a mess out of

Still trying to find an old Deore crankset but over here in Denmark we have a lot less websites to buy used parts from. No eBay either.

 

[davidj]

Re:

Order a snail chain ring off eBay for £7 delivered, mount in place of the middle ring. It is a thick/thin tooth design to prevent dropping the chain.

I ran one for a year with no noticeable wear on a 1x9.

 

[megachris]

I decided to convert my bike to singlespeed instead of 1x8, very happy with the outcome. Currently set it up at 34x18 which works quite well for my commuting and trails. Almost getting there. Still have to get a new crankset, going to keep looking til I find a Deore set and then I'll replace it with a single 34t. But it's getting there. Thoroughly enjoying being singlespeed, don't think I'll go back to gears.

Order a snail chain ring off eBay for £7 delivered, mount in place of the middle ring. It is a thick/thin tooth design to prevent dropping the chain.

I ran one for a year with no noticeable wear on a 1x9.

Didn't get to respond to your message. I'm definitely going to consider the snail chain rings. Unfortunately the issue was that my old Alivio crankset is welded together and just worn...