Kuwahara Singlespeed

[Swelo]

A couple of months ago, I picked up this cellar-rescue, a 1992 (?) Kuwahara M4.5 Savage. Frame, fork, and headset are Tange. (Any ideas what Tange CBT Custom Balanced Tube means?)



The selling point was the horizontal dropouts, as I’ve had a hankering to build up a singlespeed ATB.

Unfortunately, the wheels turned put to be beyond saving (rusted nipples and bad dings in both). But I found an otherwise trashed donor bike with nice Araya rims, so I was back on track. Only this set has a freewheel, so the nice spacers and cog I purchased were for nought. But the chain lands on the 16 tooth sprocket, which, paired with a 38 tooth chainring, was my planned gear ratio all along. Of course, now I’m thinking of adding a 36 tooth chainring to the inside of the spider—assuming it lines up with the next cog (18 teeth), I’d have an easy dinglespeed setup.

I also harvested a nice Deore II crankset from the donor. Pedals are Ergon platforms found on clearance, and the Brooks C17 was used and inexpensive.

I opted to keep the original brakes, and I have found the STI shifter platforms perfect for discretely mounting a light. I’m planning on mounting a bell on the other platform.

I kept the Nobby Nic as a front tire and added a fresh Smart Sam in the rear. Not an inspiring combo on smooth pavement, but great on field and forest paths. With 57 mm tires at maybe 30 psi, the ride is quite plush, and the frame geometry feels good, too.

 

[Y282]

Great looking bike.

If that's an old screw on freewheel you can take the cogs off and space the one you want inline for a good chain line. Cleans up the back nicely

 

[novocaine]

Great looking bike.

If that's an old screw on freewheel you can take the cogs off and space the one you want inline for a good chain line. Cleans up the back nicely

And if it isn't, just use spacers on the freebody.

 

[Swelo]

Yes, it’s a screw-on freewheel. The original wheel set had a free hub, but the rims and spoke nipples were shot.

I was hoping to do remove the extra cogs from the freewheel, but despite a good go at it with two chain whips, no joy. I’ll give it another go at some point. For now, I’m not bothered by the extra cogs—and if I were to add an inner chainring, I’d have an easy dinglespeed.

 

[Y282]

Ive found the best way to split a freewheel like this is to put it on some really solid wood such as a plank you can stand on and screw a good few screws into the wood, inbetween the teeth on the biggest cog, so it can’t move. You can then tap the lockring or cog round to undo it.