Possibly a daft single speed question

[fotofro]

After my rear mech on my work bike let go last week, i have been running a make shift single speed set up with the front shifted into the middle ring, rear derailleur removed and chain shortened around "6th" on my 7 speed freewheel cassette.
Ive been enjoying the simplicity of single speed and now want to make a proper single speed set up by ditching the 3 rings etc up front but my question is; will a single speed freewheel fit straight onto my rearwheel? (normal old cheap 135mm spacing freewheel mount mtb wheel)

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Re:

Screw on type or cassette/freehub type?

 

[fotofro]

Re:

Screw on type

 

[Woz]

Yes, but you will most likely have a battle to get a good chain line - ie. to bring the front chain ring more inboard.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Yeah it's certainly easier to achieve on a cassette / freehub as you can use different spacers to get the chainline.

But that said, you'll probably be fine.

If you struggle, by all means change the triple chainset to a single, but you could simply keep the cassette as-is for the sake of keeping a good chainline. It will weigh a bit more than a "true" SS set-up but you're used to the weight anyway!!

 

[Woz]

Re:

Failing that, have a go at redishing the rear wheel and playing with axle washers. It's all good tinkering.