# Left Side Drive Fixie/SS?



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

Before you all ask why allow me to say because I can. Like my dog takes care of himself because he can

I found an old DX Tandem Captain Crankset in a LBS collecting dust and talked them into letting it go for a milk Share and Fries..

I have a frame in the garage and parts etc. 

So I have this idea to build a left side Drive SS.

Can anyone share ideas how one might set up the rear wheel/hub fixed or free? What about BB spindle and chain line?


----------



## Mr.SBC (Dec 18, 2006)

wont work for fixed gear, when you pedal, you will be putting force of the cog in the wrong direction, causing it to loosen, or the other way around... i cant remember. Or when you go to skid stop, you will be loosening the cog, putting lots of force and causing the lockring to strip... BAD IDEA. You could run a tomicog or something like that that bolts to a disc hub and that would work... but it gets expensive. But for SS, the freewheel would spin in the wrong direction.


----------



## jager7 (Sep 29, 2008)

they make left side drive bmx freewheels


----------



## Mr.SBC (Dec 18, 2006)

Yes, But, i believe they all require a LHD freewheel specific bmx hub, which has a smaller thread size than a standard mountain bike screw on freewheel.

ACS LHD freewheel:
Product Features

* Left hand-drive freewheels
* Need special left threaded hub
* 1.37" x 24tpi LH threading


----------



## boomn (Jul 6, 2007)

Do you have a spare disc wheel or hub? Get a Tomicog for a disc hub and you're pretty much set. Nothing else required


----------



## boomn (Jul 6, 2007)

Mr.SBC said:


> wont work for fixed gear, when you pedal, you will be putting force of the cog in the wrong direction, causing it to loosen, or the other way around... i cant remember. Or when you go to skid stop, you will be loosening the cog, putting lots of force and causing the lockring to strip... BAD IDEA. You could run a tomicog or something like that that bolts to a disc hub and that would work... but it gets expensive. But for SS, the freewheel would spin in the wrong direction.


Braking would tighten the cog and pedaling forward would loosen it if there wasn't a lockring to hold it (the opposite of a normal fixie where braking loosens the cog against the lockring). I've never heard of a lockring being destroyed like that under hard braking on a normal fixie, so I don't see why pedaling would stress it so much more and make it so terrible


----------



## Mr.SBC (Dec 18, 2006)

im just commenting on this because i have done it before with a tandem crankset. I noticed the cog would loosen and tighten even when the lockring was properly torqued


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

boomn said:


> Do you have a spare disc wheel or hub? Get a Tomicog for a disc hub and you're pretty much set. Nothing else required


Winner .


----------



## 10speedbiopacefreewheel (Aug 19, 2008)

AZ.MTNS said:


> Winner .


yep.

and as far a FW, bmx is your only hope.


----------



## ruppster (Apr 30, 2008)

Cheap Nashbar frame, drilled cog. Ended up with a Tomicog, my holes enlongated. Broke chainstay on frame.


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

is Spacing limited to 135 rear for the 5 bolt or any disc hub for that matter??


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Velosolo.com , conversion disc hubs .


----------



## veloreality (May 10, 2009)

sorry but may i ask why?
sure there is a way to make it work(tomicog) but im still curious.


----------



## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

I second boomn. The lockring should keep the cog from unscrewing and if it doesn't, locktite will. Just make sure you like the gear ratio first.

I don't know what bike you were going to slap this on, but if it is steel with 130mm spacing, a 135mm hub will be fine, because you will then be using a tomicog, and that must be a good thing.


----------



## serious (Jan 25, 2005)

veloreality: *sorry but may i ask why?*

He said "because he can"  Hardly a good reason, but I have seen worse ways to waste time.


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

@ velosexuality

because my balls sit to the left of my saddle


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

AZ.MTNS said:


> Velosolo.com , conversion disc hubs .


this is why I love this board

thank you what a cool company and a great find. I will spend some money in there

all the best and keep spinning man


----------



## cr45h (Jan 13, 2007)

Here is my left side drive fixie:


----------



## bipolarbear (Mar 29, 2009)

Anyone ever do a dual drive? Tomicog would make this possible too right?


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Ike Turner said:


> this is why I love this board
> 
> thank you what a cool company and a great find. I will spend some money in there
> 
> all the best and keep spinning man


Glad it works for you , want to see what your cooking up . :thumbsup:


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

bipolarbear said:


> Anyone ever do a dual drive? Tomicog would make this possible too right?[/QUOTE\
> 
> Possible ? Yes , two drive side crank arms. Why? seems that other than bling its kind of pointless , unless I'm missing something .


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

people do what they want to do AZ

a good question is why do you care? yours is to ask why our is to ask why not

other than to say so on the internet bro. blog bling yo


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Ike Turner said:


> people do what they want to do AZ
> 
> a good question is why do you care? yours is to ask why our is to ask why not
> 
> other than to say so on the internet bro. blog bling yo


And all these years I was following the misguided thought that going single speed meant keeping it simple , getting rid of the extra parts not neccesary to make the machine function . Who would have thought ? :thumbsup:


----------



## boomn (Jul 6, 2007)

AZ.MTNS said:


> And all these years I was following the misguided thought that going single speed meant keeping it simple , getting rid of the extra parts not neccesary to make the machine function . Who would have thought ? :thumbsup:


That just shows that you have been making *big* assumptions about other people's motives for a long time. Personally I'm in it for the challenge and the connectedness of riding, the simplicity is only a nice small bonus. Keeping my drivetrain finely tuned when I had full gears was never a problem for me and wasn't much of a hassle. I just like riding my SS better


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

AZ I know you care but it is not a moral issue


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Ike Turner said:


> AZ I know you care but it is not a moral issue


Just different philosophy , not baggin on anyone just trying to understand what I view as an over complication . Ride safe everyone . :thumbsup:


----------



## GTscoob (Apr 27, 2009)

bipolarbear said:


> Anyone ever do a dual drive? Tomicog would make this possible too right?


I saw a fixie at a bikeshop in nashville set up with 2 chainrigs, 2 chains, and 2 fixed cogs. Seemed like not enough bling for the increase in rotating mass.

And I've had a few friends who have run their fixies LHD and had no problems with the lockring coming undone. Would I do it? No, especially if I was running brakeless.

If you want to push this concept further, you could get a LHD BMX hub with a 10mm axle and space it out to 135mm but then you'll run into weird chainline/rim dishing challenges. And it would cost a lot of money.

Does the crank only work in LHD orientation? Seems like you could just move it to the other side of the bike.


----------



## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

GTscoob said:


> I saw a fixie at a bikeshop in nashville set up with 2 chainrigs, 2 chains, and 2 fixed cogs. Seemed like not enough bling for the increase in rotating mass.
> 
> And I've had a few friends who have run their fixies LHD and had no problems with the lockring coming undone. Would I do it? No, especially if I was running brakeless.
> 
> ...


When you change a crankarm from one side to the other you have to change the thread on the pedal hole . A Heli-coil is a good way to do this .


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

Why? why ask? Why lower an Impala. Why lift a F350? Why put a Kazoo on the back of your honda civic. Why Chrome out your harley? Why put a sub woofer in your trunk? Why run a 12" chopper fork on your motorcycle? Why a 29er 6 inch DH bike? 

AZ it is like saying why hit on that chick at the end of the bar when you can go home and rub one out?


----------



## TimT (Jan 1, 2004)

You can also use a White Ind. track hub.

Tim


----------



## ruppster (Apr 30, 2008)

AZ.MTNS said:


> When you change a crankarm from one side to the other you have to change the thread on the pedal hole . A Heli-coil is a good way to do this .


Or buy some cheap tandem crankset on Ebay. I think mine was $20-25 shipped, but that was a couple of years ago. The rear wheel is from a cheap bike & the freehub was shot. The frame was a $45 Nashbar clearance item. The fork is a $29 Jenson Zion. The whole build was very inexpensive. 
I did it just because I could.


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

AZ.MTNS said:


> When you change a crankarm from one side to the other you have to change the thread on the pedal hole . A Heli-coil is a good way to do this .


this was answered with a tandem captians crankset as suggested earlier


----------



## Ike Turner (Dec 20, 2006)

TimT said:


> You can also use a White Ind. track hub.
> 
> Tim


Thanks for the info. I never paid attention to White Ind track hubs. So it looks like the splined assembly lessens potential lock ring loosening on the left side...? nice

I had an eno eccentric hub once and I must say that it is one of the finest machined and functioning parts I have ever owned in cycling over 35 years. They make good stuff I am sorry I didn't pay attention to their track hubs


----------



## 2xPneu (Jan 26, 2004)

LeVel also make a fixie hub that'd work in either direction, no problems.

http://www.levelcomponents.com/


----------

