Dirt Jumper gears

[Fladdem]

Last year, I bought a 2008 P2 frame with DJ3 forks and built her up into a neat little DJ bike. However it gets used for hooning round town, I practise a bit of trials on it, nothing major, due to the single-speed, and even light XC work, just love the frame geometry compared to a proper XC bike combined with my 410mm long seat post, nearly tall enough to sit on.

Now, I'm currently running 34/16, but not properly converted to single speed, it's a 7 speed cassette with a 7 speed chain around on the best gear for the straightest chain-line possible. I was wondering if I could convert to a 1X8 set-up easily.

I know it's doable but whether it is feasible or not I don't know.

Or convert properly to SS, I have spacers, an 18 tooth sprocket and a brand new chain, I just need to hunt down a 34 tooth front with the same pattern, I like running the bash-guard for the trials-y type stuff I do, I catch the guard a lot so it has saved my sprocket a few times.

If I went to gears, I would probably use road bike gears and paraphernalia, because generally there are shorter cages with road bikes and closer ratios, for getting the launches at the 4X track .

Would the derailleurs hold up OK to abuse? I chew threw them like nobodies business, I don't if it is that old saying, buy cheap, buy twice, or whether I could trash an expensive one just as well. which if that is the case, I may as well buy cheap?

Thanks, Adam
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Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[KLR600]

Assuming your dropouts have a mech hanger then there'd be no problem actually fitting gears, the question really is do you really want gears and then what gears to fit which is up to you really. I'm running an old Shimano 105 short cage rear mech on my DH bike which is fine and does what it's supposed to. No reason why you should prematurely kill a derailleur if it's adjusted properly short of smashing it into a rock or something.

Personally I wouldn't bother with gears. I've had jump bikes (started with 14" frames but my current one and the one before this was a 12" frame!) for years and I've used them in the same way you do with a long seat post. Commuting, BMX/4X/pump tracks, dirt jumps, light DH/XC, street riding etc etc. The only thing I don't ride is trials. My preferred gearing on 26" wheels is 36/16 although after a few years of commuting to the same job in Manchester I'd of liked to go down to a 14 on the rear if I'd been using it just for commuting. My current gear ratio is a bit pants and feels far too easy to pedal out (28/13) but it's all brand new so I will replace it with a different ratio when it wears out.

If you're really keen on trials it might be worth looking at getting a trials specific bike. I had a 20" Onza T-Pro for a few years that was great fun to hop about on. The trouble was with the single trials ratio gear it was useless for actually riding to any trials spots (but ace when you got there) so you always had to drive or take the train. I bet you could pick up a used one for between £100-£150 with hydro brakes.

Here's one.

Here's another one.

You could probably convert your bike to SS and buy a used trials bike for the same price that you could convert your current bike to gears.
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Now: '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100R - Past: '84 Yamaha DT125, '89 Kawasaki KLR600, '97 Yamaha XJ600N
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[stinkwheel]

Gears are for poofs. Ride single-speed or fuck-off.

All my bikes are single speed. It's not about having lots of gears. It's about having the correct gear.

My road bike is running 46/17 on 27" wheels. My MTB is running 22/20 on 29" wheels. My fuck you I'll ride single speed if I want, even up the steep hill to the pie-shop bike is running 32/16 on a 28" wheel.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Fladdem]

I've got a couple of single speeds. My errands bike, 1958 Raleigh, just gets left alone, the three speed works, I just don't use it, my fixed gear bike, my 26er rigid DiamondBack is single speed, and this Specialized P2 is. The other bikes are geared.

I was hoping KLR would pitch in, I know you ride a lot of DJ bikes, in fact you gave me some good advice when I was building her up.

So, are you suggesting I properly convert to single speed? Go the whole hog and take the cassette off and replace with my spacers? DO you use any sort of device to tighten the chain? I have chain tugs, like on a motorbike, but they seem a bit rubbish really, could be because they were cheap tat. I was thinking maybe get a chain tensioner as well?

Like this?
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QTlpqYX4QS4/T37tuq42HzI/AAAAAAAAABw/NkXRDGiDFm4/s1600/SS-tensioner.jpg

I may look into a proper trials bike as well. If I did get one I'd build it up, much more satisfying. I find working on bikes just as enjoyable as riding them.
____________________
Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[KLR600]

[Fladdem]

How do I remove my cassette? I have a lock ring remover, but It was done up by a huge guy at the bike shop with a pair of handlebars on the end of the tool. I don't want to take it back, out of principle, not going to go into it, but I don't really have the stuff at home to do it. Now I'm blathering, I may as well just take it back and just see if they're more helpful now, have heard about a new manager, but could be rumours. What am I saying?

So plan is: new chain-tugs, old ones are cheap and nasty and bust. Give the wheel to the LBS, play with spacers, get the line, give the wheel back to LBS to tighten up again.

[haroman666]

[KLR600]

[Fladdem]

I almost always try to perform all the work on my own bike. That was just another reason I don't like going to the bike shop. I told him I couldn't get it tight enough, it kept coming loose, so he just bollocked it up tight.

Any recommendations on a chain-whip? It was next on my bike tools list anyway. I tried using an old chain wrapped around the seventh gear and then cable-tied to the rim with about ten cable ties, I snapped the first two and stretched the rest.

I reckon it should be an easy enough job. I can build a wheel, sort of, so I can sure as hell put some spacers on a freewheel, and my spacers a re loads of skinny ones, so should help getting the line spot-on.

I've never owned a brand new anything, I really want to get a new XC bike, a proper one, something that no one else has molested before me, but having always been low on money, could never afford brand new. Even this bike was built out of spares in the garage, cost me about £150 in total, but mostly on bearings and a new back wheel after I folded the XC wheel in half after over-shooting my first jump and landing about 4 feet in the air onto my back wheel at a funny angle.
____________________
Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[el_oso]

I'm fairly sure that the lock ring on the cassette is 'self tightening'. Just putting pressure on the pedals will tighten it up.

I've had more sucess by putting the tool in a big metal vice and turning the wheel.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[KLR600]

I'd imagine a chain whip is a chain whip is a chain whip really. I suppose if you wanted to go a bit flashy then you could get a Park Tools one. Once you've got this overtightened cassette off then you would be fine with a cheap one when the lock ring is tightened properly and not by a monkey.

Brand new bikes are really great, I've had a few in my time. I think if I knew I was going to keep a bike for a really long time and I had some money to spend I'd probably go brand new (like with my new jump bike). Second hand stuff is just so cheap though that it's hard to stay away! It seems anything mountain bike related just has no value once it's been used. I've picked up loads of used parts that looked new but were a tenth of the new price. It also helps if you know what was good a few years before as some of the older stuff is still good for most uses.

I used to see a lot of guys on the XC trails with these amazing multi thousand pound bikes and all the latest tech clothing etc and they'd quite often be rubbish riders. It's the same with motorbikes though, plenty of guys out out there on S1000RR's that would struggle to take a Honda CB500 anywhere near it's limits. It doesn't stop me being jealous though
____________________
Now: '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100R - Past: '84 Yamaha DT125, '89 Kawasaki KLR600, '97 Yamaha XJ600N
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[haroman666]

[el_oso]

I know old/cheap bikes use a freehub that screws onto the wheel.

Just thought cassettes did the same. I've just never had one come loose even when I've forgot to tighten them properly and just used my fingers. If that's not the case then, surely coasting is likely to untighten it.
____________________
Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[Fladdem]

I CAN'T DO IT!!!

I have left some diesel soaking into the threads, possibly, at the moment, whether it will make it in I don't know. I cannot apply any more torque, the chain whip feels flexy, I only have a twelve inch adjustable, and nothing bigger with a clean enough jaw to avoid rounding my tool off.

How can I help loosen this lock-ring off?
____________________
Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[Fladdem]

DID IT!

I enlisted dad on leaning duty, we couldn't do it.

To the shed of stuff!

Found some old bar that fits snugly over the ends of the tools, he had 18 stone leaning on the spanner with a 12inchish bar hanging off the end, I was leaning 13 on the chain whip with another foot long-ish bar hanging off the end, we bounced it twice, swore a bit, then the crack noise when it breaks loose... the best!

Now to find my spacers and chain and have a play.
____________________
Current:1991 Honda MT50 (Soon to be a H100/MTX/MT5 hybrid), 1976 Honda Cub C70, 2005 Honda Varadero 125, 1993 Yamaha TTR250 Open Enduro , 2010 Road Legal Stomp YX140, 1994 Honda CRM 250 MK III, 1999 Cagiva Mito 125, 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four, Stomp T4 230, 1984 Honda H100s, 2009 Sym XS125K
Past:2003 Aprilia RS125, 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550(FREE BIKE!)
I'm having more fun than a well-oiled midget.

[KLR600]

It does sound like it was overtightened just a tad too much then
____________________
Now: '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100R - Past: '84 Yamaha DT125, '89 Kawasaki KLR600, '97 Yamaha XJ600N
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