John Barry wrote:
> I recently acquired a bicycle with a flip-flop hub.
> It is currently set up with a freewheel on one side,
> and nothing on the other. I'd like to take advantage
> of the other side, but it seems that it would not be
> practical to set it up with a fixed gear. I suppose I
> could do it, and use the derailleur essentially as a
> chain tensioner, but it seems that if I were to stop
> pedaling (out of habit from many years of exclusively
> riding freewheels), I could potentially damage the
> derailleur.
>
> Am I correct in presuming that the only suitable
> arrangements would be to use fixed gear on both sides,
> or freewheels on both sides?
If you're going to leave the derailleur as a chain tensioner, you will not want to use a fixed cog at all. You can thread a single freewheel onto the fixed side if you wish, and have two different size single freewheels available. The single freewheel on the fixed side will install over the lockring threads, which you won't need anyway.
--
-John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA