DIY: DISC HUB TO FIXED GEAR

Wouldn't it be nice to have untold millions to spend on fancy, state-of-the art bicycle equipment? Perhaps have a team of researchers build you a bike from that indestructible stuff Wolverine's skeleton is made of? It might, but when you're on a tight budget, you need other ways to solve problems in the workshop. 

I'm the experimenting type, so I always try to come up with alternative applications. The idea of turning a disc brake hub into a fixed wheel I found here, and I had a set of incredibly smooth American Classic hubs that I wanted to convert. The rear hub was no problem: Away with the disc, on with the Velosolo cog, and off I went. Sweet.

The front hub, however, was another matter. The axle diameter is only 9mm, and I couldn't find one that was long enough to fit the 120mm spacing on my track frame and allow the use of axle nuts and proper screw-on spacers. 

What to do? Since the axle needed some spacers on both sides to fill up the frame width, why not use these to reinforce the QR axle? I shortened the QR axle and found a pair of nuts - one that would fit over the protruding part of the axle, and another into which I hammered a smaller nut so it would sit firmly around the QR axle. 

Their widths combined with the two chain tensioners (absolutely essential, as I'll explain below) make a perfect spacing for the frame. 

So now I have a fixed gear rear wheel that not only runs way more silently and smoothly than my Campy Pista and Dura Ace hubs, but is also extremely light. I have tried this setup on three different frames, and I found that on a normal road frame with sloping dropouts, plenty of force on the QR skewer is enough to keep the wheel in place. I suppose the slope of the dropout creates a horizontal resistance that prevents the wheel from slipping forward.

On a track frame, however, it's another matter. The horizontal track ends make it impossible to properly secure the wheel to resist the pull of the chain. The chain tensioners solved this problem for me. I first use the chain tensioners to tighten the chain, then close the QR skewer with a lot of force. A cut off handlebar end serves as a good tool for this. 

If the hollow axle has threads (my American Classic has none), a pair of bolts can be screwed on to serve as spacing. I may build this one into a wheel some day just to see how it works. More about that on a later occasion.

Please note: 

This is purely experimental, and not something that has been verified as safe or approved by anyone. The proper, safe way to do this can be found here. In fact, my friend Niki questioned the safety of this type of setup. If I find a longer 9mm axle, I'll post the result. Tinker at your own risk.