Single speed bike to hard to pedal?

[mapbike]

My karaoke bike is a pain to pedal first taking off, all I need is enough speed to pop the clutch and start engine, below is a link to my solution and I thought I would share here so anyone else that is interested in lower gearing for the pedals could see that there is an option that will make pedaling a single speed beach cruiser type bike much easier.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chainring-S...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item564eafd78c

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Cha...-FIXIE-BIKE-/370687343238?hash=item564eaffa86

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Cha..._Chainrings_BMX_Sprockets&hash=item3a7b9fe1c2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Cha...-FIXIE-BIKE-/251182178175?hash=item3a7b9fdf7f

Peace, Map

 

[Nashville Kat]

Here's mine for a build I still haven't started-

I think it's a 25 tooth- with a 17 on the back I had already
It's almost too light, but will work fine with a motor and really drops the weight off of a steel one piece crank to, especially when you add the weight loss of all those chain links-

a 14 on the back would be even better then- give just a bit larger gear, and cut out another full link (link and 1/2 actually on the chain- down from 17 to 14}

I think they make 14 freewheel- 16 for sure

 

[mapbike]

Here's mine for a build I still haven't started-

I think it's a 25 tooth- with a 17 on the back I had already
It's almost too light, but will work fine with a motor and really drops the weight off of a steel one piece crank to, especially when you add the weight loss of all those chain links-

a 14 on the back would be even better then- give just a bit larger gear, and cut out another full link (link and 1/2 actually on the chain- down from 17 to 14}

I think they make 14 freewheel- 16 for sure

That looks good to me, I figured someone had to have done this by now, I have had it planned for a good while myself, I ordered the 24T steel sprocket a while back, gonna clean it good and spray it black and it will go on the Karaoke Huffy, I put a 36T on it right after I got the bike but I wont it easier to pedal still.

nice looking bike there NKat

 

[bigbutterbean]

I've been looking for a smaller pedal gear as well, but I've got one of those extra wide cranks with a hexagonal hole on the pedal gear. Not sure where to find a smaller pedal gear with a hexagonal hole.

 

[curtisfox]

mapbike thanks for posting in the general section got me here. And for the links to the sprockets.
There are some guys that have used smaller sprockets throughout the forum in the past.

Also not that the smaller older bikes 12"16"and 20" have smaller sprockest that might fit if they have the proper crankset,might even find a 20" with the right size for the hexagonal hole............Curt

 

[bairdco]

If your bike is that hard to pedal you might want to do some cardio, or ride a bike without a motor for exercise...

 

[KCvale]

Most coaster brake beach cruiser have an 18T rear sprocket, you can put a 19T on in a heartbeat as it is only held on my a retaining ring for like $5 and you'll be good ;-}

 

[mapbike]

If your bike is that hard to pedal you might want to do some cardio, or ride a bike without a motor for exercise...

HEY.......! I'm not that bad off yet, yes, a little banged up here and there, but I can still hang when I need to..., but lets face the facts here, 99.9% of us put the engines on our bikes #1 for fun and so we only have to do a very minimal amount of pedaling, mainly just enough to get our engines busted off and then those pedals magically transform into excellent offset foot pegs right before our eyes......LOL!

For me it's not that it's so hard to pedal that it strains me or tires me out while I'm getting a little speed to pop my bike off and motor on down the road, I just want my Huffy cruiser to be a little more pedal friendly when taking off on the inclines at stop lights and on the rough hilly dirt roads I do a lot of my riding on, two of my bikes are multi speed bikes so I just keep them in a low gear and that makes them easy to get moving, just wanting to make my single speed bike a little quicker out of the hole with a little less effort involved to get it rolling.

One of my thoughts for this thread on the smaller crank sprocket was to let anyone that may possibly have any knee issues know that if they have a single speed and it's a bit hard on them or they want a single speed type bike but haven't put one together because of the knee strain involved in getting these bikes moving, there is an option that might help them out.

I'm sure I was and am just beating a dead horse with this thread, but no harm in bringing an old helpful topic back into the light of day ever now and then right...?

DANG-IT...! all of that took more effort than it takes to get that Huffy moving....!

Happy safe riding all, keep the rubber side down.
Map

 

[mapbike]

I've been looking for a smaller pedal gear as well, but I've got one of those extra wide cranks with a hexagonal hole on the pedal gear. Not sure where to find a smaller pedal gear with a hexagonal hole.

This might help you with the Hexagonal hole sprocket you speak of, I guess a person would need to call these people and see if just one sprocket could be purchased, here is a link below to the web site, look at 28t Hexagonal Holed Sprocket in second row, looks that it may be a winner for your bike.

http://www.bicyclepartswholesale.com.au/contents/en-us/d156_bicycle_chainwheels.html

Map

 

[d_gizzle]

Hey bbb,28 tooth hexagonal hole? I might have more,if anyones interested. I know I have small regular chainrings.

And 15 44 tooth bmx chainrings. They're too small for me.

 

[allen standley]

And on another train of thought- I've swapped pedal side wheel sprockets and Pedal Crank sprockets for diff tooth #s In an effort to rid myself of the motor chain tensioner. As an example on the walmart beach cruisers I've found that a 19 tooth wheel sprocket in combo with a 44 tooth Crank sprocket allows you to tighten both chains with the engine side (#41 chain) nicely equal. Your results may vary.

 

[allen standley]

I must add; mock install the motor / find where both chains are happy starting with pedal chain side. Keep connecting links (and of course masters) on hand for both chains. Also; a helpful method when frame has drop outs and your using a coaster brake single speed wheel. Once again your results may vary. Be patient, This is the 1ST thing I do before anything else. I've never thrown a chain in over 10 builds using this method and none of my builds use a chain tensioner.

 

[allen standley]

If your bike is that hard to pedal you might want to do some cardio, or ride a bike without a motor for exercise...

AHhh. Wise Guy Eyh.