Single Speed Cruiser to Multi Speed

H

Huckthe1

New Member
I have a single speed beach cruiser I purchased out in CA while I was working out there. I am now wondering what is involved in converting the bike to a multi speed. I was just going to add the geared cassete to the rear axle and add a SBP shift kit, but what do I need to change to do this? Change the rear axle?, Crank shaft?, What else? I will be adding caliper brakes to replace coaster brake. Ideas appreciated.
 
Last edited:
You need a new or used back wheel with a multigear freewheel or cassette. You can use one from a 26in mountain bike. If the multigear rear wheel has a skewer, replace it with a nutted axle. The multigeared rear wheel will not have a coaster brake, so add a rear hand brake, like a bmx caliper brake. You need an axle-mounted derraileur and compatible shifter. Modern shifters are indexed. Rear gearset, derailleur and shifter must be compatible for indexed shifting. For friction shifting, the gear/der/shifter are easier to match.
I would just buy an old multispeed bike at a yard sale and transfer the parts to your cruiser.
 
You will need to widen the rear dropout to accept the wider wheel.

It might be easier to install an internal gear hub.
 
Have been debating getting a new bike and moving motor to it. I am thinking cost wise this is going to be my best bet. Labor wise they will be about the same. I will check with my local bike shop and look for a used wheel with cassette. I will still have to buy the derailer, brakes, shifter along with this. I think in the long run I could buy a new bike for much less and add SBP shifter for the savings.

Figured I would throw the question out there to see if i could use what I had and just add the cassette but did not know.

Any idea what a good gear set to look for on a bike? Not a lot of hills here but need something besides a single speed to get up the slopes we have. Any other suggestions accepted with open arms.
 
I dig the internal gear hubs 5-7 mentioned, like the Nexus 7. However, it is tough to fit a rear sprocket to a nexus with a coaster or roller brake hub. A sprocket can be mounted to a Nexus hub that is dsk brake compatible (Alfine?). Sturmey Archer makes some internal gear disk hubs too. If you have friction drive, the rear sprocket isn't required.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top