26" BMX build

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Boardtrack fan

Boardtrack fan

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So, my brother-in-law gave me a bunch of free bikes a few weeks ago and I have decided to build one into a 26" BMX bike. I am partial to SE racing stuff since that is what I had as a kid. Here are some of the parts I have collected so far. The handle bars (Redline 24" cruiser) have not arrived yet. I also would like a pair of silver Araya aluminum wheels for it. I have one wheel but, the bearing race in the hub is shot.
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I have a similar frame that I was going to do the same thing with, but the vertical dropouts have had me wondering how easy/hard would it be to tension the chain with a single speed setup?
 
First I am going to try getting the chain just right. If that does not work I may have to run a chain tensioner like the ones found on a rear derailleur. I have seen concentric hubs on fixed/single speed bikes but, that is more than I want to spend. Here is a kit that Nashbar sells.
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Went thru the chain tensioner deal on my own pseudo-BMX build, there are half-links available for some chains which can sometimes get you to perfect tension without a tensioner.
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If you need to go the tensioner route and want to save yourself some headache read this rant on Surly's website. Sage advice, I got one of those deals like on Nashbar from Performance bikes very noisy and had occasional jumping. Ended up finding a Surly singulator on ebay for about the same (no spacers though) which has a push-up mode, and adjustable tension in either direction(need to change a spring for direction).

http://www.surlybikes.com/spew3.html

The Surly Singulator actually works quite well if you use as suggested with a 3/32 chain( single speed version of 3/32 is even better). Here's my setup (36/22), pulled off the cage and replaced jockey wheel with sealed bearing unit, still had the 1/8 chain in this pic, too much slop even though it's an SRAM PC-1 model intended for single-speed use(and noisy). The "push down" mode use of the singulator also introduces alot of slop as the jockey wheel has built-in play and you are pulling it away from the cog. It's now as quiet as a fixie, err except when I stop pedaling

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Looks like it will be a fun build. I run Profile Imperials on my race bikes and they're great.

Here's a thought...if you can weld or know a welder, why not fill in the vertical slots and then machine in horizontal slots? That frame is more than likely 7005 series aluminum so just use 7000 series rod and build it up slow. Use a DA to flatten it out and it will look like it was meant to be.
If you don't have access to a milling machine you could lay out the slots with Dykem or a marker and drill a series of 3/8" holes, and then just finish the rest with a small hand grinder. It's a bit of work but if you can do it you won't have to mess around with chain tensioners.
 
if you wanna really go the rat route i made one out of a hex type wrench (the one that come free when you need to assemble a treadmill or grille) aome washers and an old derailer it works pretty dang well
 
One more gotcha when converting 8/9 freehub to SS, if the freehub body is aluminum, a narrow cog in the back can cause wear to the splines(heck even the last few cogs caused wearing on my MTB Sun Flea freehub (POS that came withthe wheelset)). When I figured out I wanted to gear lower with a 22T, I got the Surly SS sprocket with the wider base, found one used and cheaps on ebay.
 
I have a set of NOS Araya TM-820 rims I got off of e-bay. I will let you have them for what I paid. They are 32 hole, non eyelet, double wall silver ano. $30 plus shipping.
 
Heck yeah it's too high, at 5'6" I'd be pretty much "teabagging" the top-tube, good thing it's padded!!!
 

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