29 Genesis Onyx into single speed freewheel with no coaster brake ?

[Helluva]

I have a 29 Genesis Onyx Cruiser bike that has a coaster brake hub. I want the coaster brake gone, and I want a single speed freewheel .

Can some one give me a straight forward and detailed "HOW TO" with this process. Links to places to purchase parts that I need are much appreciated.

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Do you want to convert your hub to freewheel or do you want to relace your wheel?
What is the brand of your hub?
Like luke said i'd try another hub like a bmx hub but i think its probably a 48 hole rim.

Frank

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Plenty of 48 spoke bmx freewheel hubs out there, as far as I know there is no reliable way to modify a coaster brake hub into a freewheel hub, your best bet is probably just to lace in a replacement hub from a bmx, there are good tutorials on here and on YouTube that make it pretty easy.

Something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quando-Larg...-/231318776319?pt=US_Hubs&hash=item35dbac69ff

You need to measure how wide the distance is between your dropouts and make sure the new one will fit, also try and make sure the spoke hole diameter on the hubs is close to similar, you can take up some difference but there is a limit.

If all that is too hard to understand, just say, I am sure someone on here with one of these bikes can get the measurements for you and work out which hub would work.

Luke.

 

[Helluva]

the brand of the hub is whatever comes with 29 Genesis Onyx Cruiser bike out of the box... i'm w a a a y new to all this so, however I am a fast learn once I get the lowdown but yeah it's a firsty.. seems like back in grade shcool alot of kids were popping them over on there schwinns coasterbrakers with ease before kits and conversions heh shoulda payed mo attention

 

[Helluva]

yeah what you said buddy - "I am sure someone on here with one of these bikes can get the measurements for you and work out which hub would work."


heh thats what I was kinda hoping for that would be much appriciated

 

[Frankie plekhand]

I'm with Luke on this...
I also have tried to convert coaster hubs to freewheel and i always had problems after the conversion so i'd go with a hub change..
The hub they're using is probably not the best to start with anyway, but if you want to know the brand its ussually stamped on the brake arm. Its most likely a hi-stop or a falcon or something like that...

As far as braking goes, what kinda brakes will you put on your bike?

Frank

 

[Helluva]

Well I'm going to swap out the whole front end with triple tree set up and with disk calliper mount on tube fork and then mount up a disk brake on frond
Helluva

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Well I'm going to swap out the whole front end with triple tree set up and with disk calliper mount on tube fork and then mount up a disk brake on frond
Helluva

Ok so thats a decent transformation
But as far as your hub goes..
Youre better of swapping it...

This is a shimano coasterhub and i think you also have this type of hub and its not possible to convert them to freewheel

Frank

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Oh yeah the distance between you dropouts should be about 4 1/2 inch or 4 3/8 for a coasterbrake

Frank

 

[Bicycle808]

There are threaded drivers out there to convert a cb to a freewheel. However, the HiStop on the Genesis Onyx does not have the old-shcool aftermarket support for such a thing. While it's possible that one of the early 80s threaded drivers would fit the HiStop (which is essentially a Shimano clone, which in turn is a bit of a Bendix knock-off), it seems unlikely and totally not worth the eBay prices you'd have to pay for such an experiment.

Whatever; even if you're planning to add a disc up front, i think you'll want a rear brake. In this context, i see the obviation of the coaster brake as a downgrade.... or else you'll need to spend more time/effort coming up with a suitable rim brake for the back. And i think the Onyx has powdercoated rims anyway, so.....

I mostly chimed in on this thread to hi-jack it and to ask Frankie if he's ever tried to screw an English-threaded freewheel onto a Velosteel hub.... I have a Velosteel with a threaded driver and put on a freewheel with no problems, but i have yet to run it long-term. Frankie Plekhand, have you tried this? If so, what went wrong?

 

[Frankie plekhand]

There are threaded drivers out there to convert a cb to a freewheel. However, the HiStop on the Genesis Onyx does not have the old-shcool aftermarket support for such a thing. While it's possible that one of the early 80s threaded drivers would fit the HiStop (which is essentially a Shimano clone, which in turn is a bit of a Bendix knock-off), it seems unlikely and totally not worth the eBay prices you'd have to pay for such an experiment.

Whatever; even if you're planning to add a disc up front, i think you'll want a rear brake. In this context, i see the obviation of the coaster brake as a downgrade.... or else you'll need to spend more time/effort coming up with a suitable rim brake for the back. And i think the Onyx has powdercoated rims anyway, so.....

I mostly chimed in on this thread to hi-jack it and to ask Frankie if he's ever tried to screw an English-threaded freewheel onto a Velosteel hub.... I have a Velosteel with a threaded driver and put on a freewheel with no problems, but i have yet to run it long-term. Frankie Plekhand, have you tried this? If so, what went wrong?

I have never tried it with a threaded driver but i tried running it without the brakeshoe in a velosteel and a histop/shimano and a sachs and they run good but if you pedal backwards and then forward again you have to pedal like 3 or 4 times before it grabs again and thats pretty annoying... i tried with tighter springs and i tried with different greases and oils until i got angry so i gave up but if you keep al the internals and you use a threaded driver it should work perfect i think because coasterbrakes hardly ever break down if they're not worn out

Its easier to just relace the wheel with a different hub if you can lace wheels..

Frank

 

[Bicycle808]

I'm about to lace a Velosteel into a rim-brake compatible rim, so i can run it as a poor-man's freecoaster hub. But, yeah, i agree that the easier move for most modern coasterbrakes is to relace the wheel around a freewheel hub. Personally, I like having front and rear brakes, but if I'm just going to have one, i'll take the rear over the front. No fun flying over the bars. An exception is a fixed gear bike, as those work nicely with some legwork and a front brake....

But, yeah, I've read a bunch of online recipes for taking the brake shoes out of coaster hubs to make them into freecoasters. It seems like this will invariably lead to engagement problems, inadvertant lock-ups, and premature failure of the hub....

 

[Sinner4]

Just install a new 29er rear wheel. If you can do it, swap hubs with your old rim and go. That's if you can rebuild the wheel with different length spokes. I didn't do a 29er but I converted a huffy cranbrook to a single speed freewheel. Just swapped rear wheels and added hand brakes.

 

[Sinner4]

Found it, Junk Build

 

[onyxaxe]

If your 29er beach cruiser is anything like mine the rear dropouts are 120mm wide. Any standard flip flop fixed gear wheelset will fit fine. You'll need new wheels, tires, tubes and a chain. The stock crank should be fine as long as the spacing isn't too far off. Freewheel the spacing is less important tan the fixed gear side.

The only downside to this is most fixie wheels are made with skinny road tires in mind. Sun CR-18 wheelsets are wider, black and come in fixed/freewheel setups. You might wanna start there if you choose this route.

 

[LowAndStretched]

very late entry on this sorry - Velocity Chukkers come in 700c 48 spoke too.... Beefy bike polo rims...