I have a buddy who's moving to a larger city and wants to build a bike with a flip/flop hub on it. He's enlisted my help. I was just wondering if it's possible to build one or if we'll have to buy. He's working with a low budget so...well...you get the picture.
Flip Flop how-to
- Thread starter sking1973
- Start date
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By a flip-flop hub I'm assuming that you mean a fixed cog on one side and a freewheel on the other.
For this you really only need to replace the hub. My fixie conversion runs a Formula flip-flop hub with sealed bearings an this is a good choice for a budget hub (they run about $35-45 without the cog and lockring). Note that most track hubs DON'T come with the cog and the lockring to attach it, or the freewheel. These can add $15-20 (or more) for the cog/lockring and the same for the freewheel, to the cost.
The other option is to buy a whole wheelset on either ebay, or where I got mine, http://bikeisland.com. If you buy a wheelset, get a TRACK wheelset that has a flip-flop hub, otherwise you'll end up with a set for a geared bike. I got my wheelset, with cog, lockring and freewheel, and tires mounted on them for $149 shipped from bikeisland (they don't have that deal anymore unfortunately). A couple of other things to remember, the hub spacing (width) for track hubs is 120mm, and most have 32 holes, not the 36 holes that is the coaster brake standard. You can find hubs with 36 holes, but they are a little harder to find (Harris Cyclery has them). The hub spacing comes into play if your friend wants to run a flip-flop on a cruiser frame, which are around 110mm. It's not a lot I know, but it can effect the chainline, which is really important on a fixie.
Sorry for being so verbose, but there is a lot to pass on so your friend doesn't get the wrong setup and waste his money.
Hope this helped!
-Mark
For this you really only need to replace the hub. My fixie conversion runs a Formula flip-flop hub with sealed bearings an this is a good choice for a budget hub (they run about $35-45 without the cog and lockring). Note that most track hubs DON'T come with the cog and the lockring to attach it, or the freewheel. These can add $15-20 (or more) for the cog/lockring and the same for the freewheel, to the cost.
The other option is to buy a whole wheelset on either ebay, or where I got mine, http://bikeisland.com. If you buy a wheelset, get a TRACK wheelset that has a flip-flop hub, otherwise you'll end up with a set for a geared bike. I got my wheelset, with cog, lockring and freewheel, and tires mounted on them for $149 shipped from bikeisland (they don't have that deal anymore unfortunately). A couple of other things to remember, the hub spacing (width) for track hubs is 120mm, and most have 32 holes, not the 36 holes that is the coaster brake standard. You can find hubs with 36 holes, but they are a little harder to find (Harris Cyclery has them). The hub spacing comes into play if your friend wants to run a flip-flop on a cruiser frame, which are around 110mm. It's not a lot I know, but it can effect the chainline, which is really important on a fixie.
Sorry for being so verbose, but there is a lot to pass on so your friend doesn't get the wrong setup and waste his money.
Hope this helped!
-Mark
One other thing, make sure that your chainline is straight. If it isn't, you can throw a chain, which is bad on a fixie, since most people who ride them don't run brakes. When you build the bike, if the chain makes noise when you pedal it, add spacers until it doesn't. Also, it won't hurt to have at least a front brake 
(I run one on mine).
(I run one on mine).
