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Found: Gear Clamp Easily Converts Standard Freehub to Single Speed

Written by Tyler Benedict
18 Comments
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Looking for a simple solution to convert your standard rear hub to a single speed?

Sure, you could use a bunch of spacers at about 40g of weight. Or, you could use the Gear Clamp by Christopher Burdick and cut that by more than half. The pair weigh in at just 18g, but the bigger benefit is that you can precisely position the cog anywhere on the freehub body.

Jump past the break for more details, pricing and photos…

The Gear Clamp is made in the USA and costs $29.95. They’re made to be run with 16 tooth cogs and larger, but Chris says if you want to run a 15T or smaller, you’d simply put one spacer on either side of the cog, then the clamps.

He hasn’t tested them on Campy, but like any good small manufacturer, if there’s enough demand, he can make some for Campagnolo hubs and even make other colors.
Tyler Benedict
11,281 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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18 Comments
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KT
KT
13 years ago

why didn’t anyone think of this before?

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Andy
Andy
13 years ago

That’s such a great idea, I’m pissed off right now.

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Martijn
Martijn
13 years ago

Wont this design cause the cog to eat into the cassette body? because its going to be difficult to put clamping forces on the cog in place like spaces do

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Gillis
Gillis
13 years ago

So for $29.95 I get some hideous looking clamps to hold my cog in place and expose the cassette body making it ever more uglier. OR I can use the lockring I already have and use some cheap spacers and have a smooth looking finish that’s also easy to clean. And with the extra $30 I could buy a few cool anodized spacers to make my ride look a little more trick, and still have money to burn.

sorry if I sound snarky. i just get tired of seeing problem solvers for problems that don’t really exist.

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Dscarbs
Dscarbs
13 years ago

It is definitely unique looking, and looks to be an easy way to get the proper chainline.. However, I just cannot see how that is lighter than my current aluminium spacers from Endless cogs !

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Derek
Derek
13 years ago

The clamp only works for cogs 16 teeth and larger….unless you add spacers, which defeats the weight savings (which is negligible and doesn’t seem realistic anyhow) I agree that the setup going to be a PITA.

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Bataivah
Bataivah
13 years ago

I think it’s nifty for a quik temporary conversion. I would not over torque it though.

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Heath
Heath
13 years ago

I LOVE IT~ It looks to me like it would make setting my chainline perfect and a piece of cake. Imagine if you had a down hill commute, then you could use one gear to get to work (or wherever) and then easily swap gears to ride home. No need for a cassette tool and to mess with getting all of the spacers lined up properly.

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CR
CR
13 years ago

One advantage no-one is mentioning is that it eliminates the need for a lockring. If you use a hub with a Shimano-style lockring and a female axle (Hadley SS, Hope Pro 2 SS, etc.), you might run into problems with some lockring tools not clearing the rather thick internal axle. No lockring = no problem.

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Chris
Chris
13 years ago

Hi guys,

I thought that I might respond to a few of the comments that have been posted.

won’t the cog eat into the cassette body? – After riding the GearClamp for a year (and having sold a bunch of them) I can say that using the GearClamp has resulted in no reported negative results, such as premature freehub wear. We tested the GearClamps pretty hard before starting to sell them. If it works with my 235 pounds jumping up and down on it, chances are it’ll hold up to a pretty severe beating.

Weight – Another “famous maker” spacer and lockring kit weighs over 40 grams. The GearClamp weighs less 18 grams… though if weight isn’t a big deal for you, it’s not a selling point. Aluminum spacers alone may be lighter, but throw in a stainless lockring and that’s where the weight is.

Needing spacers for cogs less than 16 teeth – Yep, you need two spacers to make it work in this application, can’t argue with you there. The next version of the GearClamp will solve that problem… once I can figure out how to make it without losing money.

Tools – swapping a gear with the GearClamps in place requires a 2.5mm allen wrench (though we recommend using a torque wrench) whereas the spacer/lockring method requires a chainwhip/freewheel tool/wrench to change it.

Looks – I think they look kind of slick myself, but then again, I invented them, so I’m a bit biased.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me a line: contact@gearclamp.com

Best,

Christopher Burdick

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Dave
Dave
13 years ago

Not to go off-topic, but you highlighted the problem I have with weight-weenies: rider @ 225 pounds + bike @ 17 + clothes and two water bottles @ 8 = 250 pounds. Weight savings of this product over competitor’s is 22 grams = 0.8 ounces = 0.05 pounds = 2 x 10^(-4) percent of total weight (0.0002 %, or one five-thousandth of one percent). I think it’s a cool idea anyway.

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xxx
xxx
13 years ago

$29.95???
sure hope that allen bolt holds!

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Cburdick
Cburdick
13 years ago

Thanks for the comments.

Sure, it’s not a huge weight savings, however I mention it because some people care about that sort of thing. Glad to hear that you think it’s cool.

As for the bolts holding, I’ve been selling GearClamps for a year now and I have had no issues with the bolts slipping. However we have had people strip out the threads and round out the allen socket, both a result of over tightening.

As for pricing, here’s how the bicycle distribution system works. Working with a $29.95 part:

Dealers want about a 40% discount off retail price for any item they stock, so they pay about $18.00.
QBP (or another bike parts distributor) wants 40% to stock the part, so they pay about $11.00
Therefore, the manufacturer needs to figure out how to make a part for about 20-25% of the retail price to make any profit.

I’m not making millions, believe me. But it’s fun and people seem to really like the GearClamp.

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Jawn
Jawn
13 years ago

Yes, $30 is more than you would pay for a typical kit but they don’t have the ease of use and quick & hassle free changeability. The clamping issue that Martijn mentioned is a non-issue. I too had this fear when I first set it up but quickly realized there was no issue. True its a problem solver for a non-issue for some but there is nothing wrong with improving an already existing product. If this weren’t true, we would all still be riding penny-farthings.

Great job Christopher!

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r1Gel
r1Gel
11 years ago

Saw this just today, and I must say, it’s an awesome idea! Now, how to get it across the pond on the cheap… (I’m in the Philippines).

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Bob Fairlane
Bob Fairlane
11 years ago

Looks ok to me. I like it over the stack of spacers and lockring method. I did that before and didn’t feel it was really secure because the spacers weren’t splined and knurled to match the lockring like a cassette, and I didn’t like the 11t cog on there just for a lockring.

I saw some kind of cog, that had its own 1/4″ thick “spacer” built onto it, which featured the splines and allen bolts. That is the way to go, except for weight weenies. Problem with that might be you would need one each for each cog size. This lets you swap cogs easily enough.

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Bob Fairlane
Bob Fairlane
11 years ago

No wonder bikes cost $1000+ easily, if dealers and distributors are such sharks! That’s crazy! What lazy bums!

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Robert Brown
Robert Brown
6 years ago

This is perfect not for the weight, not for the looks, however for single speeders who may need to change gear mid ride. Where I live I can easily spend half the ride in nasty hills. Then the other half on flatter territory. No chain whip or cassette tool is a big plus. Now I just bring the cogs I need/want and if needed swap! Thank you for inventing this. I literally spent 4 week trying to think of how to make expanding lock spacer. Then bam in comes Chris and his dead simple solution.

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