Hi all,
A friend of mine has recently bought a fixed/fixed wheel on the advice she could run a freewheel on the fixed side.
The LBS advised against this, saying this setup could strip the hub.
Can I get some more information to give to her about running a freewheel on a fixed (shorter) thread? Thanks alot guys…
Adam.
bullshit. You can put a freewheel on a fixed hub no problem. Well, I’ve never had any trouble doing that anyway. I’m sure others here have too.
The longer thread on the freewheel side of a hub is obviously designed for a purpose though?
That is what the bikeshop is saying. When you apply force, you CAN strip the thread.
Conundrum.
Now, I’m no engineer, but:
Yeah, it’s for ease of machining, nothing else. It’s extra work to (a) cut a lockring thread or (b) part the excess threaded area from the hub, which would then require a different spacer / bearing setup on that side.
The LBS are idiots. If you can use a fixed sprocket with its thread width, then a free wheel will work with no issues either. The forward motion stresses are the same.
Thats what I was going to write - and I am an engineer.
Two engineers can’t work out how to thread a freewheel… we’re all doomed! :evil:
Who is the second and what has threading to do with stripping? - unless you mean tapping after stripping. :evil:
You can redesign it for them 
Freewheel on a fixed thread on my wife’s bike. no dramas. the LBS is staffed by morons.
Au contraire Horatio. The engineers are fine and dandy with the reduced threaded area.
Think about how you would be able to strip the threads. There are plenty of ways to do it, but this isn’t one of them.
(I may be the 2nd engineer and I think H means ‘threading the f/w onto the hub’)
You guys lost me at hello, but problem solved, I think.
And, my friend is convinced, so that is all that matters. Thankyou heaps for all of the advice.
Adam.
That makes more sense. We’ll call it 1 engineer and 1 translator then. 
You’re a translator?
When I was a noob Sheldon himself wrote to me with the answer to this particular question. Wish I’d kept the email.
That makes more sense. We’ll call it 1 engineer and 1 translator then.
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as well.
Well, Sheldon (junior) aka “Obi Wan” (Blakey) has also spoken.
And I have been advised there is no problemo running a freehub on a doublefixed from Shifter Dan previously which I intend to do for GHETTOf**knCROSS.
Both sources are good enough for me :-D.
(Back to my work…)
SW
I asked the Sheldon the same question about some C Record Hi-Flange track hubs that I wanted to use a freewheel on. From memory he said in theory it wasn’t advised but in actuality it didn’t matter much and I did run a 5 speed freewheel on the track thread in a wheel I built for a special ride/show bike.
I think most single speed freewheels will be fine. As long as it winds on enough … use your brain, if its too wide on the back end and doesn’t thread on far enough then try another freewheel.
I’ve used a freewheel on a track hub with no problems at all. Although I did have to use a spacer to stop the freewheel touching the spokes.
That’s the key key point. Definately get fixed/fixed. I have a fixed/free hub which shits me all the time because I can’t put two fixed cogs + lockrings on.
Oh, if the opinion of these guys isn’t enough, Sheldon agrees:
There are double-fixed flip-flop hubs, and, to me, this is the most desirable configuration. This arrangement is the most versatile, because you can set it up either with 1 or 2 fixed sprockets, or 1 or 2 freewheels.
Any standard track hub can also be used with a single-speed freewheel just by leaving the lockring off. The thread is the same. Sometimes people worry because the hub thread isn’t as deep as a freewheel specific hub, but this is never a problem with a single-speed freewheel.