At some point in the future, I'd like to get a Surly Straggler, which would replace my hybrid in the heavy-duty-bike-with-many-low-gears category. I've been wondering whether I could then repurpose the hybrid as a single speed town hack bike - however, the sticking point (literally) is likely to be the bottom bracket, which seems to be riveted in. IIRC, it's 122.5mm, which seems on the long side.
The crankset on there is one of the cheapest of the cheap Shimano triples (with non-removable steel rings!). The rear wheel is a cassette hub (10 speed, though it's got a 7 speed cassette and spacer on it). I'd be wanting to use the biggest chainring, which I presume would mean a lot of spacers between the hub and cassette. I'd replace it with a single ring one if it were not for (a) the bottom bracket issue, and (b) cost, which I'd like to keep as low as possible. I think it may end up with a very odd chainline, though.
So - is this likely to be a bad idea from the outset, or could it work...?