I have been stupid

[DrMekon]

Been doing hill repeats, and deliberately using leg braking only. And I swapped down to 63". Sixth descent of the day, and I've managed to unscrew the sprocket, taking the lockring with it. I can get the sprocket back on fine, but the threads where the lockring goes are pretty much gone. I fitted a new lockring in the hope that it was the lockring thread that was gone, but it's not.

So, as long as I don't do leg braking, I'll be fine without a lockring, right?

[Karla]

How much life is left in the hub?  Fit a new sprocket and then weld it in place?

[zigzag]

so, the lockring not only failed to do the job that it was designed to do, but on top of that also damaged the hub?

i didn't bother with a lockring, but if you do a lot of leg braking consider different type of hub - e.g. six bolt disc hub, halo splined hub etc.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

What sort of hub/ lockring? It sounds like the tolerances were pretty bad.

Of course,you won't have any problem with riding without a lockring if you don't leg brake.

[DrMekon]

The hub is whatever comes with a Tricross Singlecross, and the sprocket and lockring are System EX. Did everything I should - rode without the lockring, then fitted it v.tight.

I don't really want to spend any money on my fixed, as it's meant to be my cheap bike and I'm saving for a Domane. No leg braking for a bit then.

[Chris S]

Well done! Once I've grimped my fixers up at least one hill, there's no way I've got the power to unscrew them again through leg braking (no lock rings either), but I probably ride longer gears (70-90") which could be a factor.

[DrMekon]

I'm not a grimpeur - I get miserable pushing 67" into the stupid 30kph headwinds we get, let alone up 1in10. As has been pointed out by my colleagues, I have girls legs.

[Ian H]

The hub is whatever comes with a Tricross Singlecross, and the sprocket and lockring are System EX. Did everything I should - rode without the lockring, then fitted it v.tight...

Is it possible that you over-tightened it and damaged the thread?

[greenmeansgo]

How much life is left in the hub?  Fit a new sprocket and then weld it in place?

Only potential problem with this is it'll be hard/impossible to replace a drive side spoke, should you need to.

[Chris N]

How much life is left in the hub?  Fit a new sprocket and then weld it in place?

Only potential problem with this is it'll be hard/impossible to replace a drive side spoke, should you need to.

Other than the difficulty of welding steel to aluminium in the first place, you mean?

Either stop leg braking and run it without a lockring or build a new hub into your wheel (£27?), re-using the existing spokes and rim.

[DrMekon]

Don't think I overtightened it, in that I only used a Trixie to put it on. I think it's that I'm using a 63" gear, running grippy 37mm tyres, and doing 12 descents a day.

I'm thinking I'll quit leg braking for a bit and get a Halo rear wheel with a Fix-G hub at some point (unless there's some reason I shouldn't).

[Paul]

Been doing hill repeats, and deliberately using leg braking only.

Out of interest/ignorance, why?

[mrcharly-YHT]

When I was young (so many years ago) and rode 64" fixed around Holmfirth, I ripped a sprocket off maybe once every couple of months. The only sprockets available in anything other than weeny track sizes were Cyclo, and they were made of cheese.

It won't just be leg-braking that is doing it. Running with smaller gears means you can put down more torque. If you are strong then you'll tighten the sprocket to the point where the lockring isn't 'pre-loading' it anymore. Essentially, this means the lockring is doing naff all. Either take it off, or do a few steep hill climbs then put it on and tighten it bastard tight.

[bloomers100]

I was running without a lock ring until I my rear wheel hit a pot hole sufficiently hard that I stopped pedaling, punctured the rear and put a lip in the rim and unwound the sprocket all within 3 seconds flat. It took me longer than that to realise wtf had just happened. Nothing nasty happened but it made me realise the potential.

[Bendy Bianchi]

True! {love you}

I'm not a grimpeur - I get miserable pushing 67" into the stupid 30kph headwinds we get, let alone up 1in10. As has been pointed out by my colleagues, I have girls legs.

[Oaky]

I was running without a lock ring until I my rear wheel hit a pot hole sufficiently hard that I stopped pedaling, punctured the rear and put a lip in the rim and unwound the sprocket all within 3 seconds flat. It took me longer than that to realise wtf had just happened. Nothing nasty happened but it made me realise the potential.

I thought that the standard reasoning for not running a lockring was that in the event of something like that happening, (or shipping the chain etc.) the sprocket could unwind and potentially save you from the rear wheel locking quite so violently?

[marcusjb]

I was running without a lock ring until I my rear wheel hit a pot hole sufficiently hard that I stopped pedaling, punctured the rear and put a lip in the rim and unwound the sprocket all within 3 seconds flat. It took me longer than that to realise wtf had just happened. Nothing nasty happened but it made me realise the potential.

I thought that the standard reasoning for not running a lockring was that in the event of something like that happening, (or shipping the chain etc.) the sprocket could unwind and potentially save you from the rear wheel locking quite so violently?

That is pretty much as I understand it.  Unless you're dong masses of leg braking (and you're strong), a lockring has more risks than benefits, especially in the event of something bad happening to the chain etc. 

I don't run a lockring, but I don't leg brake very much and even when I do, my 60kg isn't going to unscrew the sprocket.