Fixie project. Any hints or tips.

silver campaign

How's it going.
I've recently been reading up on fixed wheel / single speed bikes and I'm thinking of having a go at putting one together. I recently got a new road bike which i'm using to get back into training and going on long weekend spins.

There are a couple of old frames at home in the shed and I was going to use one to put together a fixie (One is an old MBK road bike, i'm not sure what the other one started life as) I've never ridden one or anything, but i like the idea of them. I'm wondering if there are any do's and don'ts or tips for a project fixie.

I have no experience as a bike mechanic or anything, am I going to be in over my head, or is there anywhere that would specialise in doing one for you. I think I'd like the challenge of it myself. Are bike shops gonna look at me like i've two heads if I have to bring them in a half built fixie to finish.

I was going to start with the obvious and strip the old frame, then a friend who is a panel beater, could spray it for me. So What's next, can anyone recomend specific parts (low to mid range in terms of price), gear ratios etc.

Any help would be much appreciated. (Just an after thought, when you take the gear levers off an old frame, wouldn't there be holes left in the frame?? should these be filled??)

TinyExplosions

Sheldon Brown has some tips. Well worth reading and digesting. It's not a hard thing to do, and you'll be grand tackling it yourself, just take your time and it'll be fine!

In terms of parts, this is a good reference to start with

DirkVoodoo

ScottReynolds had a link to some crowd in Tallaght he got to do the paint job on his bike. Check out his thread, its here somewhere .

silver campaign

Cheers, theres lots of reading there in Sheldon Browns site.
I'll have a look at that and keep ye posted on how I'm getting on.

R123R

i have used a old road bike frame to make a fixie and i am not abel to barspin on it because the wheel wont go around and i was wondering is there any way to get around this ?posiblty a new straight fork?

LastGasp

silver campaign wrote: »

I was going to start with the obvious and strip the old frame, then a friend who is a panel beater, could spray it for me. So What's next, can anyone recomend specific parts (low to mid range in terms of price), gear ratios etc.

Any help would be much appreciated. (Just an after thought, when you take the gear levers off an old frame, wouldn't there be holes left in the frame?? should these be filled??)

Have a look at my thread "Fixie/Refurb Questions" which I've just posted and wrapped up my Fixie project. I removed all uneccesary gear lever mounts, cable guides, derailleur hanger etc, with hacksaw, file and sandpaper. Got them quite smooth. Brought the frame to Tallaght Powder Coating who did the stripping and Powder Coat for EUR90 which I think was pretty good. I got the wheels in City Cycles on Blackhall Place. The set was EUR170, which was a bit more than I thought they should be. Most of the other parts were off the original bike - Shimano 600 Cranks, 3T Stem, Cinelli Bars. I got chain, sprockets from the usual suspects, Wiggle, CRC etc. I've put a 44 sprocket on the front, and 17 on the back and I'll see how that goes for a while. Seems fine so far. One of the main things is that you need a nice straight chainline from front to back sprockets, or you'll have excessive friction and wear. I was lucky, mine lined up almost perfectly, and by coincidence the bike had a Mavic adjustable bottom bracket to sort out the last couple of mms.

Edit: No, removing the gear levers won't leave holes in the frame. The screw holes are only the depth of the bosses that the levers mount onto, so when the bosses are ground/filed off you'll be back to the original frame tube.

dolanator

R123R wrote: »

i have used a old road bike frame to make a fixie and i am not abel to barspin on it because the wheel wont go around and i was wondering is there any way to get around this ?posiblty a new straight fork?

26" mountain bike wheel with a 1.25 tyre will do the trick

R123R

no thats far to complicated u could jst buy a new fork?straight one but i was wondering was there any other way ??


just wondering if i should get toes straps or should i get power clips like so http://images.jensonusa.com/large/pe...k__916_stl.jpg or just normal toe straps?thanks