building a fixie...?

white apples

I have an old ladies racer, which I want to take apart and refurbish, and was thinking of making it a fixed wheel. Looking around for info on this I found the below info.

"You will need a track frame. These are hard to get, so a road frame with horizontal rear drops (or close to horizontal - older road frames) maybe used in its absence. Basically you need a road frame that allows you to move the rear wheel forward and backwards to set chain tension."

what or where are the rear drops?

Chips Lovell

white apples wrote: »

what or where are the rear drops?

They are the slots in the frame that hold the rear wheel.

Morgan

white apples wrote: »

I have an old ladies racer

You should ask her permission before altering the bike.

Then read this:
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html

white apples

Thanks for the link...after reading it and not understand bout 70% of it I'm thinking that maybe I'm getting in over my head... :rolleyes:

steinone

I thought the exact same when I was planning my first fixed wheel,
I read through Sheldons(rip) page countless times and some things I havent understood till now...
Read it a few times, get the general gyst of it and try figure what you can keep off the old bike to make the build cheap and relatively disposable.
Ok the bit where the wheel axle slots in is the dropout, as long as the bike is pretty much brand new it should have them.
For a fixed wheel conversion all that is essential is a track hub(stay away from the suicide hub option) a chainbreaker, a cog and a lockring.
If you have any problems just post them here or send me a Pm.
Happy to help.

flickerx

white apples wrote: »

what or where are the rear drops?

Look where the rear wheel is. Take out the wheel. Does the place where the axle fits into look like this:



or this:




You need it to look like the first one. Thats a horizontal dropout. The lower one is vertical. If the frame has vertical dropouts, you wont be able to make a fixie out of it.

white apples

Thanks guys. I'll check that out when I get home (working the nightshift) and if it's horizontal then I guess I'll start on taking everything apart and cleaning the stuff I'm going to use again. I'm sure I'll be back with a gazillion questions.

Steinone - how did your first attempt go?

flickerx

BTW I'd recommend it, if you're interested in learning more about bikes, just jump in. You'll make some mistakes along the way, but its a good hobby, its a steep learning curve and you'll acquire skills that you'll use again, you might even find yourself getting into stuff like frame building, painting, welding, etc.

People here will be glad to help you along the way with questions. Take photos of your project at the before, during, and after phases so we can heap praise on you when its finished.

flickerx

white apples wrote: »

Thanks guys. I'll check that out when I get home (working the nightshift) and if it's horizontal then I guess I'll start on taking everything apart and cleaning the stuff I'm going to use again. I'm sure I'll be back with a gazillion questions.

I start these days with leaving as much stuff as possible on the bike, brakes, handlebars, bottom bracket, and even the cranks if the chainrings are removable, you can usually slap a larger ring on the inside of the crank arm, so you have a straight chainline to your sprocket (this is the cog on the rear wheel, because you're always in the same gear, you want the chain to run as straight as possible from the chainring [on the cranks] to the rear sprocket).

I made a few mistakes with my first attempt, bought wrong sized brakes etc (I just bought a starter frame off eBay) but it worked out ok in the end, all that extra material went onto other future projects which I sold.

steinone

white apples wrote: »

Thanks guys. I'll check that out when I get home (working the nightshift) and if it's horizontal then I guess I'll start on taking everything apart and cleaning the stuff I'm going to use again. I'm sure I'll be back with a gazillion questions.

Steinone - how did your first attempt go?

I built it up(with a bit of help) without too much trouble.
I still ride it quite a bit, including tomorrow.
I bought a Fuji Track which has taken its place in dryer generally better riding conditions.
Its nice to have something to fall back on and in recent times ride in the snow:D.
It is very much so the best way to learn about bikes, how they work and how to maintain them too:D

NeilMcEoigheann

white apples wrote: »

I have an old ladies racer, which I want to take apart and refurbish, and was thinking of making it a fixed wheel. Looking around for info on this I found the below info.

"You will need a track frame. These are hard to get, so a road frame with horizontal rear drops (or close to horizontal - older road frames) maybe used in its absence. Basically you need a road frame that allows you to move the rear wheel forward and backwards to set chain tension."

what or where are the rear drops?

perhaps if you post a picture of the bike or frame or anymore information about it that would help, its quite satisfying building a fixie, i use mine every day and despite some teething problems it works perfectly, (looks desperately around for wood to touch)
happy to help in anyway

blorg

There is nothing wrong with a suicide hub as long as you have a brake. If you rotafix the cog on you will have great trouble dislodging it.

NeilMcEoigheann

blorg wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with a suicide hub as long as you have a brake. If you rotafix the cog on you will have great trouble dislodging it.

take that back blorg its a terrible idea, you might as well just have a singlespeed then, i know i would be ****ting chainlinks if i were on as suicide hub

blorg

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

take that back blorg its a terrible idea, you might as well just have a singlespeed then, i know i would be ****ting chainlinks if i were on as suicide hub

I don't have a lockring myself, it's not a problem.

jollylee

I'm also cycling on a suicide hub and yet to have it come loose. I wouldn't be skidding though. I'm sure if you were skidding all the time you'd need a lock ring.

I finished my fixie project a few months ago. I'm a bike mechanic so if you've any technical questions give me a shout. Here's my project thread, its pretty step by step.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055398997

The biggest job without doubt is getting the chain line right and re-dishing the rear wheel. If your not sure about wheels get a bike shop to sort this bit out for you!

NeilMcEoigheann

ok just i would have thought that the pressure of even stopping fast enough on fixed would put the sprocket out, anyway always lockring for me,

steinone

Well personally I wouldnt have peace of mind cycling or racing on my bike without a reverse threaded lockring.
Just means I can piss around, do as much skidding as I want without a worry.

blorg

If you use the brakes to stop you will have no problems whatsoever. None. Normal (non-skidding) reverse pressure will not budge the cog either.

I have managed to spin the cog off a few times skidding but that's not a problem if you have brakes, which you should have anyway as you can't stop the bike half as fast skidding as you can with a front brake.

I have been trying my best to skid my current rotafixed cog off the last month or two to stick it on the side that will take a lock ring, but without success A lot of fun though.

If you have a hub that will take a lockring by all means use it, but it is not absolutely essential if you already have a wheel that is threaded for just a freewheel. (Sheldon agrees BTW.)

Only situation it would be essential is where you are not running brakes, and if you are doing that you have a bigger "suicide" potential there than running a cog without a lockring

steinone

FINE THEN! Undermine me why don't you *shakes fist* lol.

NeilMcEoigheann

steinone and myself agree to laugh loudly and make many references to this thread, while saying "i told you so" when blorg has a coming together with the ground while an unthreaded sprocket *pings* past his grounded body on the road....
*i might be nicer about it than previously stated.