new bike , Fixie help ?

frapp

hi peeps

just picked up a 1987 peugeot versailles on ebay for about 50euro , front wheel is buckled like an s hook but rest of it looks in good condition.

ok in new to cycling but since ive started to get into and a real bike (ok its a BeOne Storm) ive found it to be the most freeing thing in the world flyin around on it , its amazing and want to get into it abit more.

ive read threads here about fixies and its a wealth of knowledge but i said i ask here for some advise . Is the peugeot that i just got a ok bike to convert into a fixie ? please bear in mind that im still coming to terms with all the jargon involved.

only pic of the bike i have from ebay



found this pic which is the same bike , but different parts




if it cant be converted im not to pushed , but id like to convert it for the sake of having a bike to pop the shops , fly around to mates etc and not worry about parts and things like that. So any advice is welcome and if its a crappy bike well meh it was worth the 50 euro or so punt

scottreynolds

I can't tell if you bike has horizontal drop outs (the bit where the rear wheel attaches to the bike). If it does your fine otherwise you need a tensioner (I think) to convert to a fixie. Every else looks 100%. You got a good deal.

Caroline_ie

That bike should have been mine ... it says 'Caroline' all over it ...

rob1891

scottreynolds wrote: »

I can't tell if you bike has horizontal drop outs (the bit where the rear wheel attaches to the bike). If it does your fine otherwise you need a tensioner (I think) to convert to a fixie. Every else looks 100%. You got a good deal.

You can't convert to fixed using a chain tensioner, only single speed. In any case, the bike pictured has horizontal dropouts so he should not need a tensioner.

Sheldon has more about the process of converting to fixed and in particular a gallery of dropouts that are workable/non-workable:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html#vertical

Rob

Piercemeear

I was the one fighting you at the last second on this this morning. I should have known it would turn up here... taunting me.

I was going to keep the gears, but here's some info on the Versailles I found beforehand, if it helps:

http://www.cyclespeugeot.com/1984-1989PeugeotCatalog.html
http://www.cyclespeugeot.com/images/1989_Peugeot_9.jpg

Enjoy it. Man, what a beautiful bike. Don't repaint it or anything.

frapp

Piercemeear wrote: »

I was the one fighting you at the last second on this this morning. I should have known it would turn up here... taunting me.

I was going to keep the gears, but here's some info on the Versailles I found beforehand, if it helps:

http://www.cyclespeugeot.com/1984-1989PeugeotCatalog.html
http://www.cyclespeugeot.com/images/1989_Peugeot_9.jpg

Enjoy it. Man, what a beautiful bike. Don't repaint it or anything.

sorry you lost out on it , but also glad i won , and indeed i think its a very pretty bike especially for that price. I have no plans to repaint it , i like that funky 80's look, only way ill respray it is if the paint is in a bad way when i see it up close but i hope i dont have to change it.

Thanks for the links im sure they will help me or some other members here with giving some advice

abcdggs

+1 on robs suggestion, sheldon is a wealth of info on all matters cycling.

TinyExplosions

Will be grand to convert to a fixie -you'll need a rear wheel, and a couple of spacers (as the distance between chainstays will most likely be 126 or 130mm or so, and a track wheel is designed for 120mm spacing)

If the front wheel is badly buckled, it may be worth getting a new front wheel too -you're looking at 100 - 150 all in if you want to do it on the cheap!

flickerx

Would it be theoretically possible to get the chain the exact length needed so it would be tight, in vertical dropouts? You might have to drop or add a tooth or two on your chainring or sprocket, but surely then it could be done...

abcdggs

sounds very possible, but the you have no wiggle room at all... doesnt really sound like the best set up. you can get a hub with an eccentric axle which gives you about a half inch of room to work with. i havent any experience with them personally but i gather they work very well

blorg

flickerx wrote: »

Would it be theoretically possible to get the chain the exact length needed so it would be tight, in vertical dropouts? You might have to drop or add a tooth or two on your chainring or sprocket, but surely then it could be done...

I looked into this for a bike I had, I believe that is called a "magic gear", you can work it out based on front/back and chainstay length. You can also get half-link chains that give you two additional options an extra half-inch in either direction. Ultimately though such an arrangement will be coming down (if it works at all) to only one very precise option that will work and cannot be retensioned when for example the chain wears.

The eccentric hubs I believe work perfectly in any bike with vertical dropouts, remember you will never need more than half-an-inch adjustability (as chains are a 1 inch standard.)

Sheldon has more on this.

rob1891

blorg wrote: »

I looked into this for a bike I had, I believe that is called a "magic gear", you can work it out based on front/back and chainstay length.

I've used the site below to find magic ratios for an old singlespeed of mine:

http://www.eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu.php

It can be useful when you have short horizontal dropouts as some ratios will leave the axle a too far forward on the drop out for comfort.

For vertical, which my current bike is, I entertained the notion of filing flat spots into my rear axle and removing material from the dropout, to get a bit of adjustably for chain wear while using a magic ratio. All with the encouragement of sheldon :-) If you follow the 0.75% rule, you change your chain after a 2.2mm stretch over 12 links (I guess you can push this further with fixed/singlespeed bikes, but lets ignore that). Over the lifetime of the chain, you may need to move the rear axle back about 3mm in total. That's not such a big deal, you can take 2mm off a rear axle by filing flat spots and another mm or 2 via the drop out.

In the end, it was too much bother between ordering half links, getting the exact cog sizes and taking lumps out of the frame. Might still go ahead with it if I ever make the bike fixed, only because its overall worth is far less than an Eno hub.

Rob

oflahero

+1 on the taunting - I was outbid on this one as well about halfway through! Well done on getting it; looks a lovely frame. I had had the same idea of doing a fixie conversion on it as well, hope it works out well for you.