Fixie with vertical dropouts

joetronic

Is it possable to make a fixie with vertical dropouts? I found a old paramount frame and am thinking of making it a fixie for rides around town. Any suggestions?

RWBCustom

I'd say that would be scary, but if you put a chain tensioner (ala MTB Stumper) it could end up being semi safe.

The problem is that your feet are used in the breaking process and too much chain would cause a whip effect over the gear cog and possibly cause the chain to hop off leaving you in a bad place. Granted if you have brakes in addition that would help, but that initial punt may upset you and your bike enough to cause an unfortunet encounter with the pavement or other vehicle.

I'm not saying it can't be done and wouldn't be safe for you. Just need to be cautious. Fixed gears are made the way they are for a reason.....

Granted I was thinking the same as you this fall, but have decided to buckle down and just get a bike built properly (fixed style rear drop out).

Cheers
E

joetronic

Thanks for the super fast reply!!

How about a SS, these don't need Horizontal droupouts do they. I would realy like to use this frame as a "grocery getter", but want it to be as simple as possable.

RWBCustom

Yes a SS would be a much better idea, if you get a flip flop rear (for different gear ratios), use a tensioner and you may be able to have 2 gear ratios (one for the flats and one for the hills).

But don't forget to put a hand brake on it.

Cheers

joetronic

one more Q. With a SS, i dont need a lockring, correct?

Mish

With a SS the lockring is not only not necessary it won't fit with the freewheel mechanism.

I don't understand the problem with using a vertical or horizontal dropout as a fixed gear or single speed.
I've built 2 and modified 1 to get a little more range to keep the chain tight.
You don't need a track end to be safe.

My first was an old Nishiki 12 speed. I took off the freewheel, put on a cog and had to do very little to get the chain to line up with the inner chainring.
My second was a redline cyclocross with vertical dropouts. I bought an e-bay fixed/free wheelset and had to file the dropout a little (1/8") to get a tight chain.

Getting the chainline straight and tight will be the most challenging.
Sheldon Brown's website has lots of info on fixed gears and single speeds.

Bluechip

You can use an ENO hub for a fixed gear on vert. dropouts. It's very well made looks great too. I have one on my Cannondale fixie and it works great. http://www.whiteind.com/ENO_web/eric.html

Randybaker99

Yes, but there are limitations that you will have to work within:

1) it is easy if you spend $300 for a new rear wheel with a White ENO elliptical hub ($165 for just the hub), check http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ for details. This is certainly the most elegant solution.

2) find a cog/chainring/chain length combination using http://www.peak.org/~fixin/personal/fmu/php/fixmeup.php - if you are starting from scratch, you will need to accurately measure the distance between the center of you bottom bracket and the center of your rear hub. I had to go buy a cog and experiment a bit, to "back in" to the chainstay length. I was lucky in that my first try was a 42T chainring and a 16T cog, and it turned out to be a close match. From there I was able to use fixmeup to find other gearing options that could work.

3) you may find that there is a "perfect" combination of cog, chainring and # of chain links for this frame, you can also use a half link to expand your options. Once you find a good match, you can find other matches with fixmeup.

4) extreme options - file down your axle to be flush with the locknuts, so that the rear wheel is held by skewer friction alone (I am not going to recommend this, but I know people who have done this for years without mishap and swear by it); get a 10mm round file and file out your dropouts to extend backward another 1-2mm (some frames won't have enough material back there to do this).

All this can be time consuming and requires more committment to task, but it is very satisifying when you find success.

Good luck!