fixed gear build up

[Prometheus]

I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting feeling. very cool if not for a
slightly too hard saddle.

My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a fixed
gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave that out. Say
i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how much more to build
it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets, and not on campus?

Mike Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University Remove nospam to reply.

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 18:49:07 +0000, Prometheus wrote:

> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a fixed
> gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave that out.

Well, the frame should either be one you have around (doesn't everyone have enough parts to build up
at least one full bike?), or should be a "find". Look for horizontal dropouts on a road frame, or a
real track frame, which would be less likely to be found cheap.

Depending on what usable stuff is on the frame, your costs could be very small.

Minimal for most folks:

1) Rear hub. These cost $20-$80 depending. Sheldon Brown has a good selection. You can us a n old
road hub, but that will not have a lockring. This always starts up debates about whether or not a
lockring is needed. I side with the "needed" folks, due to an unfortunate experience years ago
when I loosened a cog.

2) Sprocket(s). Collect a set, but start with one that will give you a decent ratio. Find that
by using comparable ratio on a road bike for a while to see how it works. Sprockets cost
$5-$15 per.

3) Chain. Get eitehr derailleur type chain, or 1/8" chain meant for bmx, 3-speeds, and track bikes
-- depending on the thickness of the sprocket you have.

You can use the road cranks, if you have them. Typically using the inner position for the chainring
gives the best chainline. Most use a 42-48 tooth ring. Any other stuff would be the same for a road
bike. If missing, you will need to replace, but...

Take off derailleurs, leave on brakes. Ride.

Say i have most of a
> road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how much more to build it up as a
> "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed,

The cost for hubs is about the same for flip-flop, unless you want double sided fixed-fixed (which
can take a single-speed freewheel, too). You'd have to re-build the wheel, of course, which may or
may not mean new spokes. Given a reasonable bike to start, your cost can be lower than $50. I helped
a guy do this once, who managed to spend ten times that. But he replaced a lot of stuff, and always
went the priciest way. Weird.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but _`\(,_ | what canst thou say?
-- George Fox. (_)/ (_) |

 

[Elmo Spam King]

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 15:49:07 -0700, Prometheus wrote:
> I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting feeling. very cool if not for a
> slightly too hard saddle.

Once you start riding, you'll realize that the saddle was probably just right and you put too much
weight on it.

It's not for bearing load, you know... it keeps your hips in position and relieves a bit of strain
when you need it, but you don't actually sit on the thing.

A fixed gear bicycle should teach you pretty quickly that your legs are for pedalling.

> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a
> fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
> that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how
> much more to build it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets,
> and not on campus?

You can do this relatively cheaply. Depends on whether you want to build your own wheels or what.

My first fixie was a Schwinn World Sport on which I just replaced the rear wheel with a cheap one I
built (my first, actually). I used a Suzue Junior flip-flop hub, Surly cog, Dura-Ace lock ring (not
for cred, but because it is good and fits the hub thread), a cheap rim and straight gauge spokes.

Most of these parts came from the local bike co-op: Hub $30 Cog 25 Loc 12 Rim 30 Spoke 15

That was really enough to get me going.

(I also bought a $20 Shimano freewheel for the other side of the hub, but... see below.)

I realized a few things right away.

First, spending a little more on the hub makes a huge difference in ride. I would recommend one of
the relatively bullet-proof sealed cartridge bearing jobs you can get pretty cheap. I'm currently
riding a Miche that I got for maybe $70. Second, the flip-flop was totally useless. It's sort of
like when I moved to a sensible operating system on my desktop computer. As long as my computer
booted to both, I used the old one as a crutch. Eliminate the option of doing what you don't want to
do and you won't do it. I first took off the freewheel (and put it on another bike that had a broken
derailleur so that I had a second bike).

Next, I started on aesthetics (which are unimportant when you have no money). I replaced the
chainring bolts with the short stack variety so that I had just the one chainring up front. That
helped. Then I got some new tires (the afore- and often-mentioned Armadillos). Eventually, I dropped
the frame and replaced it with an old Bridgestone (I think... serial numbers ground off and bad
rattle-can paint) frame from a different bike co-op's basement for $30. I cleaned it down to the
steel and repainted it, then applied some great reflective adhesive film used for road signs. It's
sharp looking and bright as hell at night, even without lights.

I got some good brahma bars to replace the old drops and a bar-end brake lever for my single
front brake.

Last month I got a fancy new Thompson-esque microadjust seatpost and a Brooks B17, which I
absolutely love.

A few months ago, someone in the parking lot at work hit my bike on the rack out front. There was
some scratching along the reflective film and the rear wheel was ruined. However, the boss-man
offered to reimburse whatever I spent to replace the thing, so I rebuilt it with the Miche track hub
and a Mavic rim (I would've gotten Velocity rims, but I really didn't want to go TOO far over the
original value). I must say it's MUCH more pleasant to ride and I LOVED it before!

Anyway, that's part of my story. There you go. Elmo King

 

[Kbh]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed.html

"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting
feeling.
> very cool if not for a slightly too hard saddle.
>
> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a
> fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
> that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how
> much more to build it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets,
> and not on campus?
>
> Mike Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University Remove nospam to reply.

 

[Elmo Spam King]

Following-up myself. Apologies.

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 17:37:43 -0700, Elmo Spam King wrote:
> A few months ago, someone in the parking lot at work hit my bike on the rack out front. There was
> some scratching along the reflective film and the rear wheel was ruined. However, the boss-man
> offered to reimburse whatever I spent to replace the thing, so I rebuilt it with the Miche track
> hub and a Mavic rim (I would've gotten Velocity rims, but I really didn't want to go TOO far over
> the original value). I must say it's MUCH more pleasant to ride and I LOVED it before!

I forgot to mention that I also replaced the cog with a Dura-Ace cog (and the Miche hub has a unique
threading, but came with a lock ring).

I was going to buy a new Surly cog for my Miche hub, but the fit was terrible (the threads seemed
all wrong, though it would thread on with ENORMOUS force) and it wasn't wide enough to stay locked
between the ring and the hub flanges!!! Turned out, there was great variation in these cog widths
from individual to individual.

The Dura-Ace was actually cheaper and of better quality.

And while Dean at Bike Central said I'd blow my knees out, I'm pretty happy with the
46x16. Elmo King

 

[James Scott]

Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a fixed
> gear from used componentry?

Assuming you have all (or most of, as you wrote) a road bike laying around, at a minimum you'll need
a rear wheel built on a track or flip-flop hub. The cheapest hubs run around $30, if you can reuse
your rim. Prebuilt wheels start at $100 or so. Cogs are under $10, single-speed freewheels are
around $20. I assume you can reuse your chainring and chain, but you'll probably want shorter
chainring bolts ($10) so you don't have a vestigial ring on your crank. So $150 might buy the parts
to do the conversion. Harris Cyclery (www.harriscyclery.com) has all of this stuff, and they built
up my fixer, and I love riding it.

I'd also keep an eye on Ebay's Home > All Categories > Sports > Sporting Goods > Cycling > Road
Bikes & Parts category. There are a few folks who post fixer conversions fairly regularly. It's also
a good source for vintage steel frames with horizontal dropouts, which make a good staring point for
a road fixer conversion.

JLS

 

[Jeff Wills]

Prometheus <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting feeling. very cool if not for a
> slightly too hard saddle.
>
> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a
> fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
> that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how
> much more to build it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets,
> and not on campus?
>
> Mike Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University Remove nospam to reply.

I built a single-speed out of a "found" Raleigh frame and wheel parts I had sitting around. Had I
not been extravagent and kept the original fork, I could have built the whole bike for the cost of
the single freewheel. If I'd wanted a fixie, it would have been free.

If you were here (Portland, OR), you could get an adequate frame and fork for about $50 from
Citybikes Co-op. If you can scrounge an old ten-speed that's the right size and has a freewheel rear
hub, the build-up will cost you $bike + $cog + $lockring. Keep the brakes- even the fixie-riding
messengers around here usually retain the front brake.

Jeff

 

[Chalo]

Elmo Spam King <[email protected]> wrote:

> Once you start riding, you'll realize that the saddle was probably just right and you put too much
> weight on it.
>
> It's not for bearing load, you know... it keeps your hips in position and relieves a bit of strain
> when you need it, but you don't actually sit on the thing.

The hell you say! I have two fixies, both with nice high bars and both with plump saddles that get
sat upon. I wouldn't have it any other way.

A fixie will bring you plenty of pain and suffering regardless. No need to invite more.

Chalo Colina

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

Prometheus-<< My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building
up a fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? >><BR><BR>

Not much. You can use your levers, your crank/BB(one ring on the inside), your front wheel and
brake. There are way to convert some rear freehubs to fixed gear hubs, or get a wheel with a
freewheel hub and put a track cog onto that. Some track chainring bolts, perhaps a new rear
wheel-go ride.

Hopefully the frameset has horizontal dropouts, essential for a fixed gear. tensioners will not work
with a fixed gear, for single speeds(BMX freewheeltype).

A flipflop hub starts about $35(Suzue basic)

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Peter Cole]

"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting feeling. very cool if not for a
> slightly too hard saddle.
>
> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a
> fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
> that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how
> much more to build it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets,
> and not on campus?

There are 3 challenges to building a fixed gear:

Chain tensioning -- use a frame with horizontal dropouts, & it's easy, everything else is a bit of a
hassle & $$.

Chain line -- should be perfect, if you get lucky with existing crank, great, else you may have to
screw around with new BB's, spacers, etc. If you're re-spacing the rear wheel (likely), you'll have
to re-dish, no big deal unless you have old, frozen spokes.

Rear wheel -- Ideally one with a track hub (made for using a lockring), track components more pricey
than typical road/MTB stuff, due to low mfg volumes. Complete, pre-built wheel $100 and up. There
are a variety of ways to hack old non-track wheels, both freewheel & freehub types, see the on-line
articles at sheldonbrown.com.

Flip-flop hubs sound like a great idea, but most people wind up never using the freewheel side. I
have one which I have only used for off-road riding (ride fixed to trail, flip wheel).

The cheapest route is to get an old freewheel bike w/ horiz. dropouts, loctite a track sprocket
(don't use backpedal braking), re-space & re-dish the rear wheel to get the chain line right.

A particularly appropriate article:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-to-fixed-conversion.html

You should be able to find a suitable 10/12 speed old bike for $50 or so, and the cheap path
will put you on the road for perhaps a total cost of $100. WIth an new rear wheel, figure more
like $200-250.

 

[Mike S.]

"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I rode a fixed gear for the first time today. quite an interesting
feeling.
> very cool if not for a slightly too hard saddle.
>
> My question to you tech people is this: how much (or little in my case) spend building up a
> fixed gear from used componentry? I'm not sure how cheap I could get a frame, so let's leave
> that out. Say i have most of a road bike and I want to go fixed. what's it gonna cost? and how
> much more to build it up as a "flip-flop" fixed-gear/singlespeed, so I can coast around streets,
> and not on campus?
>
> Mike Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University Remove nospam to reply.

I built my first fixed gear bike for a grand total of $40 and most of that was for the rims, stem,
and bars...

If inexpensive is the key word, go with a road freewheel hub re-spaced to whatever dimension your
frame's using. You can move the FW side over to get the chainline right making a wheel with less
dish/stronger.

In all the years that I rode back and forth to work on a fixie, and the years I've spent racing
track, I've never had a cog unscrew. Is it safer with the lockring? Yup. Is it absolutely
necessary? Nope.

If you decide that a more expensive fixie is in the works: that you'll ride it frequently enough to
warrant a spendy hub, then go get something with nice bearings and a lockring.

If you don't have a stash of parts laying around the garage, your LBS probably has some old stuff
that they want to get rid of cheap. Used is good!

I was riding a 42x17 back and forth to work because I had to go over a few big hills. For flatter
rides, you'll have to see what gears work for you. Any recommendations from the peanut gallery?

You'll learn the meaning of spin going downhill on a fixie!

You'll be amazed what you can climb on your fixie's one gear 'cause you don't have a choice!

Mike

 

[Tim McNamara]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Qui si parla
Campagnolo) wrote:

> Chalo-<< A fixie will bring you plenty of pain and suffering regardless. No need to invite more.
> >><BR><BR>
>
> Don't get this. I love to ride my fixie, don't hurt or suffer at all...

Hee hee hee. I was going to say "perhaps you don't live near the Alps, then" until I looked at the
sig. You've got a few hills in your neighborhood...

 

[Tim McNamara]

In article <mahfb.46008$vj2.21411@fed1read06>, "Mike S." <mikeshaw2@coxDOTnet> wrote:

> You'll be amazed what you can climb on your fixie's one gear 'cause you don't have a choice!

I'll second that. I think that hill climbing on a fixed is slightly easier than in the same gear on
a derailleur bike. Maybe it's just because there ain't no options, as Mike says, or maybe it's just
a little more efficient with no serpentine routing of the chain through the jockey wheels.

 

[Chalo]

[email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo) wrote:

> Chalo-<< A fixie will bring you plenty of pain and suffering regardless. No need to invite more.
> >><BR><BR>
>
> Don't get this. I love to ride my fixie, don't hurt or suffer at all...

You must cope with the slopes of Boulder better than I do with the slopes of Seattle. On my fixies,
if I'm not slogging uphill, wheezing and knees crackling, I'm being dragged along downhill with a
panic-inducing ferocity. The fact that they bite (pants, fingers) and kick (if you even /think/ of
slacking off) is just a bonus.

I see 140-lb messengers cope well with fixed gears in this town, but I have all but given them up
entirely. One of my fixies mostly displays it freewheel side, and the other most often sports a
7sp gearhub.

Chalo Colina

 

[David Reuteler]

Tim McNamara <[email protected]> wrote:
: I'll second that. I think that hill climbing on a fixed is slightly easier than in the same gear
: on a derailleur bike.

i've thought that myself. i think for me it's mostly that my geared bike is a full on 6 pounds
heavier than my fixed. not that the 6 pounds helps much when trying to haul it up ramsey hill or the
sibley highway up to the high bridge with my usual 76".

i did meet a guy (in his mid 60s) last summer touring the oregon coast hauling a carradice bag on a
42x17 (67") fixed. he wasn't exactly having trouble pacing me up those hills.

my hero.

it hadn't even occurred to me to tour on a fixed. i know when i'm outclassed.
--
david reuteler [email protected]

 

[Suzy Jackson]

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Don't get this. I love to ride my fixie, don't hurt or suffer at all...

Hi Peter,

This is probably drifting a little off topic, but what gear are you running? I understand Colorado
is pretty mountainous. What sort of hills do you climb?

I run 68" on mine, on account of a) a short steep 6-8% climb on the way home from work, and b) an
old track racer at work saying I should run under 70" so I can learn to spin.

Thus far, my maximum speed seems to be around 45km/h (~140 cadence). I hope to bring that up a tad
in the coming months.

Regards,

Suzy

 

[Tom Ace]

Chalo wrote:

> A fixie will bring you plenty of pain and suffering regardless. No need to invite more.

I had a few exciting moments when I forgot I was on a fixed gear and tried to coast. The first few
episodes were just embarrassing, but when I once tried to coast while riding no-hands at about 20
miles/hour, I experienced the best crash I'd had in ages.

I haven't ridden fixed gear since. Call me set in my ways, but I gave up on trying to overcome the
habits developed from decades of riding on bikes that let you coast.

Anyone want to make an offer on a SunTour 32 hole flip-flop hub, 18 tooth freewheel, and 17 tooth
fixed gear (all barely used)?

Tom Ace

 

[Ant]

Tim McNamara <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <mahfb.46008$vj2.21411@fed1read06>, "Mike S." <mikeshaw2@coxDOTnet> wrote:
>
> > You'll be amazed what you can climb on your fixie's one gear 'cause you don't have a choice!
>
> I'll second that. I think that hill climbing on a fixed is slightly easier than in the same gear
> on a derailleur bike. Maybe it's just because there ain't no options, as Mike says, or maybe it's
> just a little more efficient with no serpentine routing of the chain through the jockey wheels.

and ill third it. i think two things that i also enjoy uphill fixed are that you can not skip the
chain. so no matter how unbeleivably slow you are mashing, you can mash at will. obviously, this is
not generally a problem with well maintained road bikes, but lets just say that my cycling teeth
were not cut on bikes that worked. some hills i think im doing a spinner's nightmare, something like
30 rpm. you have to push pretty hard to do that.

second, i think the fixed gear makes the slow uphill cadence feel better. on a freewheeling bike,
you lose power/connection to the road at that dead point in the spin, when your cranks are vertical.
the bike's momentum pulls you through this smoothly on a fixed, whereas on a freewheeling bike i
feel choppy uphill (and down, actually). (then again, i like out of the saddle climbs. this woudlnt
be an issue if i sat down and spun like a good boy)

ymwillv, anthony

 

[Tim McNamara]

OK, just for fun, check out:

http://www.oldskooltrack.com/files/skids.frame.html

for crazy skidding fixed gear people- including the guy skidding no-handed.

 

[David Reuteler]

Tim McNamara <[email protected]> wrote:
: OK, just for fun, check out:
:
: http://www.oldskooltrack.com/files/skids.frame.html
:
: for crazy skidding fixed gear people- including the guy skidding no-handed.

that is great. not a stinkin' brake among the lot of 'em (& i doubt they took 'em off first) tho
some are wearing helmets (i esp. dig the hairnets). my favorite is the guy in jeans w/ the red bike.
he looks very much like he's somewhere else at the moment. and he seems pretty ok with that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3629791934&category=22684
--
david reuteler [email protected]