Fixed Gear Bikes

ville · Post by **ville** » 05 May 2008 08:55

I've been in need of a new bike since my really old MTB broke down last summer. At the moment I'm doing my exchange year near Berlin so I thought I'd try to build a cheap bike myself. I can build a fixed gear and just sell it when I go back to Finland or if I end up liking it I can bring it with me and start upgrading like a maniac

.

I've been searching the german ebay for frames to get me started. There aren't many old ones for sale, but I found a few new trekking frames with horizontal dropouts. How would one work for a fixed gear? With their price tags I can imagine that they're not the best frame on the market, but would probably be enough for my needs atm.

For example: http://cgi.ebay.de/Trekking-Rahmen-T3-R ... otohosting

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 05 May 2008 14:46

Well, for ten euros it's hard to go wrong. That said, probably the easiest way into this kind of riding is to buy an old 10 speed, you can get em at basically any used bike place, then strip it down and put a fixed wheel on the back and you're set.

From there it's up to you how much you want to upgrade over time. I started with a few old conversions, eventually had one upgraded with okay parts then just swapped out the frame for a proper track one when I could afford it.

My bike is fucked from the stuff I was doing during filming. That said, I am on the cusp of MAD sponsorships, so lets hope the gamble was worth it!

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 05 May 2008 19:42

yeah, the only thing worth any thing on my bike is my wheel set. the rest is crap. I'm looking at getting a new frame too, as the fork is bent and i figure i might as well replace the whole damn thing.

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 05 May 2008 20:20

I just found out one of my buddies at work rides fixed gear bikes, and built his own and is building another now.
He's gonna help me get parts from local shop and help me build it too!
my excitement level about this just went from 90% to 145%

jon · Post by **jon** » 06 May 2008 05:38

double post - removed

jon · Post by **jon** » 06 May 2008 05:43

Let's all play bike show and tell. Everyone post their bikes

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll go first. Here is my tarck bike

Frame: Some cheap 59" old Canadian department store frame. I need something smaller (53") with better geo.

Wheels: Non-machined velocity fusions laced to black formula hubs. 3x in the back, radial up front. Cheapo 700x23c blue tires.

Drive train: No name bb, 40 tooth no name 165 crank to 15 tooth dura ace cog in the back. Dura ace lock ring. Loud 1/8" Blue KMC chain. 70.1 gear inches, 2.7 ratio with 3 skid patches.

Pedals: MKS Gr9s with powergrips or homemade leather doubles (campy record straps) w/ toe clips. Sometimes wellgo spd/platform pedals.

Seat: No name post to shitty faux carbon fiber saddle. Soon to be upgraded. San Marco Regal ti in the mail

Ugly ass tube top pad

Steering: No name headset (it sucks), Cinelli quill stem, Nashbar TT bar, Shimano gel/cork tape

Brake: Nashbar tt lever, tektro r556 caliper

Weight: No idea

Hipster accessories: Metropolis Chrome bag with a Manhattan portage cell phone holder, bad ass helmet (which is not warn often enough), slipon shoes, one less car stickers, and mini ulock

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 06 May 2008 05:59

Hehe I will play along:

Frame: Cyclemania track frame
Wheels: Machined pink deep V's laced radially to black surly hubs (one rear side is 2X, I didn't pick this absurd lacing)
Bars: 2.5 inch black mtb risers chopped down
Stem: some gawky black Zoom mega rise stem
Pedals/Cranks: came on my last conversion, though now I have Soma double strap clips and two sets of nylon straps
Chain: MKS z chain
Fork: BROOKLYN MACHINE WORKS Gangsta Track fork (In reality, the only bit worth mentioning on my whip)

Extra bits: BBG bashguard, bell, lights, old dead saddle from abandoned mtb,

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 06 May 2008 10:37

STOCK!

quadgun wrote:

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 07 May 2008 20:14

bailed really hard yesterday in the dumbest way. Was out riding all day and then rode up the driveway, cut between the cars, pedall clipped a car tire and i pitched but got my shoe caught in my clip. Bent my fork even more and banged up my shoulder. bent the fork back gently though, so still rideable, but that new frame is looking like more and more of a necessity. I'll post a pic of "Bea" when i get a spare moment.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 11 May 2008 06:18

bars just came today, pretty stoked. gonna head down to the shop before work today. did I mention i got the new front rim? my ride is ridiculously lighter because of it... i cant wait to feeel the new bars on there

other things i [still] want:
saddle
a smaller u-lock
new straps/cages

jon how do you like those power grips..? i'm gonna see if my shop gots those

oh ps i swear i'll post a picture at some point

pps the bars say 420 on them haha. i'm guessing this is because theyre 42cm

jon · Post by **jon** » 11 May 2008 09:44

Hmm powers grips. I really need more time to give them a fair assessment. I rode them for a month till I switched to the clips and double leather straps that I am running now. I really have to give the new system a month and then go back to power grips to really know what I think of either.

That said, everything sucks next to clipless. The powergrips are nice and light. They feel very comfortable on my feet which can be a problem with clips. They are easy to get into and out of. They lack a bit of retention on the upstroke of the pedaling motion. Easy to skid in. I really like them and can see myself picking them over clips and double straps.

I will let you know more as I know it.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 11 May 2008 09:52

I love my soma double cage clips with two sets of straps. I'd run toshi double straps if I had money bursting out of me.

I prefer clips/straps for the kind of riding I am doing, however clipless does have appropriate applications.

ie. I want to do tricks and clips work best for that. if you are going for max efficiency and you run a dork ass computer on your bike then clipless is the way to go.

jon · Post by **jon** » 11 May 2008 10:11

mosher wrote: if you are going for max efficiency and you run a dork ass computer on your bike then clipless is the way to go.

tell that to all the messengers that run clipless :p

---

maybe I should elaborate on clips just to add some more info to this thread.

In the beginning there were cleats and straps and the people were satisfied. Then they saw the light and found clipless and the people rejoiced.

Before clipless people would race with cleats on their shoes.

The cleats engaged in the pedal and the straps were there to hold the shoe down. On the track people used cleats and double straps in order to keep their feet from coming off the pedals during a race (which if it happened for even a second basically meant they would lose).

Then clipless was invented and everyone that raced switched. Now there was a cleat that actually engaged the pedal. It was like the leap for skiing when they went from wood planks with leather straps to bindings. The road and mountain bike people could get away from just clipless. The track guys used the clipless and double straps because they still couldnt afford to pull out of the pedals during a race.

Lots of people however didn't want a cleat sticking out of the bottom of their shoes, esp those people that don't race. One solution is the recessed cleats they use in mountain bike shoes but for people concerned with fashion or shoe choice this still doesn't fit the bill.

The result is that we now have fashion concerned riders using expensive double straps and clips that cost twice the price of clipless systems. They are taking the look of the track set up without the performance. Some will claim that this system is the best thing since sliced bread. I will let everyone make up their own mind about this though and invite them to look around and see what the pro riders and those making their livings on bikes are actually riding.

Now don't get me wrong clips and straps are way better than plain old plateform pedals (no foot retention of any kind). Clips and straps are also great if you can't afford clipless. They are great if you don't want to wear cycling specific shoes. There is a wide range of reasons to use them really.

Each system has their place. As long as that system works for you and you have fun riding then that's all the really matters

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 11 May 2008 10:17

jon wrote:
mosher wrote: if you are going for max efficiency and you run a dork ass computer on your bike then clipless is the way to go.
tell that to all the messengers that run clipless :p

They are going for max efficiency!

I knew that last little bit would get a response out of you, but I did my best to delicately word my post so that you wouldn't erupt into tears like usual.*

*just let me be silly!

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 12 May 2008 18:28

Took the bike apart today ... gonna go to a bike shop on saturday to look at some parts!
Next paychecks are gonna be set aside so I can save up for a wheel set.

I kind of want to paint the bike? would spray paint work?

jon · Post by **jon** » 12 May 2008 19:48

Spray paint can work and it has been done by a lot of people but rattle can jobs tend to look ugly and chip easily. A good job is gonna take a lot of work, sanding, several coats of color, and clear coat and will probably still chip. If you can I would recommend calling around for local powder coaters in your area. Car places should be able to hook you up with names. Prices for powder coating a bike should range from $50-$100 and it will look pretty and stand up to a good beating.

snafu1322 · Post by **snafu1322** » 12 May 2008 23:54

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibAwLTd7KlI[/youtube]

mosher is that you at 44?

ordered bootleg sessions 2. it looks sick.

Ill post up my bike when I find my charger for my camera.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 13 May 2008 04:17

Dupuy, you bet it is, I am famous now! hehe

I am SO excited for this to come out!!!!!

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 13 May 2008 07:00

denver has been more like seattle the last couple days, so i haven't even had the chance to ride my brand new brooks without a plastic bag

i still have the bigger gear on because they were welded together. and my chain line was PERFECT (:)) with the 48 so i decided not to dismantle it. i'm still not sure what to do with the bigger one... i think my next move may be to break off each tooth with an adjustable

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 13 May 2008 07:37

Stephen, I turned my big ring into spacers once. Usually the two rings are held together with bolts, and when you take off the big ring usually the bolts are too long and you either need to buy shorter ones or spacers. What I did was cut the ends of each arm off, turning them into spacers. Sllllick!

Now I have a bashguard filling the same void while simultaneously protecting my chainring.

Cool looking bikes!

hehe did your saddle cost more than the frame?