Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Should I convert my old Trek to a fixie?

Hello, I just bought one of the Motobecane's from Bikes Direct. Now I have my old (2001) trek 2200. While it was a great bike, it was sort of heavy with the given components. I would love to have this bike converted to a fixed gear.

How much do you think it would cost and do you think it would be worth it?

I would prolly keep the front brake for safety, but everything else would go. I would also prolly get the ENO hub for the verticle drops.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/white-hubs.html

What else would I have to do?

do it

I'd sell it and buy something older to fixie up. Start with a steel skinny tubed frame with horizontal dropouts.

thatd be a sweet ride

yes, of course it would be worth it. fixed gear gives you wings.

how much would it cost? $159.95, plus shipping, plus cog and lockring ($30?).

well okay, that's if you can re-lace your rear wheel with the ENO hub. anyway once you've got your wheel and cog, just shorten the chain and go.

alternatively: buy track cranks, buy chrome deep-drops, color-match your rims, saddle, and handlebar tape, and go.

Dude I say this....Re Lacing Hubs and making wheels are a pain in the neck if you dont know what your doing. What I would do is look around, ask people, for some old Raleigh Grand Prix or a Peugeot px10 something to that affect and make it a nice FIXIE/SS Ride. Firguring that your Trek isnt old at all. Sell it on CL or somewhere and make the money for the other bike and save the rest for gambling money. Mohegan Sun here we come!

Bah, if you want to convert, go for it. You're probally looking around $200 or so, but it could be worth it. As far as what else you need, you'll need a messenger bag, dirty cycling cap, wool jersey and a can of PBR and you're good to go.

NO YOU SHOULD NOT.


my fixie at the current moment is a trek 1000 converted w/ an ENO hub.

when i ride, the gear train makes this faint, grinding noise. i can never figure out why. i feel like i'm doing everything right (and have poured TONS of money into trying to make it perfect), but still no love. chainline looks damn perfect, i bought the right hub w/ the right BB and sugino RD cranks. chain is lubed and in good condition, cog is (was) pristine.

also it's not really that much lighter. i mean, it is, but not compared to a real track bike.


don't. trek 2200 is a mighty fine bike. leave it be. if you really want that fixie then get a bianchi pista. the way i see it, you'll end up pouring all this money into your imperfect ride when for 500.00 you could just have a lighter, steel, real track bike.



in the end i put something around 1300.00 and still got imperfection. maybe i'm silly for striving so hard to make things right. but i think you should learn from my mistakes.


http://img254.echo.cx/img254/7221/dscn21929nw.jpg

http://img252.echo.cx/img252/3721/fluke8uo.jpg

when i ride, the gear train makes this faint, grinding noise. i can never figure out why. i feel like i'm doing everything right (and have poured TONS of money into trying to make it perfect), but still no love. chainline looks damn perfect, i bought the right hub w/ the right BB and sugino RD cranks. chain is lubed and in good condition, cog is (was) pristine.


have you tried putting a ton of thick lube (i.e. finish line all weather) on the chain? as in, over-lube it... worst that would happen is a dirty chain, best that could happen is silence.

Do what you want.

have you tried putting a ton of thick lube (i.e. finish line all weather) on the chain? as in, over-lube it... worst that would happen is a dirty chain, best that could happen is silence.



yea i've been overlubing it as it is. you're right, it does dull the noise.


what i'm saying is it's not perfect. i put down a ton of money cause i had visions of a perfect bike (and i am stupid and was rich for a summer).

:-/



i have another fixie that i built up almost entirely from the trash. aside from the cog and the chain and tubes/tires and some parts i had lying around/found, this bike was damn near free. a free bike. it gets more airtime than my converted trek, by far.


http://img254.echo.cx/img254/9886/dscn22013zw.jpg
the chainline is off and dirty as hell. when it rides, it doesn't make a sound.

http://img252.echo.cx/img252/1279/tapeworm2cj.jpg

I've got an ENO on an old Cannondale roadie frame and it works perfectly. I'd say do it if you want to. It's fun to recycle bikes, and if you've not built a wheel before this is an excuse to buy a truing stand and learn.

And you don't have to drop a ton of money into it. The hub will be the most expensive part. Don't get a cheap track cog, though. Assuming you can re-use your old rim, it won't be too expensive and it'll be a fun project and an even more fun ride.

Sorry, the thead is dead. On a whim I sold the trek today. Some dude called me on suggestion from my LBS on my recent purchase of the Motobecane, and it turns out he took a 58 cm frame. So he came over and looked at it. Sold it for $450 with the 105 pedals. I think he got a good deal.