Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - newbie looking to convert road bike

hey, i have a gitane road bike frame that im looking to make into a fixed gear. could someone walk me through the steps of getting my bike converted. what do i need and roughly how much should it cost me? im basically need something to get me around the city. ill probably avoid big hills until i get enough money to buy a REAL sturdy fixed bike.

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html

if your bike is sturdy enough to handle hills now it will be sturdy enough to handle hills fixed unless you do a half-assed job of building it.

I was recently in the same position as you and found that www.sheldonbrown.org provided a wealth of information on the subject. In all honesty, I doubt that anyone on this forum could give clear and concise instructions regarding the conversion of a geared bike into a single or fixed gear machine, the shear number of bikes designs and non-standard equipment of the older bikes seem to make each "build-up" a little different.

I think the philosophy behind these types of bikes is that you have to start the build process on your own with a lot of research and when all else fails, ask only very specific questions on the forum. I have found that I for every post I’ve started, I might have read hundreds.

During the course of my own projects, I've found that this type of independence leads to a thorough understanding of bicycle mechanics and functionality. In the end, your sense of accomplishment as you rip through town on you first single or fixed will be worth the initial frustration and despair you felt as you looked upon your disassembled steed scattered across your living room floor. See, I’m poetic.

On a side note, I no nothing about Gitanes, but I’m sure hundreds of members on this forum have spent hours describing their unique intricacies.

Good luck sucker. (I say it only jokingly)

No I don’t.

thanks for the replys. im going to check out a local shop and figure everything out tomorrow. i want to do it myself for sure and i want it to be a cost efficient as possible for the moment.

be prepared to shell out a decent amount of money if you're trying to actually enjoy this bike without stuff breaking.
a word of caution: avoide suzue basic and junior hubs. there is a reason they go for twenty-five bucks a pop.

thanks, this is the kind of advice i was hoping to get.

Read this for links to more information (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=165428)

MOST IMPORTANT with a Gitane (or French bike)... find out if it has French threading (BB, headset, etc)... if the bike's old, chances are it does, and you won't be able to use most standard bike parts.

just a word of advice....

oh, and read up on Sheldon Brown!!!

Check out threads like this (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=213079) for French-specific info, and search. Search a whole lot.