Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Building a SS out of an old mountian bike

Hello all, I am fairly new to the one speed is all need idea, but I am ready to give it a try. I have an old Mongoose Alta mountain bike that I think might make a decent single speed bike because of the chromoly frame. What I am worried about is complications in tying to use some road specific parts to create my single speed. Are there problems that I will run into in terms of geometry? What are some concerns that you all would have if you were a person in my shoes?

Any help would be extremely helpful.

I should say that I do want to make it a road bike, not a single speed mountain bike, as I am planning on using for commuting.

what roadie parts are you planning on using?

Well, wheels, crank,(unless I can get by with my shimano stx) handlebars and brakes.

I am mainly worried about going out and buying a set of road wheels and they suddenly don't fit my frame.
You see, I am very new to this idea of building a bike, and I love the idea of doing so. What I want is a single speed bike built up from this old mountain bike. I think that a flip flop rear hub would be the right choice as I am not ready to go fixed gear in a new city. I would also like at least one brake for safety. (call me a wuss, like I said I am new here.)

Is the frame geometry of the bike going to be really bad for this type of riding. Again, I have been riding a mountian bike for many years, but I am new to the idea making your own bike, and know frame geometry etc.

I would just keep the setup you have for now before buying road parts. I used the SheldonBrown site to get the info I needed on how to convert my mtb to s/s. It's great and answered questions that I hadn't yet thought of asking on BF. Also great for making a mtb to fixed. Mtb's(most) use a different hub size than road/track frames so check to make sure what size you need before buying a new hub if you go that route. I have a 135mm surly. I found this out the hard way and picked up a cheap 120mm hub before I realized there was a difference.

you will need long reach brake calipers to reach the front rim if you use 700c. or you could swap it to a road fork. (if you want a fixed gear with a brake) just take a front wheel off a road bike to test fit, thats what i did.

i took an old miyata mtb frame, put a 700c coaster rear wheel, and regular road front wheel, and put 700X38 tires on it. tons of fun! i kept the mtb fork, and don't have a front brake, but whatevs;)

here is a HORRIBLE pic of me, but its the only one i have of the bike. . .
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d37/k3nho/CMjan2007/CM1-5.jpg

ps, i used mtb cranks too. the geometry is waaaaay relaxed, with a super long wheelbase (think beach cruiser), and it raised the standover height by about 1 inch.