Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Your Fixed Gear/SS Photos!

post

Suzue flip-flop hub set w/ 16t Surly chainring, Mavic MA3 hubs, Serfas tires, old Schwinn cranks, Selle San Marco Dual Density Saddle, Crappy Giant pedals, Steel Toeclips, crappy bottom bracket, headset, quill, bars, frame, and seatpost. Basically I'm riding junk. But I love it.

I'll get mine pix up soon...
hey DV-clean that chain boy! Ouch...:D

http://www.onegear.com/albums/cksteamroller/surly_artsy.jpg

there are other pictures, but that one looks the best. there's very little detail on the bike itself, but it's a nice photo i think.

i have two wheelsets for the bike, i'll list both.

frame: 2003 surly steamroller - 49cm
bottom bracket: shimano un-53 (i need to replace this)
headset: cane creek s2 (this too)
cranks: sugino 75 - 165mm
chainring: sugino 49t
stem: itm road racing 80mm
bars: itm super 330 42cm (i need to replace that)
seatpost: something i had laying around the house
saddle: selle italia nitrox
chain: KMC junk. (replacment due because this is junk)
pedals: wellgo SPD style

commuting wheelset:
front rim: bianchi - FiR
front hub: campy veloce
rear rim: alex dh22
rear hub: suzue basic (absolute garbage)

racing wheelset:
hubs: surly new track - 32h
rims: velocity aerohead

First incarnation, Trek frame, twisty spoke front wheel, reallly good looking but uncomortable regal saddle,tubulars

Gitane

Chicago Schwinn...this one gets bullhorn bars and clipless pedals just as soon as the UPS man shows up...hopefully tomorow:D

These pictures are both out of date now, but they are the only track bike pictures I have online.

My Bianchi, stock except the Nitto bullhorns (I have now switched back to regular track bars) and the fancy red tires:

http://www.ameritech.net/users/jasonyates/bianchi1.jpg

My friend's GT, which now has Spin wheels front and rear:

http://www.ameritech.net/users/jasonyates/mike_bike.jpg

-Jason

No pics yet. Just spoke to the frame-builder earlier this week, so it's on the way. Lugged steel fixie, stainless steel drop outs, stainless steel chainstay, disc brake on front.

1970 Nishiki Olympic frame purchased for $5 at a flea market (repainted by me)
Mavic OpenPro rims on Miche Primato hubs and Vittoria Rubino Pro tires
original headset and new Shimano BB
old (80's) Sugino cranks and ring (cranks polished by me)
17T euro asia imports cog
PROFILE bullhorns, old diacompe brake and cable, new dia compe aero lever
Pazzaz stem
Selle Italia SLR saddle
MKS pedals

http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~marius/pics/fix2/3.jpg

Originally posted by shrimpx
1970 Nishiki Olympic frame purchased for $5 at a flea market (repainted by me)
Mavic OpenPro rims on Miche Primato hubs and Vittoria Rubino Pro tires
original headset and new Shimano BB
old (80's) Sugino cranks and ring (cranks polished by me)
17T euro asia imports cog
PROFILE bullhorns, old diacompe brake and cable, new dia compe aero lever
Pazzaz stem
Selle Italia SLR saddle
MKS pedals

One of the nicest road bike conversions I have seen. :beer:

-Jason

Originally posted by jasonyates
One of the nicest road bike conversions I have seen. :beer:

-Jason

thanks :)
one thing i forgot to mention is that i shaved off all the cable stops before i painted it.
what it lacks is the track geometry :) i was pondering putting cinelli track drops on it but i'm afraid they will look lame on a "road bike."

Jesus, looking at everyone elses fixies is making me jealous. Mine is a POS compared to these beautiful rigs....

Originally posted by shrimpx
thanks :)
one thing i forgot to mention is that i shaved off all the cable stops before i painted it.
what it lacks is the track geometry :) i was pondering putting cinelli track drops on it but i'm afraid they will look lame on a "road bike."

Well most road bikes have drop bars anyways so I think it would be ok. You could always just get a track frame as well. That would kind of defeat the purpose of the work you put into your present frame though.

Dumpster Vegan: At least you don't have to worry about getting a nick in your paint or whatever, right? :) Aren't you working on a new setup anyways?

-Jason

Mi Cinelli... 48x17... Syntace bar... Brooks saddle... Eggbeaters... Campy track groupo... IRD cyclocross brake lever...

This Cinelly track frame is by far the best looking track frame I know, IMO. I've been drooling over them for a long time now, but $850 for a frame is way out of my league at this point.

2003 Bianchi Pista, Battleship Grey, Stock parts mix with a black 105 front brake and a tektro lever. 48x16 gearing.
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/cyclingpics/Pista.jpg

Surly 1x1, Paul brakes, Paul Levers, Surly Hubs laced 2 up 2 back to Mavic 517 Rims, Thomson post, Thomson Stem, Oury grips and a cow saddle from Fizik.
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/cyclingpics/Surly.jpg

Tiny Fisher frame, Magura Hydro rim brakes, and a bunch of crap out of the old parts bin. Use it for riding downtown and hopping around.
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/cyclingpics/Fisher.jpg

-Ryan

Arrrrgggghhhhhh too many roadie fixies, I had to post a pic of my latest incarnation.

Cheap frame $35 from Nashbar
Bought some old wheels from a local shop
Bought the fork from another BF member for cheap
Most other parts were lying around

The cranks are off a tandemn, and taking the advice from another forum member, I'm gonna run a bash ring on the non-drive side.

L8R

Originally posted by shrimpx
1970 Nishiki Olympic frame purchased for $5 at a flea market (repainted by me)
old (80's) Sugino cranks and ring (cranks polished by me)


Beautiful bike! How did you polish the cranks, they look really cool.

Zack

BikerRyan - Who makes the chain tensioner that you have on the Gary Fisher? Does it work well?

You all have very nice bikes. shrimpx, I also gotta say the crankset on your Nishiki really gets my attention, tell us more. Nice looking bike.

You all probably know about Dennis Bean-Larson's great fixed gear gallery:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

Originally posted by ZackJones
Beautiful bike! How did you polish the cranks, they look really cool.

Zack

Thanks!

The crankset was taken off an 80's Fuji Royale. Don't know the year, but the cranks were matte aluminum, and beat up--lots of scratches and dents.

My dad has a buffing machine that he used to buff the paint on a fender he spray painted once. I bought a can of metal polish cream (which said that it would work for aluminum) from the auto shop and went to work. I just spread cream on it and buffed it to a shine. The process took forever. Probably 1 hour per crank. There were hard-to-polish corners that I had to go over several times...

This can be done on any aluminum part that you needs polishing. I have a seat post that I want to polish, but am afraid I'll make it too thin, since seat posts have to be accurate to every tenth of a millimeter.

Originally posted by shrimpx
This can be done on any aluminum part that you needs polishing. I have a seat post that I want to polish, but am afraid I'll make it too thin, since seat posts have to be accurate to every tenth of a millimeter.

Ok, one question for you. How did you get the face plate off and on again?

http://www.fatcap.co.uk/host/files/mybike.jpg
old shwinn (not sure how old)
drop bars cut to pursuits, and all the cable hangers and braze ons and what not have been shaved... it also currently clear coated over that amazing paint job... the only parts worth mentioning are the campy rear hub and the speedplays...

This is my track bike set for sprints. I also use it on the road for training. This is at the Québec city track. I arrived late at the races and was just fighting with the bike to be on time for the starts!:p

my favorite:
van tuyl 50cm pursuit frame w/kinesis 650c STRAIGHT blade forks (barspins, people, barspins) high flange dura-ace hubs, cxp33 rims, selle italia flite TI seat, sugino 75 cranks, campy bottom bracket, time alum pedals.
http://pages.emerson.edu/students/justin_pyatt/media/images/vantuyl.jpg


my baby:
lotus 48cm track frame, phil woods laced to black open pros with black spokes (radial front, 3x rear), old dura-ace road cranks, beefy BMX chain, cnielli pista bars (not pictured, but they're on there now, i swear!), suntour superbe seatpost.
http://pages.emerson.edu/students/justin_pyatt/media/images/lotus.jpg


the bastard child:
romic 49cm track frame. crazy stupid geometry. dura ace hedaset, suntour bottom bracket. campy dropouts in the rear. crazy eagle emblem on the forks.
http://pages.emerson.edu/students/justin_pyatt/media/images/romic1.jpg

i'd have it built up, but every time i build it, 1) i have to take the lotus apart and 2) i end up hating it, 3) something stupid happens....yet, i still have it hanging in my bedroom.

Hey OneTinSloth, that is a nice frame you got there (the last one).
Who makes it? Romic? Can you give me more details about it? Material, geometry, website of maker, size.

What interest me are the chainstays. Because of the curved seat tube, the chainstays must be shorter, right?

Tell me more!

yeah, it's a Romic, custom built for a rider by the name of trey gannon (no clue who he is). there's a message written on the top tube signed by Ray Gasiorowski, who died in '96. the company is based in houston, TX.

my particular frame is made of reynolds 531.
seat tube: 49cm
top tube: 58cm
chainstay: 38cm from center of dropout to center of BB

all measurements are center to center.

the weridest thing about the frame aside from the super long TT, is the fact that when it's all built up, the seat post is almost straight up and down. it looks pretty gross, but it rides pretty smooth. someone actually said to me once that this was the best they've ever seen a curved seat tube look, i had to disagree. older KHS aero frames look MUCH better.

all the welds on it are emaculately smooth, and the seat stays are that cool diamond shape tubing.

this is a website that i found for info on romic http://tandem-fahren.de/Mitglieder/Christoph_Timm/Romic.htm which has their contact info, but no official company website.

it's a decent frame, pretty stiff, i just don't like the long-ass top tube. last time i set it up though it felt pretty good, but my cranks didn't fit right on the spindle...they were SUPER loose and creaky. they're old dura-ace road cranks that fit fine on a shimano UN7-something BB, or on a campy BB spindle...the one on the romic is a suntour. i keep going back and forth on whether or not to sell it, because it's a great frame (nicer materials than my lotus), but it just doesn't fit me right.

i picked the frame up used at my LBS.

if you have any other questions, or something email me at bob_thesofaking AT yahoo.com

Originally posted by Track lover
Hey OneTinSloth, that is a nice frame you got there (the last one).
Who makes it? Romic? Can you give me more details about it? Material, geometry, website of maker, size.

What interest me are the chainstays. Because of the curved seat tube, the chainstays must be shorter, right?

Tell me more!

I don't think the chainstays would be shorter, but the wheelbase overall should be shorter since the rear wheel can sit closer in to the curved area.

-Jason

the wheelbase isn't shorter, due to the EXTREMELY long top tube. the TT on my lotus is around 52cm, and the TT on my pursuit bike is about 51cm. by contrast, the TT on the Romic is 58cm. what results is a really short-feeling rear end, a super long front end. and since the head tube angle is pretty steep (not sure what it is exactly), it steers kinda quick. all these things add up to this bike riding like crap unless it's set up JUUUUST perfect, and by perfect, i mean everything, seat angle, seat position, seat post height, stem length, stem height, handlebar position, chain tension all has to be perfectly dialed in down to the mm. also, the weird seat tube angle (almost straight up and down) combined with the long top tube, and my being rather short forces me to push the seat really far forward in the seat guts, which results in the feeling that the BB is directly underneath you while pedaling. and THAT leads to leaning really far forawrd and putting a lot of pressure on your hands and wrists at the handlebars.

the bike really forces you into a strange position. i'm convinced that whoever this "trey gannon" is, he must have had the lower body of a 5'6"-ish person with the upper body and arms of a 6'4"-ish person, or he was/is an orangutan.

Originally posted by Bigwheel
BikerRyan - Who makes the chain tensioner that you have on the Gary Fisher? Does it work well?

You all have very nice bikes. shrimpx, I also gotta say the crankset on your Nishiki really gets my attention, tell us more. Nice looking bike.

The chain tensioner is made by Surly, your lbs should be able to get one for you. It works very well and it comes with two springs - one for pushing down, the other for pushing up so you can choose which setup works best for your ride.

-Ryan

Here's a pic of me on the way to work, via the LFP in Chicago (the rifle is for rollerbladers).

OK, here's my latest Fixed/SS bike. I couldn't figure out whether I wanted a road fixed gear, or a trail-riding SS, so I compromised.

Specs:
Arraya rims (touring bike)
Sovos flip/flop hub
16 tooth fixed, 18 tooth free
Shimano 600 Crankset
45 tooth Salas inner ring, 42 tooth Shimano 600 outer ring
KMC track chain, with half-link
Profile stem and bullhorn bars
bar-end levers
Dia-Compe rear caliper
cheap cantilevers front
cheap aftermarket fork
Specialized Nimbus 700x38 tires
Brooks saddle
Kalloy seatpost

Bianchi Pista 2003
Soma Rush Fork
Nitto Drop Bars
Open Pro/Promax Wheels
Spray Paint Decal Removal


cory

http://www.anti-robot.com/media_stockpile/grunk_track.jpg

hey Grunk how did u remove the decals.. i was looking to do that too.

I used a Rustoleum Grey spray paint. The decals are still underneath. I didn't even take the bike apart. It matched up pretty good.

cory

Grunk........nice rims.......what are they??

Here's my first singlespeed bike :) Done on the cheap with a lot of bits I've taken off my other bikes.

Circa '98 Ridgeback aluminum frame.
XT Cranks from ebay
XT Levers swap-outs from the LBS
Surly Singulator from ebay
Chainrings and cogs from ebay
Wheels from my MTB that's getting converted to disc brakes
Bontrager bar that I swapped for a flat bar on my hybrid
Stem from my wife's old GT MTB
Etc. etc..

Currently riding 32x16 with the intention of slowly increasing that as I develop some hill climbing legs :)

http://home.earthlink.net/~ianandandrea/ss-sideon.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~ianandandrea/ss-drivetrain.jpg

Think I'm about 1mm off a perfect chainline:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ianandandrea/ss-chainline.jpg

Cheers,
Ian

Originally posted by George
Grunk........nice rims.......what are they??

i believe he or she said they are mavic open pros.

MinesAPint try removing some links from the chain and setting the singlator to push up instead of pull down. i read on the surly site that that's the way it's supposed to go if you want to avoid the chain skipping over the freewheel teeth. (it's not like it'll actually happen, but it'll allow more freewheel teeth to engage the chain, and i think it looks a little better too).

Originally posted by OneTinSloth
MinesAPint try removing some links from the chain and setting the singlator to push up instead of pull down. i read on the surly site that that's the way it's supposed to go if you want to avoid the chain skipping over the freewheel teeth. (it's not like it'll actually happen, but it'll allow more freewheel teeth to engage the chain, and i think it looks a little better too).
Ah, I wish that worked for me :( The chainstays on that frame are somehow quite low and only really allow the Singulator to push up a cm or so, not enough to take up much slack. Also, although it may not look it, there's just fractionally under 1 link of slack chain there, I just can't quite remove it. I'm considering trying 34/17 or 36/18 since the larger cog in the back might allow the Singulator to push up more... either that or a half link :confused:

yeah, a different gear ratio will definitely change how the chain meets up at the end, you might actually end up finding the perfect SS gearing for that bike, which would allow you to forgo the singleator altogether, which would be really hot. it looks to me like you could take at least two links out of that chain (especially with the singlator in the pull down position), but i've never really worked with a singlator before, so i'm not familiar with it's particulars...anyway, i like the way that bike looks.

it's so frustrating when you're less than half a link away from getting the chain perfect...

oh, quick question for anyone out there: why do people run easy gear ratios on MTB singlespeeds? shouldn't i be able to run a 44/16 on a MTB? i bet it probably has something to do with frame geometry and wheel size...

Originally posted by OneTinSloth
oh, quick question for anyone out there: why do people run easy gear ratios on MTB singlespeeds? shouldn't i be able to run a 44/16 on a MTB? i bet it probably has something to do with frame geometry and wheel size...

I can't see anything that would stop me running 44/16 or any other ratio on my MTB. I think that most people have them set up that low so they can still make some pretty steep climbs off road. As for me I have some fairly decent hills on my commute and I went for a ratio such that I can't QUITE get to the top of the steepest (I've only recently stopped being unfit and non-exercising). When I can make that climb I'll try a slightly higher gearing.

This is the first fixed gear i've built, and my first post. I built this up a week ago and it is a blast to ride. I bought the frame at a garage sale and built it up with parts from around the house. The wheels are off of my Steamroller, although they are returning to the Surly soon. My plan for this bike is to make a single speed once I figure out the brake situation for it.

Nice old Trek there. Any info on it?

The Trek was a garage sale find from my Grandfather. He picks up old road bikes for me. I took most of the parts from it and built up a geared bike for a friend, then put on a 165mm Sugino crank, DIY bullhorns, borrowed the seat/post from my mtn. bike. This is set up with a 15t cog and a 42t chainring right now. Its is a lot of fun to ride, but I need to play with the drivetrain so that I can move the wheel back in the dropouts a bit for a touch more tire clearance. The Michelin Jet barely fits in back. I will mess with that when I turn it into a single speed.

Originally posted by Grunk
Bianchi Pista 2003
Soma Rush Fork
Nitto Drop Bars
Open Pro/Promax Wheels
Spray Paint Decal Removal

cory


just wondering... why did you purchase a new bianchi if you were planning on replacing the handlebars/wheelset/chainring/fork?

seems that you could have built a much better bike for the price of the pista plus the price of those parts. maybe i'm wrong.

I already had the wheels on my road fix conversion, along with the bars. The bike shop swapped the chainring for me for free. The fork was the only thing I bought. It was $90. Now I have two bikes. One that is too small, but I leave at a friends house so we can go on spontaneous rides. And the Bianchi, which I commute to work on everyday. i guess buying another complete bike allowed me to have two bikes, but put the good components on the frame that actually fits me.

ah, that makes sense.

Finally, here's my fixie:

Motobecane Super Mirage, stripped, painted (rust-o-leum), 42x16. The only non-converted part is the rear wheel, which is a Suzue Basic F/F on MA3 rims with DuraAce cog and Surly lockring.

I'm loving every minute of it.

Thanks to all for your help getting here.

single gearing must be really light.