Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - swobo del norte

hey anyone own one of these? is it a good bike? i'm thinking of updating my old kabuki racing bike to a single gear bike and have no idea what to upgrade too. if anyone has any advise or opinions it would be very appreciated. thanks

why not just convert your old bike? does it have horizontal dropouts?

wow that is a great idea!!! i'm ashamed it never even crossed my mind. i'm fairly uneducated in bicycle lingo so i'm not sure what you're asking. it pretty much looks like this:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/images/kabuki3.jpg

I'm guessing all i would need to do is replace the gears and chain. do you know of any good references i can use to get started?

thanks for your help

it isn't really possible to tell from that pic, although I'm guessing it likely has horizontal dropouts...

the dropout is where the rear triangle meets the backwheel's hub, check out the following page, there are pics of both:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropout_%28bicycle_part%29)

The Del Norte is a great bike. My LBS got a few and they look and ride pretty nice. I just hate the bar tape that comes stock. Swobo seems to be a pretty solid company.

i have been riding a 60cm swobo del norte for about 8 months.

it is a sharp looking bicycle (matte green frame, straight bladed fork, black and red components, shiny bar tape).

but at 739.00 i thought bike seemed a little over priced to me considering it is a basic single speed bicycle.
i was replacing a franken-trek 8000 atb i had eccentric-ed (white indus.) and the swobo was a gift.

after assembly i immediately noticed the stock pedals popped and cracked under load - this was disappointing. so i bought new pedals and no problems since.

the tektro brakes work fine.

the original shiny bar tape wasnt wrapped properly and after a dozen or so rides it began to unravel and bunch up.

the vittoria tires have held up well.

drivetrain has presented no problems - what appears to be a budget sugino crank, red v-rims and chain, some type of modified track hubs - all have worked well.

i found the 'track' style drop bars uncomfortable and replaced them with a nashbar riser bar, a single tektro atb lever, and added foam grips.

since then i have also installed a fixed cog (16t), the planet bike fenders sold at the swobo website, a dimension aluminum rear rack, a jandd handlebar bag and under seat bag (red), handlebar bottle holder and headlight.

so aside from the green/red color scheme the del norte i ride now looks quite different than what i received.

i have only been riding fixed gear for a few months - but now the bike seems to handle well and is a joy to ride. i am 6'3" and right at 200 lbs. i do notice some frame flex yet the bike is quiet and nimble.

i pop up over curbs, ride off of curbs, ride brick sidewalks, over shallow potholes, some dirt/gravel paths - i dont thrash the bike but i ride it over unfriendly terrain at times - and it seems to be holding up well.

i would recomend looking around some (here perhaps http://www.missionbicycle.com/ ) but if you like the color scheme and specifically want a single speed/fixed bike , mine has held up pretty well.