Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - First Bike Build, Single Speed

So, I saw this Raleigh frame for sale, it was in my size so I figured it might make an ok bike to ride to school. So I started shopping and deciding what to do to it, I decided on a flip flop, and that my main focus was going to be single speed to start and then try out fixed gear. My LBS sourced me a crank and cogs as well as a lock ring and a bottom bracket. I picked up some track wheels online:

http://flybikeshop.com/merchant/1517/images/large/71511.jpg

and some other parts from a forum member 55/Rad-
Dia Compe Brake Levers, Ritchey Pro bullhorns and a 3t quill that has a gorgeous smokey tint

(Pic courtesy of 55/Rad)

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4476/g3eu8.jpg

It does not have the elk hide bar wrap as pictured ill be doing something a little different.

I Picked up some Tektro Long Reach brakes as well.

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/brc383.jpg

and a 105 Headset

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/HD8456.jpg

and some MKS Flat Pedals with toe clips

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/mks-syl-road.jpg

I still have to figure out what saddle and post to go with, i believe my post diameter is 26mm but i cant really find much so any input would help.

Here are pictures of the frame, I'm not sure on the year, but I believe its a Raliegh Marathon, I got new decals on the way, I'm trying to decide if I should sand it down and respray and then sticker it, then clear coat it. Any input will help, thanks for looking!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0633.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0636.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0634.jpg

That frame is beautiful. If the paint is somewhat decent with only a few minor chips and scratches, I would keep it. Rattle-can spray paint is a messy job and will most likely result in something entirely dissatisfying. Perhaps you can buff out some of the nicks and then have a shop spray a fresh (professional-grade) clear coat on it.

Great picture thread, by the way, and I can't wait to see the building process!

Thanks a lot, ill keep this thread updated!

woot! in for more. looks like the start of an awesome build

finally another build thread that has photos! stoked!

haha thanks guys, as for more photos, here are some of the stickers that i got, havent really decided if i wanna put them on, and if so which ones, but i figured it would look cool with some.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/f5f9_1.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/f61a_1.jpg

when i got the frame, the stickers were already removed, but you can see that the clear coat was so old that they just peeled it away from the clear

...but you can see that the clear coat was so old that they just peeled it away from the clear

I doubt it was clear coated. My understanding is that clear coat is mostly a new process that came in to being as a way to have a good finish with environmentally freindly (low VOC) paints.

None the less - that looks like one of the top or near top of the line Raleigh frames - Likely 531 DB. I look forward to seeing the final product!

Rick

where did you find your decal sets? i was thinking about getting some fuji decals, but havent really found any yet.

Oh thanks for the info rick, and hockdub, i found those decals on ebay, of course, haha.

for sure, i figured thats what you might say. hah. might have to do something with my friends vinyl cutter. did you get your wheelset from flybikes?

yeah i did, they actually called me today and said a new set of wheels was gonna be coming in, the set they had in had a scratch in the brake surface, so they should be shipping soon, i figured it was a pretty good price, and i liked the black wheels, ill let everyone know how they ride

i went through them because they are in denver, close to where i live. took me a while to get them from them, lets just say they are kind of crappy to deal with. you may have a better experience than i, but hey, ive heard that they provide crappy service from time to time. wheels look good, flybikes does have good prices though.

yeah, we shall see, but i think im going to get a honey colored brooks saddle and do gold bar tape to play with the frame sticker color, and it looks like just about everything for this conversions on the way! Ill post more pictures as the parts actually show up.

woot beautiful frame, u sure u wanna decal it?

I'm still not sure if I am or not, I guess ill decide when the decals get here and im able to see how they look

The wheels look great, what brand are they? Are they from an online store?

Yeah they are from an online store,


DON'T LET THE PRICE FOOL YOU! We have purchased 40 sets and got a smoking deal that we are passing along to you. Here is a really nice track wheelset that is built by hand in the USA. The formula hubs have sealed bearings and spin SUPER smooth. The rear hub is a flip flop (single speed/track hub) which will allow you to run a fixed cog on one side and a freewheel on the other side so you can run it either way just by flipping the wheel around. They do not have quick release skewers the hubs bolt on like true track hubs should. The spokes are DT Swiss stainless steel made in Switzerland. The rims are from Weinmann and if you aren't familiar with Weinmann's products, they are made in France and are super high quality. The braking surface is black with a black stripe in the center that looks really trick. This is a really nice wheelset made with quality parts and the all Dark Gray finish will look great on any color bike. The rear hub is spaced at 120mm.
HUBS: Formula flip flop with sealed bearings (Black)
RIMS: Weinmann XTR 16 622x16 (black)
SPOKES: DT 2.0 stainless steel (black)
SPOKE COUNT: 32

The Price was $165 here is a link
http://flybikeshop.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=433

they have an ebay store with tons of other wheels too. some that are not listed on their site.

where did you find your decal sets? i was thinking about getting some fuji decals, but havent really found any yet.


eBay and BF member jrestore can help you.

Its gonna be killer! More pics pleez! :)

those bullhorns are sweet!

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I'm used to car forums so posting pictures of everything is a must haha. I might just throw on my ksyriums and see how the frame works as a rolling bike haha. If i do, ill post pictures

The wheels look great, what brand are they? Are they from an online store?

I was just gonna say. That dark matte grey is ultra sex. :love:

Ok so i stepped outside and threw these wheels on and make it look as good as i could with a 9 speed cassette on the other side lol, but I'm excited after just seeing a wheelset on it.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0641.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0640.jpg

Oh, and I need help choosing a saddle, i have an old black San Marco that I might just put on there for now, but I was considering a Honey colored brooks but idk how it would look.

looks sweet! i did the same thing with my roomies old steel wheels to see how it looked up off the ground. got me super pumped!

on those wheels, i see your running brakes, are those wheels suited for brakes? can you run a brake on a colored sidewall? or is it just black braking surface?

Those wheels have a black braking surface, which i think is sweet, thats why I actually have to wait a bit longer on the wheels, the brake surface on the wheelset they had in stock was scratched and they said they wanted me to have a perfect set.

Ok so i stepped outside and threw these wheels on and make it look as good as i could with a 9 speed cassette on the other side lol, but I'm excited after just seeing a wheelset on it.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0641.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0640.jpg

That is looking very good. Even though it will be a fixed-gear, I hope to see it maintain its original characters -- paint color, etc.

that's my plan

Those wheels have a black braking surface, which i think is sweet, thats why I actually have to wait a bit longer on the wheels, the brake surface on the wheelset they had in stock was scratched and they said they wanted me to have a perfect set.
Aren't the brake pads going to rub off the paint when you use them?

Im really not sure, we'll see i guess haha

So I'm gonna try and meet up with 5/Rad to pick up the brakes, handlebars and stem, ill get pictures up when I get them, and the headset, pedals and a bunch of the other stuff is shipping out today!

Oh, and I need help choosing a saddle, i have an old black San Marco that I might just put on there for now, but I was considering a Honey colored brooks but idk how it would look.

as long as you get the matching honey colored bar wrap! ;)

I think I'm gonna go with black after all! I'm gonna order that stuff tomorrow, aka the saddle, anyway, dropped the bike off at the LBS to get the headset pressed in and such, but tomorrow morning i should pick it up with the headset all fixed up, I have the bars, stem, and brake levers as well, so its starting to look like a bike! And i picked up Deda Olympic Gold bar tape to go with the white and gold Raliegh Stickers, and yes im going to put them on, make it look a little more stock Ill post pictures when i get the bike back!

wow that looks really good! it makes me wanna buy a frame and build a new bike. good luck to you im looking forward to the end result.

I have pictures!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0643.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0644.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/Subicru/DSC_0645.jpg

everything will hopefully be here to get the bike done around the 2 or 3rd of the month, I'm excited!

I also have a silver stem coming that is a bit longer, will help the fit of the bike for me, and look a bit better i think.

I also have a silver stem coming that is a bit longer, will help the fit of the bike for me, and look a bit better i think.

man i dont know... that stem is a nice color. I'm all for the classic silver look, but I rarely see stems that color. I think it would look really good if you were to match your cranks to it

Yeah man, I dig that stem color. I have some old Suginos, XCD6000 or something like that, from a late 80's/early 90's cross bike. They aren't as metallic, but the color is spot on. Color matched cranks can be found, and that would look really dope, especially with a black seatpost (you'll have a tough time finding a seatpost that color, so just go for black), black chainring (same reason), honey Brooks (get a swift or a swallow to match the streamlined look of the 'horns as well as the more hunched over positioning) with honey tape (white cork with amber shellac matches honey brooks well, or natch cork with clear shellac). That would be a super-classy speed machine.

I must say, i do love a good project thread. How much did the parts from 55/Rad run you? Looks good.

Yeah, I think I may just stick with it haha, I did end up going with a black brooks b17 special because i got a killer deal on it, and I think because it has the copper rivets and such, and my raliegh stickers are all gold, i may just go with some gold bar tape to see how it looks, should turn out good, and yeah, thats a killer idea matching the crank ring, i just gotta figure out what the bolt pattern is! Ummm as for the parts, let me see... for everything it was a total of 90 bucks and i picked them up so no shipping, he actually gave me another set of bars that would be perfect cut and flipped.

And btw, if anyone can track down a matching chain ring in a 48t let me know!

Some more stuff shipped!! I cant wait, it was good news after i got my wisdom teeth taken out this morning

So i got my brooks saddle and my black seatpost today, I still dont feel super good so I didnt snap pictures but yeah, it looks good! Gotta wait on my wheels next then i might just run it as a fixed for now till my brakes show up

I'm getting excited for you! It's looking good.

Hope you feel better soon. Keep us posted, with pictures too if possible.

BTW, what kind of new stem do you have coming your way? Color?

this is looking good, like i said above, i love project threads. good work keep the pictures coming, parts, everything pictures we all love them

I'm getting excited for you! It's looking good.

Hope you feel better soon. Keep us posted, with pictures too if possible.

BTW, what kind of new stem do you have coming your way? Color?

I have a Nitto stem on the way, its silver, I'll see once i get it which looks better but my brother is thinking about building a single speed too soon so either way the stems will get used, its this exact one.

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=7425&category=1728

But I think the silver won't clash like the grey might. And the saddle looks good on the bike! And I think it will look even better when i get the gold raliegh stickers on it to match a bit with the copper rails.

I have 2 black quill stems that i'm going to sell soon. i was gonna use them on my moser, but figured silver looks better w/red frames. black would look good on your frame.

So Fly Bike shop is kinda giving me the run around on the wheels... so I dont really know what to do now, anyone got any advice on a new set of wheels, I'm getting tired of waiting for the wheels even to ship. The other stuff came from Harris Cyclery back east before the wheels even shipped from colorado. So any help would be great on a wheelset, it needs to be brake compatible and hopefully in a black color, I dont want anything ****ty being that ill ride this every day, but i cant afford an amazing track set.

well scratch that, they just called me, looks like they should be shipping out today, if not, im canceling it, im tired of waiting for them to even ship, lol