Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Newbie question: Adive on components for a Steamroller

Hello guys,

I have a question/advice about assembling a fixed bike (more probably at first a single speed one to start up).
I’d do this using a Steamroller frame.
I have built various bike in the past but I’m a road bike king of guy, talk to me about Ultegra, Mavic wheels and other things.. I can handle that, but I’m a little bit lost in the single speed world.
Here is the list of part I’m looking at, I’d like to know if they make sense to build a SS from a Steamroller and if not what would be a better option. It will be used for comuting, and I need a rather reliable setup, my comute is 40km (25 mi)/day with a rather steep climb during 7 km (1/3 of the road) :

- Wheeset Miche Xpress
- Crank Miche Primato Advanced (one o the reason is that it is available with 175 arm, and I use 175 arms on my road bike, most of other offers are shorter.. I’m a tall guy)
- Bottom bracket Shimano un54 (68-107) or Miche Primato, preferably the Shimano one, as I have the tools for it
- Pig Aheadset FSA
- Shimano Freewheel
- Chain KMC Z510 HX (I don’y know this chain, I use Ultegra chains on my roadbikes, but a lot ot "of the shelves" fixed bikes seems to be fitted with this one
- Surly Tuggnut Chain Tensioner

Questions
1) Does all this make sense ?
2) what are the difficulties I have to be prepared for ?

Thanks in advance
Luc

The wheelset you mention has a rear flip flop hub that is fix/fix which won't let you safely use a freewheel on it. Unless you are very picky about components and you know why you are being picky I can almost guarantee that you are going to spend more than you would on a stock steamroller without much notable difference. As far as the cranks go, I use 180mm cranks on my touring bike and 170 on my fixed gear. 175s will be fine for riding single speed, but for fixed gear use you might want to reconsider. The issue with that is pedal strike, do a search on that topic and you will understand why most stock fixed gears come with shorter cranks. One other thing to remember is that the steamroller doesn't come with braze ons for a rear brake so you will need to use zip ties or something like this to secure the full length housing. http://allcitycycles.com/products/components/cable_clamps/

The wheelset you mention has a rear flip flop hub that is fix/fix which won't let you safely use a freewheel on it.

Nonsense.

The parts list looks fine, I don't see anything that stands out as being bad or unworkable. But why not just buy complete?


The wheelset you mention has a rear flip flop hub that is fix/fix which won't let you safely use a freewheel on it.

Wrong. I can't believe how many times I see this. You CAN put a freewheel on a hub threaded for a fixed cog and lockring.

- Crank Miche Primato Advanced (one o the reason is that it is available with 175 arm, and I use 175 arms on my road bike, most of other offers are shorter.. I’m a tall guy)
- Bottom bracket Shimano un54 (68-107) or Miche Primato, preferably the Shimano one, as I have the tools for it

I think the Shimano Bottom Bracket is JIS taper while the Miche is ISO. It might mess up your chain line a bit. I've had no luck using them interchangably, but others report a very different experience.

To use the shimano bb you just cant use the oddball 107mm spindle. Insteed you would need one that is 103mm wide.

Hello guys,

Thanks for your answers you're fantastic.

Why not buy a complete bike ? for two reasons.

1) I'm in France and here the Steamtroller is only available as a frameset

2) I like to build my road bikes, this way I know how things work and it's easier for me to do maintenance (and it's more fun). It's no more expansive on the long run (complete bikes are cheaper but when adding various upgrades..) and I find more interesting to understand what I ride, how it works and so on.
I've build all my road bikes. My current one been a beloved Cyfac. I use it for week end long rides, but also for comuting.. but I'd like to stop doing so because the day I'll crash, this will hurt my butt, but also my credit card...
The only bike I haven't build from scratch is my Dahon Vitesse (a folding )

Considering the crankset I just saw the SRAM S300 1.1 that seem a pretty good choice, cheaper than the Miche and with external bearing (I love the Ultegra Hollowtech II crankset on my Cyfac)

Luc

ps : fuzz2050 good point on ISO vs JIS I failed to notice this... thanks
renton20 : thanks for the All City cable clamp tip

I didn't like the stock components on the complete and built my own.

I ran 160 cranks on mine. You have to watch pedal strike, so shorter is better, particularly when cornering. I did it once and it scared the cr@p out of me!

You won't need a tensioner, I never had a problem with slippage and neither did any of my friends with 'Rollers. And I reckon IZUMI track chains are the best and last longest.

Good luck with your build.

I ran 160 cranks on mine. You have to watch pedal strike, so shorter is better, particularly when cornering. I did it once and it scared the cr@p out of me!


Hello Johnny

In fact at first I don't intend to ride fixed but singlespeed with a freewheel. I commute a minimum of 40kms/day (sometime clearly more) and 1/3 of my road is a very steep climb (or descent depending the way...) so I'll start with a freewheel and later, far later, if i feel confident enough...
It's the reason why I wan to set up my bike the way I set up my road bikes.

Luc

Why build a single speed for making a long hilly commute? Build a single speed and ride it around when you want, but it doesnt seem the most practical choice.

Why build a single speed for making a long hilly commute? Build a single speed and ride it around when you want, but it doesnt seem the most practical choice.

Hello Kayce

Good point.

I have used various kind of bike for my daily commute :
- an "hybrid" bike : not fun enough
- my road bike, a racing Cyfac : fantastic but if I hit the ground I'll destroy both my ass and my credit card
- a Dahon Vitesse folding bike (currently use this one) : fantastic, quick and good climber.. but I'll end by destroying the wheel with my "out of the saddle" climbing

I don't use gearing change on the Dahon or with the Cyfac, it's more fun when it climbs, so I'll built a single speed, for the fun of it, to taste the sensation and son on.

I know I'm a little bit crazy but my commute home->office MUST be fun.. I get often bored at the office, getting bored while I go there : no way :-)


The road is this one : Google Map (http://maps.google.fr/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=fr&msa=0&msid=206575952022518251227.0004a47985f7c0ddb5718&ll=49.023912,2.399826&spn=0.115268,0.304527&z=12)