frame purchase advice to build ss badly needed
 

Hi there - am totally new to this site so first thanks for time to read this and please point me to any other threads which might help.

I am looking to put together a single speed bike for commuting every day. The ride is about 10km. I have ridden a Diamond Back hybrid for about 15 years. It weighs a ton and I would like to put together something much lighter so I can increase my distances. Single Speeds look like fun and good training too. I have a bad back but since I have put the handlebars up an inch or two have been able to commute again with not too much trouble. I dont need anything special just a fun fast commuter. I would probably put bullhorns on it, they look like they might gove me an OK riding position. I also don' twant to end up getting a frame and then having to spend heaps on fitting it out.

So this brings me here...I have been hunting around for frames on ebay but realise I have no idea what I am looking for. I don't know much about frame geometry, but for example this frame...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....1316&rd=1&rd=1

...which I have been watching seems to be strange shape at 55 x 55 cm when compared to my hybrid! Would it be a good starting point to build something up? What sort of effect would this sort of geometry have? I'm 5'10" so assume most medium to large frames would be OK.

Heres another frame I have seen on ebay - is it ok to use a standard road frame or is there stuff I need to watch out for?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Giant-CFR-1-57cms-Full-Carbon Frame_W0QQitemZ180106276633QQihZ008QQcategoryZ7298QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As you can probably tell, I dont know heaps about bikes. I have been riding the one bike for years and Im just now stating to get excited about bikes. Wierd. Any ideas advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Cal.

Thanks. This site rocks - I have been looking at the picture thread its really helpful. Have noticed that all the bikes on the pics seem to have rear drop outs. Are they necessary or not? Do I need some sort of chain tensioning mechanism if the frame has no drop outs? I saw a guy without one last week but not too sure how he got his chain right - it actually looked a little loose to me.

I think you're a bit confused on terminology. All road bikes have dropouts. Track bikes have track ends (commonly also called drop outs). You're thinking of the difference between vertical and horizontal drop outs.

That being said, the first frame you linked (I didn't look at the second) might cause an issue with getting the right amount of chain tension since it has vertical dropouts. You could perhaps get it right by using a half link, but your best bet would be to buy an Eno Eccentric rear hub and build a wheel around it. That hub will allow you to get the right chain tension even on vertical dropouts like on that frame.

Thank you for the info almost all of the frames I have been looking at have vertical drop outs. I will try and find an old frame with horizontal drop outs to try and keep cost down.

too bad you missed the iro group buy. god what an amazing deal we got on those eh??