jmonsw21

I just got an old Columbia 10 speed. All it says is USA Racing besides 10 speed and Columbia. I got it for $25 mostly because it came with a brand new bontrager race lux saddle (I needed a new saddle and didn;t wanna drop any $$$ on shipping).

The bicycle is pretty small, so its a good fit for me (52 cm or less I think) and I'm 5'3". Anyways, the tires are 26 x 1 3/8 and according to Sheldon's tire sizing this is typical of a juvenile road bike or those raleigh 3 speeds. I've been wanting to fix an old world sport I have but it didn't fit me well (55 cm) so I gave it to a friend. Now that I have a good fitting bike, I figure I should convert it to a fixed gear.

I was thinking about buying: https://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=3068 . If I were to do so, what more would I need to buy and how much more would I spend. What else would I need to do? I'm trying to follow the "fixed-gear on the cheap" article (https://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-...rsion.html#buy) but I'm not sure what steps buying a new wheel would accomplish. Also, what size tires would fit these wheels because I was experimenting with some 26 x 1.95" mountain tires I've got and they were way too small and when you put em side by side with the wheels, you can tell they wont fit no matter how much you stretch em. Would 26 x 1 1/4 work out?

Thanks.
-Joe

wearyourtruth

unfortunately 26x1 3/8 is one of those weird sizes where only tires that size are going to fit.

jmonsw21

Would I be able to put any other size wheels on the bike? Maybe my 26" mountain bike wheels with 26 x 1 1/4 slicks already on em?

Raiden

That's awesome that they offer exactly the wheel you need for the job. They do also sell those 26 x 1 3/8 tires... https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/590.html

All you need after that is your cog and lockring. I don't know exactly what cranks you've got, but I'm guessing they're the old style with hex bolts holding them together. You can do it on the cheap by just taking off one ring, but I suggest ripping the whole crankset and BB out and replacing it with something at least a *little* newer. You'd probably need a bottom bracket adapter of some kind, in addition to the new crank and bottom bracket.

For most conversions of old road bikes, I usually suggest going as cheap as possible, but what you're setting up is a little more unique than most. That rear wheel is totally worth it, and so

edit: I'm guessing your MTB wheels are going to have too wide of a hub to fit in the back of your bike. You could try a set of 700c track wheels, though.

Mos6502

I don't know what year your Columbia was made - but it SHOULD have enough clearance to run 27" wheels - or 700c.

There's really no reason you have to stick with the 26x1 3/8 size - the bike was designed to clear that size tire and have space for fenders (as the frames were originally intended primarily for singles speed coaster brake bikes and 3 speeds).

If you have a picture of your bike, that'd help.

itsIRIEpat

Show us a picture. Might be you can only fit those small children road bike sized wheels onto that frame. That is if it was made for the little fellers.

CaptainCool

650B wheels are 584mm, so if you can drop your brake pads 3mm, they'll still fit. 650B tires are uncommon but not that weird.

Even if 26" or 700c wheels fit the frame, you might have a hard time finding new brake calipers that will reach to the rim.

jmonsw21

Theres a picture. Man its a pretty low end department store bike, I can say that for sure. Maybe I'll just sell it when I pu tht tires on it. I bought 2 tires and 3 tubes from niagara cycles for $39 including shipping . I can always buy one of those pre made fixies for around $320 with a flip flop hub and all but that doesn't seem as fun. What do you guys think?

not_jason

That's your call. A lot of people are going to tell you to sell the frame and save up for a better bike. Those people are right in that it will give you a better bike, but you are correct in that it's a lot less fun. I personally think you should go for it and build this up. However, you should always keep the following in mind and never forget it: This is a cheap bike, and the most valuable part of it will the the pieces you add to it. So my advice is that you set an arbitrary limit of something like 150 bucks, and go for it.

- buy that 26" wheel kit from harriscyclery
- buy a cog and a lockring
- buy a chain
- (controversial) don't bother replacing the crank. a 3 piece will be better and lighter, but the 1 piece will work and be a hell of a lot cheaper. Just replace the double chainring with a BMX sprocket. This is how I have my own bike set up and it works fine.
- put it all together.

Mos6502

That's not so bad. I was expecting one of the older Columbias. This one would be roughly equal to a low end foreign ten speed, and those are really popular for conversions. Once you get rid of some of the steel components, you'd have decently light bike.

You get some pretty awesome chainrings for one piece cranks too.

Although if you have access to a friends 27" or 700c wheels, you might try those for fit first before ordering the 26" wheel - in case you take the bike about and sell it later, those more modern wheels will be easier to sell off (or to keep for different frame).

HandsomeRyan

Those wheels from Harris should be good. CR-18 is an often under appreciated but rock solid rim!

Raiden

Did it come with a front wheel? If not, you'll probably want to buy a new one while you're ordering that rear wheel. Sticking a mismatched size like a 700c might work, but managing multiple sizes of tubes and tires is annoying, and the bike might ride or look funny.

jmonsw21

It did indeed come with a front wheel and rear wheel. I had taken them off to take off the old cruddy tires and tubes (the front was actually holding air but still seemed rather rotten and the rear was flat and even more cruddy). I was thinking of just keeping the front wheel and not buying it but harriscycles offers free shipping on orders over $100 so it would be like taking $9 of the $30 dollar front wheel making it rather appealing. I don't know about you guys but I hate paying for shipping.

jmonsw21

Alright. I got the wheel. Man, getting a whole new crankset sounds like it'd be expensive. I was looking at some chainring bolts also on Harris: https://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=680
Maybe that would be a solution although I must admit new cranks would be much better looking and reliable. I definitely don't want to be riding with two chain rings so maybe I can just keep the chainring and buy the crank alone with no chainring for cheap? Example: https://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1215
How would the sizes for something like that work out and how about the lock ring sizes?
Also, would I be able to take off a cog from my old wheel's cassette?
Sorry to pile up the questions!

not_jason

- upgrading to a 3-piece crank would be fairly expensive. not only would you need new crank arms and a chainring, but you would also need a new bottom bracket and the adapter required to make it fit into your frame. For the quality of the bike, I don't personally think it's worth it. As for it being more "reliable", I don't think that's necessarily true. 1-piece cranks are undesirable largely for their weight, but a consequence of that is that they are nearly indestructible.

- you don't need to replace the entire crankset in order to get a single chainring. In fact, 1-piece cranks are MUCH more convenient for chainwheel switching. Pretty much all 1-piece crank sprockets are interchangeable. All you need is a sprocket made for a BMX. Most older and cheaper BMXs used 1-piece cranks, and sprockets are available in nearly every tooth count you could think of.

- Your old wheel didn't have a "cassette", it had a "freewheel". Many people don't realize there's a difference. Regardless, the answer is no. If you plan to run it as a fixed gear, you will need a real cog and a lockring build for that purpose. If you want a single speed with coasting, you'll need a single speed freewheel.

jmonsw21

Thanks for the correction about the cassette thing and the opinion about the crankset. So, taking that option (keeping the 1-piece), I need to get a sprocket made for BMX as in the chainring part? If so, I would then connect it to the cranks with those bolts I had mentioned from Harris?

The cog and lockring part seem simple enough.

Mos6502

Ok first thing first, your bike has a one piece ashtabula crank. That crank will only work with chainrings designed for a one piece crank.... or "You can also buy a spider or "power disc" that fits onto the one-piece crank as a normal chainweel does, but which has holes to accept stanard 110 mm or 130 mm BCD (Bolt Center Diameter) chainrings. This allows the use of high-quality 3/32" chainrings designed for derailer use. Most "power" discs will work with either the 110 mm or the 130 mm size."

Read this page: https://sheldonbrown.com/opc.html

You can convert to other styles of cranks, Harris sells kits to allow you to do so, but really there's not anything to be gained. You'll lose a little weight, but that's about it.

The cool thing about one piece cranks, is that there are some crazy chainring designs for them:
https://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=one...sacat=0&_rdc=1

not_jason

I use "chainring" and "sprocket" sort of interchangeably. There's some subtlety to when I use which, but for the most part, forgive the fact that it's confusing.

a chainring bolts to a 3 piece crank arm using (usually) 5 bolts, but a one piece crank connects in a different manner. All you really need is the sprocket. you don't need to worry about any special bolts.

as the other guy said, read Sheldon's page on one-piece cranks. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

not_jason

Sorry for the double post: Another thing you could do is modify your current double chainring to make it into a single. The picture makes it look as though the outer chainring is riveted to the inner chainring. If that's the case, you can drill out the rivets and remove the outer chainring. The downside of this is that the inner chainring may well be too small for your preferences. If it's any less than 40 teeth, I'd recommend against bothering with this method, because the gear ratio would be far too low for comfort. I did this with an old Free Spirit of mine, and it was way too slow.

jmonsw21

Alright so how about chain size? I should get the rear cog and the chainwheel for 1/8" or 3/32 (or whichever was the regular derailer size). The chains are all one length?

By the way: Thanks to everyone for helping me out I've learned a lot I didn't know just about anything about. Big help!

not_jason

I often times tend to go with 1/8" stuff. The good thing about an 1/8" chain is that it will also work with 3/32" cogs and chainwheels. I often times end up mismatching components (using a 3/32 chain and a 1/8 freewheel). It's fine as long as the chain physically fits.

shecky

My fixed gear is a 60s Huffy that started life as a three speed with 590 tires. It's a great bike that happens to fit it's cuurrent 27" wheels. Still has a one piece crank. There are times when such a bike is suitable to fixed conversion.

But all this was done on the cheap knowing what will and won't work for a fixed gear. The bad thing about that Columbia is that the one piece crank on it is the crappy variety. They are instantly recognizable since they look like a simple steel bar bent into a Z shape, with the drive pin tacked on. I'm an advocate of decent, inexpensive one piece cranks. But yours are not those kind. They have at least two weaknesses. The threaded areas for the pedals are typically weak, and the drive pin may not be secure. If you are to run a one piece crank, especially on a fixed gear, BMX, or any bike that's going to be used with significant time out of the saddle, the type to have is the one piece forged such as not jason's pictured in post #19. Those types are extremely durable. No expensive, but still more stuff you'll have to buy to make the Columbia into a reasonable fixed gear. May as well throw in a heavy duty BB set while you're at it.

That Columbia would be a nice challenge. It will also be a money pit unless you have a boneyard of parts to hack together something workable, and the knowledge to make it so. I'm guessing by your post that you may be better off buying an inexpensive pre-made bike.

ianjk

IMO, investing into a hi-ten bike with stamped & crimped dropouts, one piece crank, 1/2" pedals, and odd-sized wheels that won't likely transfer to your next bike/project is a bad idea.

jmonsw21

I recently took apart the bottom bracket and crankset of the bike and I've learned a lot from it. Hands on work really makes you understand what everyone is saying. Anyways, I was thinking of just getting a new crank and chainring which would probably run me about $40 and wouldn't require all of the bottom bracket business that a three piece would so it wouldn't be SO bad. I realize I'm losing money on this whole deal because its gonna be just about impossible to move the $100 wheelset onto a new bike if I ever decide to. I already have them and I can always return them (I haven't used them/taken them out of their wrapping yet) and take a small loss on shipping it back but they're already here. So, if I were to keep the wheelset what kind of one piece crank is the good kind. I was checking them out on ebay after searching "one-piece crank" and this is what I got.
https://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=one...ring&_osacat=0
Anybody want to point out a better type than the one I've got? Here's a picture of mine:





I was also wondering whether I should take size into consideration? I'm pretty sure mine is a 175mm so would a smaller one reduce pedal strike chances and allow me to lean into turns harder?

Another question I have is: I'm attempting to take off the chainring and I'm not sure whether the big bolt holding it together is left hand threaded or regularly threaded. Its pretty solid so I want to be sure before I accidently tighten it further.

And finally: does anybody think I should just return the wheels and try to see if a 700c or 27 inch would work?
Thanks again. I'm getting back to this project because I just sold an amp for a couple hundred dollars B-)

Mos6502

Well for out an out strength, probably nothing will beat a Schwinn crank such as this: https://cgi.ebay.com/no-sa1773-schwin...item4a9c7f9b2f

Note how thick the arm is at the center. Just look on ebay for a schwinn crank, there's probably tons. Just make sure you get a real one, and not a kiddy sized short armed one.

Course it'll weigh a ton, but it'll also survive a nuclear holocaust.

I'm like 99.8% positive 27" wheels will work on your bike. The only way to really know if take measurements of the fork, or just borrow a wheel and put it on. You might try just taking the frame to a bike shop if none of your friends has a bike with 27" wheels you can use to test fit.