SGMongoose

I've been looking through craigslist for a bike or frame to build a winter/leave outside commuter from. I'm trying not to spend too much on the frame.. but what i want is something lugged with decent steel, but nothing fancy... i rather not pay for a name

I guess I'm at a loss at where to start. I would really like a frame that takes as many ISO parts as possible.. specifically an ISO BB so i can upgrade the current BB on my bike.

So i guess what brands, makes, and years should i be looking for? or atleast which ones should i avoid?

Leukybear 

You want a bike/ frame with these:

Fixed Gear Conversions

There's WAY too many to go into detail but, I leave these points below if you want a conversion with a clean no rear derailleur/ tensioner look:

You need a frameset that has horizontal dropouts so you're able to adjust chain tension

Protips:
Avoid ALL cannondale road bikes; all vertical dropouts
Avoid ALL GT road bikes; either vertical dropouts or very short horizontal dropouts
Avoid newer Treks and specialized.
Avoid bikes with any carbon tubing whatsoever; chances are they have a vertical dropout
Be extra careful to pay attention to the drop outs of aluminum tubed bikes; very good chance of having vertical dropouts but there are plenty with horizontal dropouts however
Be careful of older treks, they are known for having very short horizontal dropouts
An easy way to tell is the type of shifter the bicycle uses, look for bikes with down tube shifters.


Off the top of my head, can't go wrong with older:
Schwinn
Miyata
Centurion
Peugeot (VO has solved the lack of french parts problem)
Raleigh
Fuji
Panasonic
Ross
Free spirit

Might cost more $, but who knows you might find a good deal on these brands:
bianchi
pinarello
olmo
rossin
bottecchia
colnago
cinelli
ciocc
faggin
de rosa
eddy merckx

hairnet

Most road bikes mid to late 80's and on should be what you are looking for. If in doubt you can ask about a bike in the C&V forum. Personally, I favor Japanese frames and with them I only have to measure the crown race to see if it is ISO or JIS.

Are you trying to build a whole new bike or move parts from your current frame to something else? I second Leuky that there is way too much info to easily type out here.

europa

Find a bike that's got horizontal dropouts, fits properly and is very nice to ride. If it doesn't fit or is rubbish with gears, it will be as a fg ... assuming the poor old dear doesn't steel wheels or something stupid like that.

CliffordK

What about adding "Track" or "Pista" to your searches. That may bring up some newer frames, although they may have steep seat tube angles and short wheelbases. Can you compensate for the seat tube angle with the seat and seat post position?

SGMongoose

Thanks! this is exactly the starting point i was looking for!

SGMongoose

I pretty much want a frame where i can add a crank and bb that i already have.. and buy a new wheelset, cog, and chain and be done.

Yeah, after i posted i realized my question was a big silly. But I'm thankful Leuky took the time to type that.

From what i understand tho, some of the older french bikes (peugeot, motobecane) or raleighs could have non ISO BB. How old is too old? is there a certain year where the majority started using ISO brackets? am i safer sticking with a japanese frame?

Also whats the deal with Univega, are there any worth looking at? it seems like the overwhelming majority of bikes available are that brand.

SGMongoose

I agree. thats defiantly something i need to keep in mind.. that i can't fix a poor riding bike just by removing its gears.

Thanks, i always do search those terms. But it seems anything with track dropouts always adds a few hundred to the price right off the bat. but i do keep an eyelet in case one comes up for the right price. Also i prefer a frame that has fender braze-ons on the drop outs, which the majority of road frames do.

nightfly

One that fits should be your first priority.

Second horizontal drop outs make your life easier but could get an Eno eccentric hub if you have a frame you love that doesn't have them and don't mind spending the money. Not ideal but doable.

I built up a beautiful old Italvega from the 70s. Chromed lugs, horizontal drop outs, no cable guides etc. Put on nice mostly vintage italian parts. But it didn't fit so all my hard work was for naught.

CliffordK

I've seen some people on this website that are rebuilding frames.

If you can do a little machine work or welding/brazing, then you should be able to put your own custom dropouts on the bike.

That would open you up to almost any steel framed bicycle frame.
Maybe some Aluminum frames.

And, if you could build custom dropouts, then you would even be able to modify some CF frames to suit your needs.

Frames with bad derailleur hangers often go for dirt cheap on E-Bay.

Huffandstuff

I'd just avoid French bikes all together, the old peugeots are a nice ride but still can be a pain with the odd sizing and you can get the Swiss threading which means a Phil wood bb. I have a preference for late 70s/early 80s Japanese bikes. Easy to find parts/frames and smooth riding.

TejanoTrackie 

Old French bikes from the 70s bike boom era are ok if you keep the stock parts and just freshen them up a bit. I converted an early 70s French Mercier into an SS, keeping the stock steel cottered cranks and bar/stem combo, and just got a nice set of 27" wheels with a 120mm flip/flop rear hub from Velomine for $119 + shipping. The only parts I replaced were the seatpost and saddle.

hairnet

Univega came out with some excellent bikes, but they made a wide range of high and low end bikes. American based so compatibility is no problem. I have an older high model that I adore.

Leukybear 

Haha I knew I was forgetting one of the biggies!
Yup, too many to name.

On a whim,
Benotto made good bikes too, might be cheap nowadays due to obscurity of name.

Six jours

JFWIW, I've come across quite a few 80s Centurions with vertical dropouts. The Raleigh Technium line from the same time period also sometimes have vertical dropouts or very short horizontal ones. (In addition to being generally crummy frames).

Providing a general list of brand names suitable to conversion is admirable (and ambitious) but probably doomed to failure.

Cute Boy Horse

I think french bikes have the same width of bottom bracket as the standard (68mm) so it's a matter of using a threadless cartridge BB or just changing the spindle.

The only raleighs you have to watch out for are the gas pipe ones, the ones that used raleigh branded parts. Those have wide (70mm or more) bottom bracket shells and nonstandard threads. I have one of these bikes, I cheated it by a combination of changing the spindle and screwing the cups in more than usual, but this barely leaves any room for the lockring.

Leukybear 

+1
It was off the top of my head with minimal research. Spoonfuls or even bags of salt should be taken.

Soo__Fuego

Nishiki bikes are also a decent road bike to convert and my areas CL is flooded with them.

Night_shift

I've got a 74 Bianchi Rekord and I have struggled for two years to restore it (with time period correct parts) or to rebuild it as a SS/FG. Problem is it's made of HI-10 Gaspipe. and while it would weight ~20lbs as a SS/FG I already have a Wabi Classic so I'm not really sure to do with it.

JohnDThompson 

You can usually keep the original cups and just find a spindle to work with whatever crank you pick.

Huffandstuff

Yeah, my pnw mindset always goes towards sealed bearings, but while it's possible to just swap spindles, the OP doesn't even have a bike so why intentionally handicap yourself. Around here a Peugeot that isn't rotted out goes for 150-200 bucks anyways, I found an old fuji/miyata sister bike for forty bucks.

Plus if he's feeling with cottered cranks, he'll have to buy French cotters and have to find a shop with a press.

TL;DR : I'm still bitter about the old motobecane I owned.

SGMongoose

it's actually getting kind of frustrating... seems like everyone on craigslist thinks old equals vintage and collectible.

Six jours

You did better than I would have. I just mean to point out that there are probably exceptions to every brand a person could think of.

The short answer, IMO, is to find a frame with long horizontal dropouts, that weighs less than 10 pounds, and that isn't French. (Useful FG bikes can be made with all of those, but weeding them out helps prevent headaches for the inexperienced - we all remember our first French bike...)

SLY300

I have an '87 Puch Mistral I converted pretty easily. The drop outs aren't completely horizontal, but getting proper chain tension is very manageable. Most Puch frames are the same way from what I've researched.