noisebeam

I plan to convert my old 62cm Centurion Le Mans 12 to fixed. I've read Sheldon's 'fixed' pages as well as the 'convert on the cheap' page.

Here is the bike
Early to Mid-80s, 30mm horizontal dropout, 125mm rear hub spacing, CroMo Steel.
Hubs: Suzue 3 H LPF
Rims: ARAYA 27"x1-1/4" 36 spoke
Brake: Dia-Compe side pull (front ones are staying on)
Handlebar: SAKAF Custom Road Champion, 38cm
Cranks: Sugino GT 175mm.
Chainrings: 40/52 mount to both a 110mm and 185mm bolt diameter on the spider which has a built in chainwheel disc
Shifters: Suntour arx, with bolt on stem mounted shifters (no frame lugs)

Here are my thoughts...
I was leaning towards buying a new fixed rear wheel, but I guess I'm stuck to 27" (are choices more limited?) and also it wouldn't match front wheel. I could convert rear wheel, but I understand this is less than ideal.
Do I need a new crank and arms because of the funny spider? I also may want shorter length cranks.

What general advice can anyone give. I'd like to get something rideable quick and dirty, but also don't want to go down a path where I'd be better spending a bit more upfront instead of having to discard new items if I upgrade as I go. (i.e. I could convert rear wheel, but then I may want something better soon ?)

Anyway I'm excited about this, putting my old 12 speed to good use (it even has a dusty weather damaged overstretched Brooks on it)

Al

BostonFixed

Step 1: Take off all derailleurs and shifty bits. Build a large fire. Burn.

Step 2: Buy a new 27" Fixed rear wheel from sheldon, for $100, or have a LBS build one up for you, or go the loctite/bb lockring 'suicide' method. Buy track cog. Install.

Step 3: Cut chain to size, maintaining tension with the rear dropouts, using probably the middle ring. For a cleaner look, buy some single stack chainring bolts and ditch one of the rings. You might have to buy a new chain, depending on the severity of the wear on your current chain.

Step 4: Remove back brake (optional). Ride, then eat pie!

Total cost, about $150 with the proper fixed wheel, probably slightly more/less if you have to/don't have to replace old cables, brake pads, tires, etc.

icithecat

Step 5: If you like it, ride it to death while saving up for your dream bike.

cabana 4 life

im doing the same thing with an old schwin ,i dont want to buy a new rear wheel.
will a track cog just screw on to the treaded hub, and if so how do get it to lock on.my goal is to do this as cheap as i can grand total so far 7 dollars for a new tube, dont want to put alot of money in to a varsity

thanx

ink1373

just get a new rear wheel. show some freaking devotion. prove it to us that you aren't just going to ride it until it isn't cool.

cabana 4 life

its not about if im cool or not, i just want to do it myself its any one can just buy a wheel ,i want to learn what its like to ride a bike i worked on.

BostonFixed

Yes. You will need loctite or JB weld to secure the cog to your hub, and then use an old BB lockring to provide a little more security.
Note, this method is called the 'suicide' or 'bumbike' method for obvious reasons... search on those terms for more info...

cabana 4 life

bumbike is what i,have its a brown varsity . if the shoe fits . and thanx for not being a d**k

Cynikal 

Just keep the brakes on it and you will be fine. If you dig it then move up to a correct set of track wheels and a better frame. But for a beater you can't beat a varsity.

ink1373

man, there's some fragile people on this board...

if you want to know what its like to ride a bike you worked on, build a proper fixed wheel.

of course, maybe you'll figure it all out (or give up) after you hurt yourself on your suicide hub. suits me fine.

noisebeam

Thanks... This is the plan I had in mind (Sheldon's fixed 27" wheel), but before I stripped everthing I wanted to buy parts first.
The crankset is a double - the outerring is 185mm BCD (strange), the inner 110mm. I wonder if I can cut (machine) the outer part (including the chainguide) off ? That would be much cleaner looking.
I do want to put time into the bike and clean up the frame, grind off cable guides, etc.
Al

isotopesope

175 cranks are going to be too long, especially for a conversion fixie. you're more than likely going to scrape a crank or pedal when cornering.

isotopesope

HAHAHAHA

fujifan

Hey Noisebeam, I just got done converting my mid eighties centurion accordo into fixed gear just this weekend... It sounds like we have VERY similair components: 27" ARAYA rims, SUZUE hubs, SAKAF handlebar, Sugino cranks (52/40) and shifters are all identical to what I have. I will probably put some pics up on fixedgeargallery in a few days...

Here's what I did (cost about $40 including a dura-ace 16t sprocket, bmx chain, bb lock ring and some washers).

1 Removed freewheel cassette (mine was a suntour so needed the double notch tool) - it was really hard to remove cause I dont have a table vise so I paid the lbs $3 to do it for me
2 Removed Derailers and unncessary stuff (I kept both brakes on for now)
3 Do all the measurements for chainline (see sheldon browns pages). I ended up having to use the inner 40t cause of the way the rear track sprocket was pretty close to the center of the bike. Put your sproket on the hub when you measure chainline.
4 Respace Hub. You will probably need to buy the appropriate spacers cause there was only one big spacer on it already. I just went to hardware store and bought a bunch of washers and stacked them up. I used like 6 or so wide ones.
7 You will need to redish to get the wheel centered again but it should be pretty minimal. I had to turn the spokes maybe 2 rotation to get it "true". I did it using the brake pads as my guide. Well I didnt do a great truing job but it seems good enough for now - not too much wobble. You can always fine tune that on a truing stand.

I personally don't think you need to get a new wheel or track hubs. Sure it would be nice to have a flip flop or a lighter set of wheels and safer but the machine is pretty nice as is. As long as you keep the brakes on, if the sprocket loosens on you then you can still stop. I love the way it it has been transformed into a new thing but still has all the old but good components... sort of like the bike is reborn.

I considered the new wheel option but honestly it was so easy and cheap to do it myself so I didn't see the point. The thing is that I didnt want to spend $100 on a 27 in wheel since its hard to get good tires anyway. If I got a 700c wheel then I would want to get the front one too so we're talking $200. Just didnt seem worth it for a beater bike..

Have fun whatever route you go with it...

Mr. Shadow

You can put 700c wheels on it with no problem.

fujifan

sure, but the front one will be 27" so you either need two 700c tires (more expensive) or have non-matching tires. I've heard that this is ok but I don't consider it a particulary great option...

noisebeam

That is a great option. I'll check it out to be sure. This would the make the tires/tubes and front wheel interchangeable with all my other bikes, which makes life a bit simpler.

Al

noisebeam

This was great. Seems like nearly the same bike. I'm also going to look into 700c wheels and a new crankset (my original plan long ago was to build up based on a Steamroller frame and it would be nice to be able to move over components to a different frame someday)

Al

noisebeam

That was a real concern of mine. I think I'll do it right and get a new crankset.

Al

Mr. Shadow

You could use the front wheel from you other bikes. I interchange lots of mine.
There is nothing wrong with 27" wheels but tires are a bit more difficult to find these days.

noisebeam

I can't decide what to do about the wheels.

Should I get the $100 27" wheel from IRO / Harris?

Or should I get a 700c rear wheel, maybe also a 700c front wheel?

Someday I could get a better frame and would reuse these wheels.

I will change out the crankset, any recommendations that wouldn't be overkill? (I've seen what Harris has to offer)

Al

BostonFixed

Dude. Just build the bike up as cheaply as possible in the beginning, this means probably a suicide hub, or shelling out the $100 for the IRO 700c rear wheel, or for the harris 27" rear wheel.
Use the middle ring, it should be fine. The as you like it more, buy newer parts, like crankset, front wheel, etc...
My fixie is an old touring frame, which has a LOW bb, 170mm cranks, and WIDE touring pedals. NO pedal strike EVER. Well, actually the only pedal strike I ever had was when I rode right along a curb.