Originally Posted by slopvehicle
the people who say you can grab any old frame and convert it to fixed for "a few bucks" are lying.
What do you want? A cog secured with loctite, or a real, reliable setup with track hubs and a lockring?
Totally overhauling a frame-- headset, bottom bracket, etc-- takes a fair amount of time and money. My first conversion cost about $300, and that's including a free frame, bars, stem, headset, cranks, and brake setup.
Even cheapest track wheelset will set you back $150. Add a couple decent tires and you've hit $200. Add frame, post, stem, bars, brake, lever, cranks, cog, lockring, tubes, tape, pedals, clips, straps and chain and see what number you come up with....something tells me it's more than a Fuji Track, Langster or Pista.
yeah i posted something to this effect in another thread last night.
there's a bike co-op near me that can put together a nice, basic conversion for about $300. i've seen conversions at other bike shops go for $450+. unless you're able to score something cheaper on craigslist used or willing to settle for some claptrap sludgy bumbike replete with suicide hub - with no tools, spare parts or experience, $300 is around the least you can expect to spend to get into fixed gear.