Since my question is very similar to the OP's I'll just add to the thread instead of starting a new one;
My mother is a huge estate sale fanatic, and one saturday came home with a late '80s (I'm guessing here) Motobecane Mirage. Other than the obvious lack of maintenance the bike is in perfect condition and I'd like to turn it into a SS commuter. I'll start grad school in August and the campus is less than 3 miles from my house so I'm going to try commuting to and from school and I'd rather not ride my race bike.
My goal here is to build a bike that is simple, rock-solid reliable, tough, and easy to work on (i.e. say I wanted to change the rear cog, it'd have to be something a "shade-tree" bike mechanic could do) that I can commute with, run errands on, and ride some local Rails-to-Trails trails (I'm near the Katy Trail).
Now onto my questions:
1. Can I just simply pop off whatever chain-ring I don't want on the crank? Is there anything else that I'll need to do? Also, I've never ridden this bike and I have no idea what condition the BB is in. Is replacing the BB generally something you do when converting an old roadie to a single-speed?
2. What needs to be done to the cassette to complete the conversion? I'm assuming that I can't simply pop off the cogs I don't want and just leave the gear I do want. Am I going to be looking at purchasing a new hub?
3. While this bike will primarily see road action, I'd like to be able to comfortably ride on the crushed-limestone trails in my area (Katy Trail) with my girlfriend, so I'm thinking I'd need something bigger than the 700x23 tires on my Lemond. Suggestions?
4. And finally the quintessential question: While I am mechanically inclined, I lack the tools and experience working on bikes to feel comfortable riding on a conversion I do in my own garage with the help of my friends (who say they do know what they are doing, but aren't exactly bike mechanics). Should I trust this job to my LBS?
I'd like to stay within a budget of $150, but don't have a problem spending money where it needs to be spent to ensure the longevity of the finished product.
I'm anxiously awaiting replies because I can't wait to get this conversion completed so I can sport my SS with pride!!