I'm having trouble staying awake at work right now, so I thought I'd post some thoughts I've been having about fixies/SS bikes and get some opinions. Basically, which bikes are appropriate for fixie conversion and which are not? No, I'm not talking about whether or not a bike physically can be converted or not, but rather, aren't there some bikes that should be left alone or preserved?

I know someone locally who just took a Bridgestone RB-1 that was in mint condition and converted it into a single speed. He bought it simply because of the horizontal dropouts. It cost him $550, and I consider that a deal for that bike. I would, however, have left it 100% stock and loved riding one of the greatest road bikes of all time!

Have you guys checked out Craigslist lately? I live in the Bay Area in California, so there may be more fixies here than anywhere else on the planet! 50% of all my road bike search results are either fixie or SS bikes. If they're not, well then they're advertising things like "perfect for fixie conversion!" I appreciate fixies and would love to make one in the next few months for riding around town, but this is getting ridiculous. This same person who converted the RB-1 criticized my Steel Allez for its vertical dropouts!

I respect everyone's right to do whatever they want to their bike and ride whatever makes them happy, but it saddens me to see that so many classic, beautiful bikes are being morphed into the latest hipster trend. Does anyone else agree, or am I just taking it too personally?

Cheers,

-Collin-