Just put together my first fixie from a Dawes frame. It's also my first time riding a fixie and, after a short ride, I think I want a front brake. Since it's a flip-flop hub, I can switch over to single speed then as well.

The frame has the hole for a dual pivot brake. So do I just buy the brake and the lever, and install? Anything else I need to do? Pics aren't that great, but it does have the hole above the fork.

I have some Origin8 bullhorn grips coming but I assume they're going to be an issue with the brake lever. Not a big fan of tape; anyone have any other options for grips with a brake lever? I guess I can just cut the grips where the lever will go.

(Picked up the frame, tires, and wheels for $40; the Nitto bullhorns were $15, and the seat was laying around. The grips are just over $10. I was hoping to keep the cost to $100 but I think I'll be going over with the brake.)

Measure for the reach, probably on the long side?

Distance from hole to rim? 2.25"

whats wrong with your saddle? it needs to be leveled..

That's 56mm, and road brakes are often 39-49mm range, so you need a big long reach brake.
Should be cheap, maybe off a BMX bike?

Sounds good. I may just wait and hit the garage sales and thrift stores next weekend then.

There are some long reach side pulls out there .. search the web.

Looked at ebay and BMX brakes are listing 75-95mm reach, so maybe mostly wrong.
The old Weinmann and Dia Comp sidepulls came in a long reach you'd see on Schwinn Varsity's and the like.
The Dia Compe G would be too short though.
There might be some modern Shimano dual pivot sidepulls with the reach, and the reach is printed right on the casting.

If you go flip flop, you'll want a back brake too. Most long reach are 55 to 75mm...

Better precisely measure the distance from the center of the hole to the center of the brake track in mm. Brakes tend to come in 47-57mm or 55-73/57-76mm flavors and your measurement (2.25"=57.15mm) is right on the edge. So make a precise measurement and you will have a better idea of just where you stand.

If I was going to run single speed I would want both front and rear brakes but that's just me.

Edit: BTW, caliper brakes are short-pull so be sure you get compatible lever(s).

Tektro makes a long pull lever but I may also try making a mtb lever fit.

Not sure I want a rear brake even when the hub is flipped, but I will keep that in mind.

You'll need the brake, lever, cable, and housing. You don't need any additional mounting hardware or cable stops for a front brake.

As mentioned above, you'll need a brake caliper whose reach matches the distance between your brake mounting hole on the fork and the center of the rim's brake track. Sheldon Brown's site has a good explanation (with pictures) HERE for measuring reach. If you're going to use a ruler, it's easier to do without the tire installed. If you have a caliper (of the measurement variety, not a brake), you can use that with the tire installed.

Also, you're not limited to a dual pivot brake. You can use any sidepull (single or dual pivot) or centerpull brake. That said, a dual pivot sidepull is probably your best option -- easy to set up and they tend to offer good braking power.

Sounds like you might be in the ballpark of a Tektro R559 caliper, whose reach ranges between 55-73 mm. (Roughly 2 1/8" to 2 7/8".) It's a decent dual-pivot caliper and will likely work a lot better than inexpensive single-pivot BMX brakes.

If you need something with slightly longer reach than the R559, the Tektro 800a caliper (61-78 mm) is another inexpensive option. Modern Bike sells them for $22.99 a pair.

Regardless of which model caliper you choose, you'll need to know what kind of mounting bolt setup your fork takes: recessed or nutted. If the hole on the backside of your fork is bigger than the hole on the front of the fork, you'll want a recessed brake. If the holes are the same size, you'll need a classic-style nutted brake. This is all explained and illustrated on the same Sheldon Brown page I mentioned above.

Not necessarily; it depends on what kind of lever you choose. Bar-end levers are one option for bullhorns, but they might not play nice with grips since the cable is typically routed under tape. Classic non-aero road levers are another possibility as pictured in posts 7 & 12 of this thread. It looks like that setup should work pretty well. Guidonnet levers like the Dia Compe DC139 might work for you, too.

You do NOT want a long-pull lever.

Sorry, misread your first post. So any standard road bike lever will work?

Yes, and also older mountain bike levers for cantilever brakes work with road sidepulls.
Newer mountain bike levers for V brakes (around 8 speed and later was the transition from canti to V I think) are not what you want. At least that's the info I've been working with.
IME some extra parts will end up in the bin during a build, but that's a good thing.

Oh, then you'll want to learn the braking technique of jamming your​ foot between the rear wheel and the frame for emergencies.

Appreciate all the help. Pretty confident on the go-ahead now.
It'll take a few days to get the parts so might be a couple of weeks before I get a chance to work on the fixie again. I'll post an update when I do.

Completed. Ended up with a brake and lever from Origin8.

Still some cosmetic work to do - including a new chain once I decide if I want to stick with lime green accents or switch to yellow. But she's ready to ride.

do the lime green.

Bear in mind that was not the application that brake lever was designed to do..
so plan to replace the cable earlier.. (the end of the cable is getting flexed, where it should not)

the brake lever was made to be in the middle of a housing split, the cable running continuously thru it.




....

I second that, looks extremely uncomfortable.

I do dig the black a green though, almost the same colors I got on my fixie. Black frame with green cranks.

The seat angle in the first pics was rather steep; hadn't really ridden more than a hundred yards so no big deal. It's still steeper than some people like, but it's the angle my man-parts prefer.

I do like the black and green, but I've decided to go black and red to match the schemes on my other bikes. Besides, it's easier to get red accessories for the most part. I haven't been able to find lime green grips that are long enough, but did find a set of red ones.

Logged a couple of short rides (3 miles or so each) and I am finding that, while the front brake gives me peace of mind, I rarely use it.

You may want to check out noseless saddles if the nose of the saddle bothers you. The way you have your saddle now is going to put a lot of pressure on your hands/wrists. If that doesn't bother you, then great! But if your hands/wrists start hurting, your saddle is likely the reason.

What I want to know is how the heck did you manage to get that large of a grip that far onto the handlebars? That must have been a task and a half!

I'll echo what others have said about the lever... definitely not what it was designed for, but it should work.

Anyway, glad you got it working! Still riding fixed or have you switched to the freewheel side?

I rode noseless for several years. Now I just use a large cutout, and keep the angle near what's in the later pic (lime green accented saddle).

Wasn't easy...

The LBS helped me measure the brake and pick out the lever, so I really didn't realize what I had till installing it. I'll keep it until I have problems with it.

Still riding fixed. I much prefer my Marin or Giant for most riding, but the Dawes is very light and I plan on using it for short sprint-like rides. I might try flipping it for some rides.

If that saddle hurts you when it's levelled off, then you have the wrong saddle.

Or it could be because the bike doesn't fit you at all.

I mean let's look what you're starting with, a very small sized frame. Then you're adding steering tube extenders to raise the handlebars. You've put a stem with a very sharp rise in that. This is all stuff for a very upright riding position, like a grandma bike.

And then, after all of that questionable attempt to make a frame that's too small work, you then put TT bars on it. Handlebars that lower you and move you forwards. Usually found on low-pros where the rider's nose almost grinds the wheel.

I don't understand why you're wondering what colour accents would look best. The proportions of the bike are both ugly and ergonomically terrible, likely to to make whatever health issues you have worse. It's bad, mate. Get a bigger size frame.