I found this old bike at a and garage sale and after alot of scrubbing, cleaning and lubrication, its back together again pretty much all original. It had a flip flop hub, so I took off the derailleurs and freewheel. It was a lot of fun and now I have a bike to ride! Thanks to the guys at Cory the Bike Fixer in Milwaukee for re-dishing the rear wheel and checking my work. They were the first shop that didn't laugh at my old bike or advise me against fixing it up to ride again.

Cool beans. Good job.

A couple of extra photos. I know its not a really high quality bike, but I kinda like vintage things and since I did most of the work myself, it fit my budget:

downtube:


Cotterred crank:


Original Pedals:

Beautiful.

How is it set up now? Fixed or free?

Looks nice.

Its fixed. The chainring has 40 cogs and the rear one is 14 cogs. I rode it for the first time today and I think I've got the hang of it. I didn't use the brake at all on a 10 mile suburban ride with a few gentle hills

For safety's sake, get some type of foot retention on that bike! Toe clips and straps should do the trick.

Trust me, the first time your foot slides off the pedal at speed, you'll know why.

Otherwise, enjoy your new ride.

Fixed it for ya!

Great job on that bike. That has a TON of class.

Also, yes, get some toe clips & straps.

Wonderful results. Good job and I would pay close attention to preventing your foot from slipping off a pedal, as advised already.

That a really cool bike, great color and cool decals. +1 on foot retention

I sure hope you have a lockring on that rear hub. I am not at all into fixed gear, but the late Sheldon Brown definitely was, and he strongly recommended having dual handbrakes. That paint is in great shape, and I love the color.

What's that color called? I like it.

~kn

Nice job.

Oh, by the way, you could really use some foot retention. I go the clipless route myself but with those original pedals and cranks, toe clips and straps would keep the mode of the day.

Another project for you is to consider regular brake levers for drop handlebars. They give you another hand position (same as though riding bull horns) and you can use them while riding in the drops. You can even use them with the setup you have now. I'm assuming that's an interrupter brake lever but if not, easily fixed. That way, you can have brake levers accessible while riding in the drops or tops.

You should post this over in the SS/FG forum. They would appreciate it, too.

long wheelbase is looooooooooooong

Nice job! Did you get that chainline just from redishing & respacing the original rear wheel? And is that chainline straight & working fine? I ask since I'm working on a similar project which would be my first conversion and this one you've done seems like it wasn't that difficult and used most of the original parts except for the new rear cog.

Thanks.

+1 brakes. I know they're not cool (God only knows why), but neither is having a broken head with brains coming out. I have it on good authority that chicks don't dig that.

Lovely bike. Classy. Nice that you got to use orig rear hub.

It does look a bit like you would get high C if you plucked the chain. Might want to give it a mm of breathing room.

Thanks for all the advice and comments. I will get some toe clips. I always wear a quality helmet as I've seen many Man vs. machine vs gravity vs. centrifigul force incidents over the years.

Yep, There is a lockring on the rear.
I may get a better brake someday, but for now I'll use what I have and brake with my legs.
I'm a speedskater, so I've found that the fixed gear helps you get into a nice cool rythm just like longtrack, which is nice. Long medium grade hills really get the lactic acid flowing!
I'm don't know what the color is called, but its sort of a Gold with just a tiny hint of Orange and green mixed in.

Excellent work, maestro.