Let's review.
You rode fixie for the first time ever, on a friend's track bike, wearing inappropriate shoes, for two blocks, in the snow, on slicked-up NYC streets. And now you are so sure you want one that you'd convert a PX-10 to build one???

It's newer than 1974.

I'm very happy with the wheelset I bought here:
https://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/Fix...S-Low-Profile/

The saddle appears to be an Ideale, not a Unicantor.

Don't convert to a fixed gear if you're just doing it to be cool. That fad is so over.

Nope. That would be a BROKIE.

I vote for No. 2. I'm a sentimentalist.

Get a hub that'll accept a fixed gear cog, build a rear wheel, and ride the PX10 as a fixed gear for a while. What's the harm in that? You still have all the other options.

The best hub is one that accepts a fixed gear on both sides. That way you can run one fixed, one free; both fixed; both free; whatever.

Exactly, serious club riders converted to fixed gear for winter training as a matter of course.
Nothing sacrilegious about doing that, it was common when the bike was new.
That PX10 would make a nice riding road FG if converted correctly, box up the OEM parts & proceed.

-Bandera

To clarify, the stock parts are already bagged up, the bike is a bare frame. I hung it up in the garage after the oxalic acid dip for the fork and stays chrome. It has hung there for a year or more, waiting for a mission.

Grand Bois, what year do you reckon it is? What are the signs?

As long as you don't hack off the derailleur hanger…all is good.

The first year for those decals was 1975. These are 1974 decals:

Fastest way to getting two bikes in one...

What's the harm? Experimentation is fun.

As long as you don't turn it into something like this it should be okay.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/

[h=2]Retro Peugeot (French made) ~ Campagnolo - $895 (RVA)[/h]

I say make it a beater fixie. Make no effort to make it look nice or bad. Out on a real fixed hub for your safety and security. I have a spare flip flop hub I can sell you for what I paid for it. I've laced it up but never ridden it. Keep the front wheel or put on a matching one. Remove the rear brake.

You already have enough geared bikes. You can take your fixie out when you want that kind of ride. Now it suits a new purpose and you can justify owning it.

i say make a 66 inch gear for the winter. It's good for you.

Grand Bois, thanks. Good to know.

I'm seeing a vintage Maillard track hubset on eBay, 122 mm OLD, with 15T and 22T cogs. Used with the existing 52T (? I'll verify tonight) big chainring, which would let me flip from 93 GI to 64 GI. With the existing 42T (?) small chainring, would be 76 GI or 52 GI. Does that sound like a workable set of choices for a fixed gear in Portland? I'm sort of attracted to keeping the Maillard high-flange "look" and using sort-of-matching-vintage parts.

(If I can use the existing crankset and avoid buying a track crankset or a whole new wheelset, that will help the budget. I have some MA40 rims laying around, alternatively I've seen used tubular rims quite cheap at CityBikes. I now think I should leave the original wheelset alone for later reconversion back to geared.)

Agreed.

You will never know until you try it and can always go back or use the fixed wheelset as a singlespeed or in Portland... sell it to some hipster and break even.

For Portland (and most places) riding I'd look at a mid 70's gearing for all around riding... there are lots of hills and places where you have to climb if you are heading east or west.

A 53:19 is 75 gear inches and a 21 would give a low of 67.

Riding fixed is a fad that has been going on since the dawn of cycling... it is another way to enjoy cycling.

I currently have 4 fixed gear bicycles; as our winter tends to be a little more challenging I ride a fixed mountain bike in the winter with 59 gear inches so I can crawl through the snow, the summer bicycles run gearings in the mid 70's and they get ridden alot.

Apparently...Yes..........Must have been some ride huh?

Pop the freewheel off and check the hub thread. If an English thread bottom bracket lockring threads on properly, the hub is English thread and will accept a standard track cog as Sheldon describes. If not, you'll want to find a different hub for your fixed gear conversion project. May as well get a proper track hub or flip/flop hub in that case.

I say make it a supreme fixie! Get a nice set of classic-looking wheels on a flip-flop hub, reconfigure that cool-looking crank to SS, maybe change out those brake levers for something nicer, and get a comfortable saddle with a new seatpost.



Anybody with 11 bikes in his signature should have at least one nice FG.

Oh, I didn't say there was any harm.

Exactly what I was thinking. 'fit was me (which it wasn't), I'd have a hard time convincing myself to go ahead with that project on such minimal experience. So it must have been a significant experience!

"Back when" Junior riders went out on a properly equipped FG on the road as a matter of course, no experience necessary.
It's a traditional activity for any serious club rider and an easy conversion w/ all of the inexpensive FG drivetrain components flooding today's market. A PX10 would be a nice stable smooth riding FG, especially compared to the dubious "track/fixie" frames of today.

-Bandera

My fixed gear wheels have high flange Formula hubs with real track nuts, double butted spokes and Mavic CXP22 rims. I paid $139.95 for them at the link I gave you. If you buy those Maillard hubs and use the rims you have, you'll end up spending more due to the price of spokes.

I'd agree with that if it was an earlier PX10. Mine has the same steep head tube that his appears to have and it's fairly twitchy.

I vote yes, but I should add that I'm also seriously considering turning my beat up PX10 into a fixie. In my case, I have far less of the original equipment to start. If mine was more intact like yours and I didn't already have a couple similar bikes, I would probably keep the gears. This is how I received the bike below. Rear wheel is obviously not original. Record FD is already on my Cilo, and the RD isn't original. Suntour barcons are already on my Nishiki. One of the brake calipers is bent. Restoring it to original configuration would be costly and would only add more redundancy to my collection.

Well then let's make that "a nice lively riding FG, especially compared to the dubious "track/fixie" frames of today."

-Bandera

Wheel set for your first fixed gear $119 + sh

I tried to wear these out last summer.....not possible!

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[TD="class: productListing-data"]Sun CR18 silver rims Fixed Gear Track Bike Wheelset 36 Hole
NewPair Sun 700c rims with smooth rolling Formula fixed/free hubs The Sun CR18 rim is 22.5mm wide - suitable for 700x25 or wider tires. 36 Hole ......










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[TD="class: productListing-data, align: right"]$119.00



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