I'm going in 2 directions.

1.Getting someone to build me one up from an old frame. I have a guy that will do this but he is way across town(1 hour drive each way). He seems to know what he is doing and has a bunch of frames and parts as well as examples of bikes he has built up.

2. Just buy one(cheap) like this one
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/.../messenger.htm
I'll probably want bigger tires though and maybe a flat bar

The gearing I want is 49/18 and my ride is 95% flat and on the shoulder of the road. I do have 2 bridges but I can Hammer them out in this gear on my current bike so they should not be a problem.

So which way should I go? I'm no bike mechanic or I'd do it myself. Also any thoughts on a generator hub are welcome as my commute will be in the very early (dark) hours sometimes.

Gearing wise, you're looking at 70 - 75 gear inches, since you mentioned 49/18. Most conversion friendly bikes come with a 42 chainring so I'd stick with that and select your cog size accordingly to save money.

Shimano makes a nice generator hub. I laced mine to a Mavic Open Sport, and it powers a Lumotec headlamp. It's quite bright for night riding, and I like that there are no batteries to monitor or replace.

The hubs don't come cheap, though. If you are willing to spend, the Schmidt is supposed to be better still, but it's quite a bit spendier too.

As far as the bike itself goes, I am a big believer in reusing things. You can get a high-quality steel road bike from the late '80s (or whenever) that should have decades of life left for very cheap. That's what I would do.

The guy who converts used bikes to SS should be able to make a better bike cheaper. The key word there is "should". Educate yourself on the finer points of 1980's road bikes. Make sure he starts with a good frame. Don't buy it if it isn't half what you can buy a new one for.

Well here are some of the frame the guys has
Raleigh Gran Sport
Centurion LeMans RS
Trek 610
Peugeot Record DuMonde
Raleigh Grand Prix
Trek 560
Open Road cruiser
Bianchi Alfana

any opinions on these? Any thoughts on flat bar vs drops also suggestions on parts to add to the frame like rear cog, cranks ect.
thanks!

The two treks are likely excellent. The Peugeot could be any number of models-- "record du monde" is on all seven of my Pugs, from the race worthy PX10s to the lowly (yet fine) UO8. It likely has French threading issues, and though they're easy to deal with if you do your own wrenching, I'd steer clear. Unless it has half chromed rear stays, then it's perhaps the best bike of the batch, and if you think you can deal with Frenchness, grab it. The Centurion Lemans was pretty long lived, I've seen them from gas pipe to Tange 2, so look for a tubing sticker. I believe the Raleighs are low end, some of which are nice, but it really depends on vintage on those. Don't know enough about Bianchis to make an informed judgement there; I'd need to see the bikes.

I would personally go with the Treks (unseen. Actually seeing the bikes might change my mind). Both those models should be lugged steel, the 610 Reynolds 531 in the 3 main tubes, and the 560 Reynolds 501, if memory serves.

The Raleigh's are kind of mid-range bikes. Think of them as an old school Surly. Well made, but a little heavy. If they fit well and the price is right, you can learn to love them. If your commute is long or hilly, you'll tire of them.

The commute is 17 miles each wat. Mostly flat but 2 bridges 1 long and 1 short and steep. I'm going to get more info on the frames soon.

consider going 'fixed' as opposed to single speed...

Condition and size of the frame are important. Tons of rust is bad (especially on a thin walled light weight bike). If they aren't disassembled, you can test ride them. If he just has bare frames hanging from the ceiling, you'll need some advice from the guy selling them about which frames will fit you.

Does the guy who converts old bikes to SS put on new wheels? Probably not usually. Check out the wheels on the bikes before choosing one. Alot of older 10-speed bikes had steel wheels which are heavy and don't work so well with modern brake pads. A magnet will tell you if the wheels are aluminum or steel. Note the tire size too. Most will be 27 inch wheels. If you can find one that has 700c wheels, that's better. You can still find 27 inch tires, but you won't have as many choices as you would with 700c tires. If you can find a bike that fits you which has 700c aluminum wheels, then put it at the top of your list.

You mentioned riding on the shoulder and using wide tires. If it's a gravel shoulder, maybe think about a 1980's steel rigid MTB. Some of them have horizontal dropouts and make good SS commuters. I have one of these. The frames are maybe not quite as cheap as the ubiquitous 10-speed sport tourer. I paid $100 for a 1980's Specialized Hardrock MTB. My recently acquired 1980's Raleigh 12-speed with 27 inch aluminum rims was $15. Both had a small amount of rust. No problem with these gas pipe frames. Sanding the rust just makes them lighter.

Edit: 17 miles is a pretty long commute. If the route is mostly pavement, you would be better off with a road bike (aka 10 or 12 speed sport touring bike with 27 inch or 700c tires). They are more efficient than MTB's on pavement due to rider position, tire width, and tire circumference. I ride on the gravel shoulder for a long stretch of my 5 mile commute. MTB tires are good in that situation (especially if the ground is wet).

x2 and do not forget the coaster brake option for single speeds. Not bad for having clean lines AND user friendly functionality.

For about the same money as the Motobecane Messenger Track you could get the Redline 925. I've got one and found it to be an excellent ss/fixed commuter. It has braze on for a rear rack and includes fenders. The long wheelbase and large tires smooth out the brick streets that I commute on.

Rather than getting a cheapo new bike such as the Motobecane Messenger, I'd go with a good used conversion. You cannot go wrong with www.grinderbikes.com. They will build you up a conversion (fixed gear or SS, or basically whatever you want) with a quality and versitile steel lugged frame (older frames give you fender and big tire options, not available on may newer frames) for less money than the Messenger, but with better stuff, and set up exactly how you want. Jon Grinder built one up for me in early January of this year. Since January, I've ridden it over 1400 miles in all sorts of weather with no major problems. I did have two minor problems with the bike and he rectified both ASAP, no questions asked. You can't ask for better customer service than that.

If it fit me, I'd go with the Trek 610. It would make an excellent fixed or ss conversion. Personally, I prefer drop bars. I hear lots of fellow commuters like flat bars, but no one has made a convincing argument yet.

If you are going to commute, it is likely prudent to learn a bit about maintenance. (Especially for a 34miles RT commute.) Just by reading, e.g. sheldonbrown.com and the SS/Fixed forum, etc. you can figure out how to 'ss' or 'fix' a bike in elegant or ghetto ways. It really isn't that difficult, and again, as a commuter you need to be self-reliant. Not many places have AAA for bikes.

There is nothing wrong with buying a ready made ride though.

Some of the bikes you listed sound like good options (trek). size is most important so a good bike that doesn't fit isn't a good bike. Others have already discussed parts availability. Think about fenders, etc. Plenty of threads on the topic, and again, sheldon brown has lots of good info as do other sites.

Thanks for all the input. I'm taking some of your advice too. I'v contacted the guy at grinder bikes and I'm also going over later this week to look at the two trek frames. As for the wheels they will be newer wheels(maybe even use my old wheels that came with my trek 1200 2003 model since I upgraded to sealed hub wheels last year and the old set is just laying about in my garage.

Ok I got a question. I was looking at 48 or 49/18 gearing. I was told "A 42/16 or 39/15 combo would give
you essentially the same gear" What is going to be the difference to me if I go with the 42/16? I'm used to pushing the bigger(52/20) on my road bike. Is my cadence going to be higher on the 42/16 much?

The absolute number of teeth on the chainring and cog is irrelevant..its the ratio between the two. If the ratio of the number of teeth on the chainring devided by the number of teeth on the cog is the same, then the gearing will be exactly the same. If the ratio is higher, the gear wil be higher, and if its lower the gear will be lower. Hope that helps!

52/20 is about a 70" gear. 42/16 is almost 71", so your cadence shouldn't change. 39/15 is ~70" as well. ANy of those combinations should work just fine.

Check out Sheldon Brown's gear calculator (https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/). A cool feature is that it shows a bunch of different outputs, including speed at 90rpm for example.

Raleigh Record Ace circa 1979


Bridgestone 300