Hello everyone,

I've recently acquired an old Gazelle Tour de l'Avenir frame in order to create a fairly low-cost fixed gear bike.

Searching on the internet I've noticed that fixed gear wheels are pretty pricey so I thought I may use a single speed adapter on a 24-spoke road wheelset that I have spare at home.

Do you think it'd be strong enough to deal with the increased tension of the fixed gear? Would the low number of spokes be a problem? I'd mainly use the bike to commute to university and move around the city (nothing extreme) + I'm only 150 punds (68kg).

Thank you all in advance

PD: I'm new when it comes to fixed gear bikes, but I guess you already noticed that while reading.

There is no difference in the load applied to a fixed gear vs a geared bike. It's entirely a function of the power applied by the rider, so unless you suddenly become more powerful when riding fixed, the wheel will be just as strong when riding fixed than when ridden geared.

fixed wheelsets are not pricey. they can be had all over the various internets for $99 or less. nashbar has vuelta track sets, in several colors, for $99, and if you get them on sale, they are even less, including shipping!

if you're new to riding fixed, check your local craigslist first. you can probably buy a complete fixed or ss bike for $100 if you just want a beater. I did that, and honestly, I didn't like it. I may try fixed again at some point, but I realized quickly that I'm a roadie and I like gears. I'm glad I only spent $200 on my fixie, which I was able to recoup when I sold it. honestly, unless you're buying high-end lightweight stuff, I don't believe these bikes are worth more than that in any case, and I can't believe it when people tell me they spent $4 . . . 5 . . . 600-1000 on a bike with no gears, heavy wheels, steel frame, and only 1 brake. dumb.

get a used steel vintage frame that fits you. pay as little as possible. paint it black with spray paint. buy a fixie wheelset from nashbar and a single square taper crank from ebay. buy some new tubes and reasonably good tires. LEAVE AT LEAST THE FRONT BRAKE ON THE BIKE. rewrap the bars with tape that matches your rims. go ride and get compliments. quickly realize that if you actually like cycling fixies are a terrible fad like fat bikes and will be dead in 10 years. sell your fixie before that, make money, and invest in a proper bicycle.

You are right ypsetihw. In absolute terms they are not that expensive. I'm still studying though, so I try to keep a low budget.

Many Thanks

there is an old fixie in my market right now on craigslist for $75. it's not fancy, but it is a fixed gear bike, with a brake, and I bet you could get it cheaper if you showed up with cash. just keep looking and buy used.

Humor? Sarcasm?

If not, what is it that defines a proper bike?

Last, I would be curious what bike makes a good investment? Unless you are talking about the fun, exercise and hobby aspects of bikes being the investment. Which circles back to a proper bike definition, which might vary by rider....

Those damn trendy TdF riders back in the early 1900s! Let's not forget the those trendy Japanese with their Kerin.

Sorry buck-o but riding fixed is not really much of a trend as it has gone on since the early days of cycling and has continued to this day. Maybe the fad of the cheap fixed gears with hideous aluminum or pipe steel frames might die out and that isn't a bad thing but fixed riding will go on till the end of cycling. I ride fixed not to be trendy but because I like the ride and it is great training for me for hills. Plus I dig the simplicity of it all especially on those days you just want to power home and not worry about gear shifts.

not humor or sarcasm, and I know this is the fixie forum, but my first adult bike was a fixie and I was NOT happy with it, even after I spent a bunch of money on it.

interesting considering the fixed gear "fad" as it were has lasted for twenty years now.

calling me buck-o doesn't invalidate my point . . . I never EVER saw a fixed gear bike until 2008. MOST fixies are garbage, just like MOST bikes in general are garbage, just like MOST riders aren't riders, they just have bikes. i personally know some fast guys who ride fixed and keep up with our regular group. we also don't do any climbing. to say you LIKE fixed for hill riding is to say that you don't have hills and you don't climb. I don't care how strong you are, 10% or 14% grades are not happening on fixed, and even rollers would leave you off the back.

the real real is that you dig the simplicity and the fashion of riding fixed, and on flat terrain with a decent build behind it, I'm all for it. with that said, to argue that fixed gear bikes are some longstanding epiphany the bike world keeps waiting to have is to deny 100 years of the development of bike technology and bike racing. get over yourself.

Incorrect, this is the singlespeed and fixed gear forum. There is no fixie forum and only fubahs call them fixies.

look in ANY bike shop. there are very few fixies. look in any target, or walmart, in the last few years there have been MANY. you talk in small terms, I speak in large. fixies are not a fad in the last 20 years, maybe 8 as a FAD, but not 20. and they are just that, a fad.

fubahs? it's FUBAR and it means F***ED UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION. sooooo your command of the english language is definitely in question, and your command of bike knowledge isn't far behind. given that you insist on insisting that everyone ride bikes with half their parts, this is not surprising. I stand by everything I said. get over yourself.

I think we've been trolled.

I am guessing he is not a troll, but instead someone who believes that his experience with "fixies" defines how all of us should feel about "fixies." Then, got a little butt hurt when we had our own opinions....

I got a little butt hurt when it questioned my command of the English language.

Calling you "buck-o" had nothing to do with the validation of your point, buck-o! I sometimes call people buck-o. Just because you didn't see fixed gears till 2008 doesn't mean they haven't been popular for a long time before that. There might not be a whole lot of fixed riders in Buffalo or your eyes weren't open or something else. I don't know but to deny what has been going on for a long time is just asinine.

To say I like fixed gear riding to help me train up hills means exactly that. I am not talking riding up mountains fixed I am talking hills. I don't just ride on the flats, my commute home is mostly uphill and while not super steep, I am not looking for super steep riding. I am not trying to be impressive or kill myself. I am just looking to be a better rider up hills and in general since I am not a strong rider.


The real real is I do like the simplicity of riding fixed but I am not all that fashionable and I didn't pick it up for fashion or because it was popular. I still have geared bikes and ride them. Fixed gear bikes aren't a longstanding epiphany they are just a longstanding type of bike that will be around for a long time still. It is not denying new technology and development it is just not denying history and the present and future.

I am curious what your definition of rider is? Is it only someone who has a fancy road bike and always rides fully kitted up and posts on Strava? I am not saying anything against that (except maybe Strava but I don't much care for social media stuff in general) but just wondering why if someone has a bike and rides it why they wouldn't be a rider? Sure if they just own a bike and don't ride it, but I don't think you are talking about that.

It is a man, thank you. And yeah, I have both owned and ridden with fixed gear riders. They are a hazard. As a generality, they are NOT well suited to urban riding, where braking is equally as important as coasting and handling. Also, the VAST MAJORITY of cyclists or bike riders are NOT capable of SAFELY handling a fixed gear bike. In racing, they are forbidden in almost all instances where they are not the rule, and in practical reality, they are a nuisance. I'm not a naysayer or an old man or someone who never rode fixed. I'm reformed, and I know that going down the road fast has nothing to do with how many gears you choose to have or not have.

this is most likely all true. and for that I am sorry. but in the case that I ever get dropped by a fixed, or even see one competently handle a rig in ANY situation that isn't straight line riding, then I will probably, rightly, change my opinion.

Dude, it's not ok to own people (see the 13th Amendment).

thanks for a real answer. To each ther own.

You have owned fixed gear riders? Human slavery is illegal in the U.S.

They are a hazard? What is so hazardous about it that is more hazardous than any other bike or vehicle? Wouldn't a hot spinning disc brake rotor be more dangerous ; )

I think a simple fixed gear makes more sense in a city, less cost if stolen or need replacement parts, less maintenance, simple, lightweight (generally).

How do you know so much about the "VAST MAJORITY" of cyclists and their capability to handle a bike? That is just naive and foolish to think someone cannot handle a bike because you don't like fixed gears. Saying someone can't do something they are basically already doing in a slightly different form is silly. "People who dance the tango are not capable of doing the foxtrot"

I am not a racer so I don't know the rules but I am wondering if you can actually prove they are forbidden in racing? If they are so what? Does that mean we all need to follow every trend of racing because the racers are the only thing that matters in cycling? I don't race because that just doesn't sound as fun to me than just riding with friends or myself at whatever pace and having a good time.

You are a complete naysayer, you have been naysaying this entire time. Age is not a factor because there are plenty of folks within this sub-forum who wouldn't be considered "young" and you riding or not riding fixed gear doesn't change the fact you are doing nothing but naysaying.

Maybe you are mad because you see fixed gear riders having fun and you aren't having fun or they pass you consistently and you don't like that or something? Maybe you are mad because you had an accident on a fixed gear and just rail against it because of that one time? It just seems silly to unfurl all of this hate because of a style of bicycle which has been around for well over 100 years.