So I picked up this fixie frame last week. I have no idea why. Oh yeah, it was cheap. But I can't seem to find out anything about it. Frame says "fixation" on it but that could just be something somebody hand painted on there. The gold striping was clearly hand painted and of poor quality. Has only front canti brake mounts. No rear brake mounts. Also has a braze-on for a light. Anybody know what this is?

It's an abomination.

Weird, I'm thinking maybe the canti studs were added on by a previous owner. Looks like generic cheap bike-boom era steel.

That's hideous, and it's not a fixed gear frame. The rear axle slots on a fixed gear bike are horizontal to allow for fore/aft adjustment to get the proper chain tension:



Actually, that's a very confusing bike overall. There's no drilling or mounts for a rear brake at all?

What's that big recess in the bottom bracket shell?

Might have been a coaster brake bike originally.

I thought about that, but if the frame was built with that in mind it still should have had horizontal slots, no?

Not necessarily. I've seen coaster bikes with "semihorizontal" drop-outs like that. They might be fairly common, actually. I haven't looked closely at coaster brakes enough to know.

To put it nicely, it is a waste of money. If it was me, I wouldn't drop a penny into that and try to sell it if possible.

For starters, from the intended braking hardware, the front fork doesn't belong with that frame.

But for what its worth, the frame itself does have forged dropouts, so it may be something decent under the gaudy paint.
And I just realized there's no rear derailleur hanger...

I'd bet that more bikes have been made with that type of dropout than any other.

I'm figuring it was designed to be a fixie just with different dropouts. Those dropouts are horizontal as well...just face the other way and still allow for fore/aft adjustment like. They have been making those dropouts since the dawn of time. I certainly would not call them vertical. That and the fact that it has no derailleur hanger and there is no mount or hole for any type of rear brake whatsoever. I took a photo of that bottom bracket shell as I thought that might be a clue to someone as to the manufacturer. I paid $10.

Is there anything on the bottom
of the bottom of the bottom bracket shell?

What's a fixie?

Im wondering if it had rear canti studs and a derailleur hanger that were hacked off, but then why would be repainted as such. The fork wouldn't be out of place if it is a mutilated cyclocross frame or touring frame.

If there comment from me, I have it

Headtube geometry looks so wrong for me, its spelling "wacky weird steering"

The rest is fine, as long as you set her up right, its would be fine, I guess . .

I just don't like the looks of headtube geometry

That's just a fog of a frame painted with a brush or do it seems....Good luck.

The green paint looks factory to me, or very well done. Besides, there is an American flag decal on it that also looks factory. There are no marks where a derailleur hanger or rear canti's were cut off. There is nothing on the bottom of the bottom bracket shell. No numbers. I appreciate all the feedback on this mystery.

The Department of The Redundancy Department?

To be fair, the OP's bike also has horizontal dropouts, but forward-facing road dropouts rather than rear facing track dropouts:



If you're going to put fenders on the bike, forward facing dropouts make wheel removal much easier.

the boss on the left fork blade suggests a older British made fork .. that is a mount for an old school
battery headlight mounting fitting..
the light you never see again, there, when you forget to take it off when you go into the Pub.


a fixie with brakes and mudguards is a good thing. and on that wet island ,
mudguards are a very British requirement, of common sense.

in Texas ? you bought a project. good luck , bargain shopper.

Another plausible scenario

Chances are, whoever painted that frame, worked in the auto-body/ restoration business.

Considering they're able to turn wrecked cars new again and clapped out heaps into fully restored custom classics, I won't be surprised that they put some hours into prepping that frame prior to that nice custom coat.
Grind, sand, and fill.

Also you can easily buy decals like that on ebay.

cheap 10 speeds from the 70's bike boom had frames where the derailleur attached directly onto the wheel axles, which might explain the lack of hanger. the fork looks like it could be from from an english touring bike, maybe a dawes galaxy.

the seatpost collar, weird geometry and lack of a rear brake bridge makes no sense. the guys in classic and vintage sub would probably have a better idea.

Cheap 10 speeds from the 70s also usually had stamped dropouts. Those look forged.

This is a fun one:

- Measure the rear spacing. If it's 120mm, you've got its original function: single speed, 3 speed, or fixed gear. Some might argue 5 speed from the 70's, but not with that seat collar and filet brazing going on.
- If it's >120mm, then we're into a geared frame. No braze ons for downtube shifters (but could have been clamp-on or stem shifters), no cable guides on the frame, and stamped dropouts (I'm sorry but the welds on those pancake dropouts do not indicate quality). If it was a geared bike, though, the rear brake bridge would have to be drilled. If it's not a geared bike--then none of those brazed on cable guide matter.
- Obviously the front fork is off another bike.
- The cup+cone bottom bracket indicates low quality (assuming this bike is post-2000).

Either the bike was a track frame to begin with (unlikely because of the horizontal dropouts), or it was a 3 speed/coaster brake bike. Flick the tubing of the main triangle with your fingernail to test for double-butting. If it doesn't change tones closer to the welds, it's either straight gauge chromoly or basic no-name gaspipe.

But, $10 to find out--probably worth it.