Great list Slarti, but I think you meant that _vertical_ dropouts should be avoided, ja?

agreed about cottered cranks/french bikes (my partner and I are all tangled up in one of those right now...they're so pretty...they say nice things to you in that breathy voice...and then you're on your knees, watching a 30 year old crank cotter turn into muddy steel waste, and wondering what you were thinking.)

Someone else asked about 27" fixed wheels...Harris Cyclery has one, a weinmann rim with, I think, a suzue basic hub for a pretty decent price.

A pity... there was a nice Centurion fixed gear for $100 at today's DC area swap meet. As well as a variety of old bikes you could have had for a pittance. A nice Fuji from the 70s for example...

Anyway, how far are you from the DC area? Richmond-ish? There are tons of 10/12 speed bikes and frames to be had around here... took me about a week of keeping my eye on craigslist to find one that was just right for me.

Are there any local bike clubs near you? You might email their listserv and ask if anyone has an old bike they'd be willing to sell.

The problem with eBay is fixies are trendy now, so anyone selling a steel bike with horizontal dropouts slaps a fixed gear cog on a suicide hub and *poof* Instant Magical Inflated Prices.

The good thing about fixed gears is that you can build a great fixie from the kind of bike that someone's had in the basement for 20 years, and is dying to get rid of The bad part is that you have to find these folks before they realize there's a demand for it

I love my Moto. But as I'm also thinking about building a fixie, I'm rather intimidated by trying to convert my Nomade. It's such a cool bike, it's be an awesome fixie... but it's so... french. Looking for an old (but not too old) Italian bike now and then I'll decide which one goes fixie.

Or rather, which one goes fixie first.

ja. that's what i get for posting sober. i edited the list for posterity.

also, for the record, i love french bikes. i'm just saying, they can be a pain to work on. some of them are worth the hassle but, in the mean time, a good japanese boom bike will get you on the road with little fuss.

Check for older (Chicago made) Schwinns. Ooh, hows I love them...

i love my 73 continental so much. beautiful work of art. however, there are some problems with lots of the old schwinns when you want to revitalize them. Many them have the single piece crank which can be a hassle (see my previous post). also, many of the chicago schwinns have odd sized parts. its hard to find seat posts, stems and HBs for them (unless you get lucky on e-bay). none of this is a problem if you find a bike that has all this stuff in good shape already because they are built tough. mine will bury me, get drunk at the wake and sleep with my wife afterwards.

all that being said, some of the 80s schwinns built in asia (not sure if it was japan or taiwan) are really easy to work on. most of the 80s manifestations of the traveller are easily doable.

but these comments are like my remarks on french bikes. if you are willing to put the time and money into it, any bike can be a cool fixie - and french roade bikes and chicago schwinns are particularly cool. but, if you are short on time and/or money, GET A BIKE THAT IS EASY TO WORK ON. its not like japanese boom bikes are in short supply.