So... I sold my beater fixed conversion commuter (mostly built by the previous owner) a few months back. It was kind of a turd (heavy gaspipe frame, crappy wheels), but it had some good qualities (cheap, cool looking, ability to run big tires and fenders). Basically, it was not worth putting any more money into and I needed money at the time. I also figured it would be good excuse to eventually put together a project of my own that was more to my liking and learn some much-needed wrenching skills in the process.

Well... Being an avid ebay and craigslist watcher I'm beginning to lose hope. I'm too broke to buy anything at the moment (and I've resolved to pay off the credit card bastards for good before I make another major purchase), but it seems like every auction for a cool old frame I watch surprises me with an astronomical price. I keep doing the math in my head and reaching the conclusion that it would be cheaper in the end just to buy something new and tweak it to my needs. Buying a complete bike, parting it out, and keeping the frame would be one option I guess, but I wonder if it's worth the hassle.

Ugh. Maybe I'm just bored and frustrated that I don't have another bike to play with. Boo hoo.

Well, what qualifies as cheap? I've seen a couple of SLX Mieles for under 125, a DeRosa for 225, a Bottechia and a Pinarello for around 200...

Cheap to me would be under 150 shipped.

I don't mean to sound mean, but you live in a major city, finding a suitable frame from a co-op, thrift store, or consignment shop shouldn't be too hard or too expensive.

What size do you ride?

there are piles of old abandoned lugged frames around here
I don't think we'll be running out any time soon.

keep an eye out on the street- my first conversion frame was left on a parking meter with flats and a broken chain, my second was left in a heap near a dumpster with a mangled rear wheel and chain wrapped around the cassette.
Both had ugly, but functional frames.

aside from luck, just check the usual places.

patience has always been a virture when looking for a cheap frame. i've found nice bikes at thrift stores on more than one occasion. my triple butted ishiwata ross was found for 13 bucks. my 531 trek was found for like 25. just play the waiting game. also, if you ever see something worth buying, buy it right then. you'll regret not picking it up at some point.

at our local community shop here in Ithaca, we rode about 70 old frames (manyof them usable) to the local metal dump, just cause we didn't have space to store them

that's how it goes a lot of the time....

keep your eye out, and maybe even do some searching

150 is a bit on the low side for something all built up. but if you can push it to $200 you can get a complete bike from https://www.grinderbikes.com/ ... jon is a stand-up guy, very reasonable on the pricing, and definitely knows how to build up a vintage steel frame into a good fixie.

Pshh, cheap to me is under $50. I passed up a $60 Austro-Damlier, all 531, because it was too nice. And yes, by my standards, there is no such thing as affordable, decnt conversion frames anymore...

Still, it's becoming increasingly common that nice old road-bikes on eBay, whether as complete bikes or frames, say "fixed" or "singlespeed" somewhere in the auction title. So the market is known and being well-used by sellers, and that means that prices will go a bit higher, on average, at least.

I've found decent 80s bikes (complete) at goodwill / pawn shops for around $30. Mid-level Miyata, Univega, Schwinn, etc. All in nice shape, long dropouts, relatively light.