Rather than buy a Motomercindsor pos ebay special as a first time ss/fg bike I will take the trusted advice and start with an old found frame (still havn't found yet) and start to buy componants. I just ordered some wheels from here https://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR
and now am looking for tires to order. I am doing this piece by piece without much if any knowledge about quaility and compatiblility. Probably buying most of the parts online too if the prices are cheaper. Sooo - I will start by asking noob questions at the risk of being flamed, yes i mean really stupid questions like - on the Nashbar site - looking at the tires - What does the x28c to x45c refer to on the 700c tire selections?
and which ones would I want to go with?

I know I could go talk to the guys at my local shop and ask questions too but I work graves at the hospital here in Salt Lake and am usually asleep in the day hours. I figure I could get a lot of my answers here.

I've been wanting to get into the fg/ss world for quite a few years now and just recently decided to stop dreaming and start doing. And I would love to post pics as it gets built and the final result.

Good choice on the wheels.

those 28c, 45c, and 19c all refer to the width of the tire in millimeters (to a certain degree, if your rim is wider it will allow the tire to be wider). While not always 100% accurate, it does give an idea as far as relative width of the inflated tires. 45c is a lot wider than a 23c, and will make your ride smoother. But, a 23c tire has less rolling resistance. There's a tradeoff here, just like with everything.

If you want more information on your converting, be sure to check out www.sheldonbrown.com. Do a search on any subject, and he has tons of articles about converting to fixed gear. Also, ask here too.

Have fun, and good luck!

this should tell you more than you need to know:
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
sheldon's page in general has all the facts you will ever need.

also, the internet is not always the best place to find deals. try to get to your lbs and talk to them about your build. you can learn much more by spending half an hour in a shop than you ever can online.

Thanks so much for the reply!

so - what about these?

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Looks to be a good price - 50% off

This build will be for commuting around SLC. Probably cutting a few corners on grass and sandy/gravely roads. Do these Continental Top Touring 2000 look pretty good?

indeed way more than i want to know - however i will probably read the whole article, maybe tomorrow night when all my sleeping patients are sleeping (they better be sleeping!)

Thanks!

Nice, except the size listed is 26X1.75, which is a mountain tire size and not what you're looking for (based on your question bout 700c widths).

IMHO probably the best bang for the buck are Vredestein or Vittoria tires; both the Vittoria Rubinos and Zaffarinos are cheap and reasonably tuff urban tires plus come in a lot of nice colours so you can coordinate with your frame. See these threads for lots of other recs:
https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/154025-tires-i-like-what-yours.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/188363-vittoria-rubino-pro-vredestein-fortezza-se.html

yeah, this is the type of thing you might want to avoid. though i don't know anything about those tires, i wouldn't expect them to be 50$. 25$ doesn't sound bad but you should check out what they run at a physical store first. it might turn out to be a great deal. just be careful of sale prices, they can trick you online when you don't have a reference.

Do not forget to order some rim tape for those new wheels before you put on a tire. Also get a spoke wrench and read about truing the wheels on Sheldons site. You can do it on the bike which is not the most accurate way but it will work enough to get them close.
Good luck on the build. I actually got one of the Motobecanes but ordered the wheels to upgrade to. I threw on some Conti Gator tires, Shimano spd pedals and dura ace brake pads as well. I am going to use the old wheels on another bike that I converted to a single speed so I will end up with 2 fixed gears when I am done.
Good luck on your build. You will get all the help you need here

Kenal0

yeah, those tires will NOT fit your wheelset. I'd recommend Vittoria Zaffiro tires (700x23 and 700x25) personally. There are lots of inexpensive 700 tires out there; it's just a matter of picking what you like and what works for you.

Thanks MacG - and for all that are helping me with feedback -
The problem is that I don't know what I like best yet. But these https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename= seem to be a good choice based on the posters rating.

I will probably order them soon if nobody advises otherwise. (and some rim tape) and I will be taking the wheels in to get trued as soon as they arrive.

+1

seriously, if you're so new at this that you don't have a good visual reference for what tire sizes mean, you need to go to your lbs RIGHT AWAY and talk to them, look at some different sizes of tires, RIDE some bicycles with different tires, and then possibly spend a little more money BUYING the exact tires you need at the LBS.

Yes I know what you're saying - cept that we don't have any shops that specialize in fixed gear. Yes there is a shop right up the street and they had a few Raleigh Rush Hours in but when I went in to try one out OOS. Sorry if my questions are dumb but I work graves at the hospital and its the wee hours of the morning that I'm online and dreaming of putting a bike together and its hard for me to get to the lbs when my shifts are ususally 7pm to 7am. Another shop close by I checked out had none, were willing to build me one when "I knew more of what I wanted" and the guy seemed pretty uninterested in helping me get started. Thats why I figure it doesn't hurt to ask some questions here where people know what they are talking about.

I know what you mean, and there's nothing wrong with asking questions... And the ones you're asking aren't dumb, they're perfectly legitimate!... But please pay close attention to the answers you're getting.

You asked specifically about tires, fixed-gear bikes almost always use normal road-bike size 700C wheels... So even though the shops in your area might not do much FG business, they will certainly be able to help you pick out tires... It's really hard to tell you what would be best for you without knowing your weight, riding style, and the types of roads you'll spend most of your time on.

As for those ones you're planning to order, I would advise otherwise. For most people, 700x25 or even 28c tires work better than 23's... Unless you weigh less than 140 pounds, they're softer and easier on your wheels and bones, much more comfortable on rough roads, and have either no performance penalty or only a minimal one.

If your shift's 7 to 7, I doubt you're working more than 3 or 4 days a week - you should be able to find your way to an LBS.

Continental Ultrasports are really cheap ($13 cdn at mountain equipment coop) and long wearing (been riding my rear for a year and only now are some threads poking out, and that's probably from extreme temperature exposure, because they're not worn through). Not folding, but not too heavy - around 300 grams?