ghetto conversions
 

Hi, I'm new to the world of ss/fixed gear, although I only use about 3 speeds on my roadbike. I have a ugly, heavy (relatively) Ross frame that I'd like to turn into a fixie/ss witout much $$ into it. I'm a college student and this is meant to be a stopgap until I can get a real frameset. I've seen some interesting hubs on the fixies in town and the one that interested me the most was the one with the ss on one side and the fixed on the other (flipflop hub, maybe?)
Anyway, I was wondering about gearing and what kind of stuff I need to get. I was thinking 700c 35's for good pothole-durability... I've pinched the 23's on my roadbike a few too many times. I was wondering what wheelsets come reccomended that aren't hugely expensive, but that I could move up to a lighter frame without completely negating the purpose of the light frame. Anyway, I'll be interested to see what anyone has to say!

Thanks
~~Jake~~

god, i hate pointing people to this site, because i'm worried these'll run out before i can afford to snatch up a pair, but, oh well....you gotta help a brotha out. i just used these to "fix" my girlfriend's bike, and i have nothing bad to say about these. http://www.bicyclewheels.com

the only "track" wheelset on there is what i'm talking about, and it's actually a flip-flop hub. fixed/free.

Get an IRO rear hub/wheel, or other similar Formula hub'ed wheel. Cheap, durable, and smooth.

yeah, those, too...i believe they have better rims than those i posted. though the ones i posted are nice enough in their own right, you get velocity rims with iro, which are definitely good for bombproof wheels. i have deep v's, and it adds a few grams, but they're tough as nails.

are track style dropouts necessary or just convenient? I can braze, but for the time being I'd rather just leave it as it was. Thanks for the wheels links/advice.

As always, fix/fix > fix/free. You can run two freewheels on fixed threads, but not the other way around...

:p

:thpt:

$160 hub != ghetto conversion.

The OP should check out his crankset before he does anything else. some rosses have really wierd ones that would disqualify them as cost effcient conversion options.

On second thought, I better delete that post.....
deleted..:D

wow that's a pretty sleek bike for a conversion... what kind of seat is that? I've never seen one before.

EDIT ok, wow, that post dissapeared. yeah, I'm not quite up to the $160 hub unless it comes with rim and spokes and stuff

which alexandria?

if you want a real ghetto conversion, put a track cog and BB lockring on your current rear wheel. it'll work quite acceptably.

you don't need track ends, but they're ****ing nice.

and yeah, if you can get fix/fix, it's a lot better. you can run it fix/fix, fix/free, or even free/free. most versatile there is.

it looked like a $100+ brooks

Track ends are fashion. Horizontal dropouts are where it's at.

horizontal dropouts really are the jam.

I have no wheels. everything but wheels. and tires. and tubes.... well, you get the picture... so I'm looking for something within $100 to put on it. Tough I know, I might end up over, but just looking now.

In response to which alexandria, that's Virginia, dc exurbs.

For gearing, use a ratio as close as possible to your favorite combo on your roadbike. For me, I found that I lived on my 42-17 but wished that I had a 42-16. My rear wheel came with a 15t fixed cog and a 16t freewheel. So I got a 40 tooth ring for up front and that's been working pretty good.

You can calculate gear ratios here: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

the bike now... from the dumpster of my lil' sis's apartment complex. right size, and I like the old steel honkers. frame is imprinted with 2323-??? anyone know what those mean?

went to the lbs this morning, one of the many, but the only one that knows jack **** about fixies, and was told a lot of stuff by a guy half my age. They had really reasonable prices on the components, so I'm having them build me a rear with a surly fix-fix hub and 700 32's. I've never built my own wheel before, and I don't have the right stuff to get it trued. I discovered that my hangout gear on my roadbike is my 42-14 gear, on mostly flats, but I'm thinking of getting a 16 or 17 so that I can get a little bit better ratios using the inner ring of my current crankset. On my roadbike you can take off the outer ring, but looking at the fixer-upper, no such luck.

Oh yeah, I'm getting a 16t freewheel, for the other side. yeah, baby, yeah.

Next up: chopping the stock bars for a "mini-bullhorn" set, re-routing the front brakes, and doing nothing to the rust.

Not if the hub is fix/fix, you're not.

That was a butchered Brooks Conquest mountain saddle.

Why not? Freewheels can be threaded onto the fixed side of a hub.

????

yup, I'm getting a freewheel cog to thread on one side, and a gear for the other. I think I'll do 15/16 with 42-15 being the fixed and the most used.

i only know of one in Virginia