UPDATE WITH PICS SCROLL DOWN!

Hi,
im 17 and i just purchased this bike off craigslist for 40 bucks, it came with the seat post and the stem along with the fork.

MY GOAL
i want to make this bike a single speed that i can get around on, i also want to learn how to build it up myself becuase its important to me that i take away from it. I am broke so i am looking for cheaper parts and things that i can get locally or on the internet

THINGS I NEED!
Seat
Tires/Wheels/Tubes (complete set)
sprockets, cassette
Bottom Bracket
Cow Horn Handlebars, Tape
Crankset
KNOWLEDGE!

if you can point me to any places with a step by step to building up a single speed that would be great, i live in austin texas and if you have any old parts or think you could help me out with building it i would be more than grateful.

Everything helps.

i will be posting pics along the way as i build it up~

thanks alot!

Can those dropouts even work with a fixed gear or single-speed? I would think it would be amazing hard to regulate chain tension. Maybe not though.

google sheldon brown, and you will need to remember that since you have vertical dropouts on your frame, you need either (a) a White industries eccentric bottom bracket or (b) a chain tensioner.

yeah your dropouts aren't ideal for ss/fg use, but it can be done, either:

--find a "magic" gear combo that give you perfect chain tension (i think sheldon brown has a chart you can work off of)

--ENO hub ($$$)

--or, probably the easiest/cheapest way if you are going for a single speed is to get a SS conversion kit that comes with a chain tensioner. Nashbar has one for $20-$30...

edit: i type slowly

Decline:

I've done the magic gear conversion and it's doable, but not ideal. You may want to go SS (not fixed!) with a chain tensioner.

the cheapest solution is to pick a cog/chainring combination that will fit your bike. since the dropouts (the place where the rear axle goes) are not horizontal, you will not be able to adjust chain tension without an extra part. this is called a magic gear and works much better for singlespeeds than for fixed gears, as your chain will stretch, and a little slack on a ss is no big deal.

good luck dude.

can someone post a picture of a bike that would be ideal? what would be the best way to do this bike up. will it be ****ty if i try to go for a single speed? thanks!

He could use a rear derailleur as a chain tensor... right? I don't know much about it, but I have a couple of friends that do it on their SS conversions.

could someone post a set of things i would need to complete this bike? is there any nice packages i can get that would have most of it? thanks!

yeah, that'd work too

nice packages

if you wanna build that bike up, what you need to do is homework

Bummer about the vertical dropouts dude. The best you're gonna be able to do is figure out exactly how many teeth your front and rear gears can have for you to be able to run a chain without a tensioner or the expensive White hub. Fear not; this guy has literally got this down to a science though: https://eehouse.org/fixin/index.php

Decline-

To summarize everyone here... do your homework and read that link above from Sheldon's website. But basically your bike has rear dropouts that look like this (vertical):

the best bikes to convert have dropouts that look like this(semi horizontal):


the reason being that you can move the rear wheel back and forth to tension the chain. on a normal geared bike, the rear derailer takes up the slack so vertical dropouts are not a problem(and as doshkel said, you could still put one on there to do that). most people dont want a derailer on a single speed bike because they are not changing gears. you can also get a chain tensioner, which takes up the slack like a derailer but dosent change gears.

that is probably your best option since you cant pull the wheel back to tension the chain. if you ever want to try fixed gear riding, neither of these options will work since you put pressure on your chain in BOTH directions (not just forward) so both the derailer and chain tensioner would be a problem with that.

if you know you arent going to try fixed gear riding... you can just get a cheap chain tensioner and that frame will work fine. if you may want to try fixed riding, you should probably look into a different frame.

good luck

all i am wanting to do is convert it to a single speed. why would chain tension be hard thing to make its only one speed?

Because without the tensioner, your chain will either be too short or too long, depending on what gearing you choose. You could ultmiately find the perfect gearing to give you optimal chainlength so you don't need a tensioner but that's good until your chain stretches. Since the frame you bought has vertical drops, you don't have the ability to move your wheel forward or rearward to adjust chain tension. For more on building a singlespeed go here.HERE.

wow...do your homework. you will then realize that vertical dropouts don't allow you to move the wheels in a horizontal direction, hence, you can't change the tension on the chain. with a rear deraiuller it takes up any slack in the chain, which is why vert dropouts work just fine with deraiullers. not with single speeds. sheldon will tell you all you need to know.

Seat: free
Tires:10$
Wheel: 30$ a set
Tubes: 8$ for two
Cog: Free
botton Bracket: free
Cow horn handlebars: free
tape: 2$
crankset: free
knowledge: free

Go to YellowbikeProject. I know I just advocated the idea that you could get alot of parts for free but for chrissakes please donate to them. I got handlebars, a stem and a front wheel for cheap. I asked "How much you want?" and they replied "hmm.. 10$" and then I threw in two rolls of bar tape and I left them with a 20$.

Wanna go on a ride? Want to carpool to YBP to pick up parts?

and/or (c) a half link and/or (d) a lucky chainring/cog combo.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/chains.html

i dont mind going with a chain tensioner

Make sure to post pictures after you build it up .

Good luck.

UPDATE!

tommorow i am going to go over the frame with some steel wool and smooth the frame out and then repaint it with 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of white and go over it with another 3 coats of red and then i am going to gloss it up! my theme of the bike is candy apple red and white! its going to be pretty!

I need to find a bottom bracket that will fit the bike and a crankset and wheels and handlebars and etc etc etc but i am having my girlfriend reapolster the seat with white vinyl with a red etching with my name and trim around the side! this bike should look sweet when i am done with it.

The frame is a Specialized Crossroads Cruz. I think its a hybrid frame does anyone have suggestions or places to go for parts etc. I am in need of alot of help! i will post pics tommorow of the paint job!

in the meantime if you have any photos of bikes with red and white schemes i would love to see them for ideas!

i am 5'8" do you think a 57.5 cm top tube is too large?

so some parts of the bike are more expensive than others:
wheels and cranksets

I would try to figure out what size wheels are intended for that bike- as it's a hybrid, there's a greater chance that it might be 27" or even worse, 26". I'm not sure if specialized ever did the crossroads as a comfort bike with 26'' wheels, but it's a possibility. If they are 26", you might be able to find a decent mountain bike on craigslist again for really cheap- anything from a reputable (non-department store brand) would be sufficient.

then you could use most of the parts from the mountain bike.
the wheels, run slicks if you want
the chain, either with the derailleur set to your desired gear or shortened to only be in one gear. for ss, you can run your chain a lot looser than would be safer for fixed, and with a crappier chainline.
the crankset- either set the derailleur in one of the chainrings w/ the limit screws or buy a singlespeed chainring as it's likely the rings on the crankset will have ramps to throw the chain off.
hopefully the bottom bracket will work. that might be the most frustrating part of the bike for you.

it's too late for you, but maybe others can take heed- your $40 would be better spent on a complete bike or a crucial part (such as a singlespeed specific rear wheel). frames are pretty easy to find, or get for free otherwise, and a complete bike simplifies so many of the issues that are likely to arise.

good luck, there's a wealth of info on the internet, but you can't beat talking to real people

sizing can be weird since it's a hybrid. what in inches is the seat tube length? measure from the middle of the bottom bracket shell the center of the weld.
the head tube makes me think you'll be okay.

DAILY UPDATE!

i went at the bike with some steel wool and painted the primer on as well as the white coat and gloss take a look!











Things i still need to do!

paint on the red coat and gloss!
learn how to put a bottom bracket in (and get a bottom bracket!)
install brakes and handlebars! (and handlebar tape)
get a wheelset
get a crank
learn how to install the single speed kit i bought from nashbar!
advice! anyone?