Bike conversion
 

I'm sure this is a silly question, but searching is disabled right now.

I'm moving to Miami, FL-- where you not only have to not get hit by cars, but also not get shot by people.

There's a velodrome nearby... and that's probably not a bad idea to give a shot. I doubt I'm going to find any 2 hour rides in the city.

How much effort would be involved in turning a regular bike into a fixie?

Thanks in advance!

How ever much you want to put into it.

I read that post three times and I still don't think I quite understand it fully, but you should be given a heads-up that racing conversions on the velodrome is not only very faux pas, but illegal and dangerous as well. I wouldn't count on the people responsible for that track letting you take a conversion out there.

I believe some tracks, like Brian Piccolo (which he is riding if he is in Miami?) allow conversions.

I hear you can search for stuff on google too.

Yes, I was looking at Brian Piccolo.

What's the danger of (having a professional) ripping off and replacing necessary components? Is it more an issue of inapropriate frame?

What do you mean necessary? If they are professional mechanics, i'm sure they will know what they are doing. Not sure I understand the question.

I'm just asking what's dangerous about converting a bike into a fixie. Assuming the apropriate hardware is put on the bike, I'm curious what other dangers linger.

Make sure the bike doesn't have vertical dropouts.
Make sure all your parts are the correct size for the frame and fit well with other compnents.
Make sure the frame doesn't have hole through it, or is bent.

Other than that... not much. I mean... if it works well, it will ride well. You can do it for really ****ing cheap also if you don't care about looks, performance and such, but since you want to race, you will want to get decent parts. I would suggest getting a low-end entry track frame if you are serious about starting to race, but if you don't have the money ($350 or so) you can just keep on with the conversion. Ask the mechanic you plan to go to all the questions you want. He will most likely answer them.

USCF 1J3 (bicycles)

"only a bicycle with a singel cog fixed wheel and w/out deraileurs, brakes, or QRs may be used. However, in pursuit and TT events that are not championships...brakes, freewheels, QRs, and deraileurs may be installed so long as only 1 gear is functional".

having cited that, i still doubt individual track owners would allow QRs, brakes, or derailures in any case. Maybe have a BB height requirement. Call the track and find out for sure.

I've definitely learned that you get what you pay for, so I don't know about going the cheap route, and I don't plan on racing.

Thanks for the collective advice to point me in the right direction.