Dubbayoo

I have a recently decommissioned road frame that I might turn into a fixed gear depending on cost. I'm going to contact the original frame builder (it's a custom) about replacing the dropouts with horizontal ones.

Here is the bike. I used to have a track bike just like it.




I probably would only ride it once a week for 20-35 miles. What should I look for as far as componentry goes? Cheap track crank and 105 brakes? Do 105's have enough stopping power? That would be important in L.A. traffic.

Aeroplane

I vote ENO as well. I'd hate to ruin that *****in' paintjob.

Landgolier

Eno for sure on that bike.

"Do 105 brakes have enough stopping power?"
You have no idea how much restraint it's taking me to not make fun of that question.

queerpunk

i echo the suggestion to use an ENO eccentric hub rather than replace the dropouts. an ENO hub, if you're not familiar, has an axle that is somewhat independant of the bolts. so you can bolt it on and then shimmy the axle foreward/back in order to get proper chain tension--which is the issue with vert dropouts in the first place.

105 brakes should be fine.

cranks. lots of options here. 105's, 600, or dura-ace road doubles pop up on ebay all the time ($50-$100+)--i'm guessing that you've got a handful of 130bcd chainrings lying around, if you're a road biker with parts? make sure that the ring you use doesn't have ramps or pins--you want your chain to stay on that one ring.

or you could get some new cranks. sugino RD are a popular budget crank ($80ish), but many people find them unsatisfactory.

track cranks. i'm pleased with my stronglights, though not a lot of people use them, and i wouldn't have paid full price for them, because i could have paid just a bit more for sugino 75's (close to $200). miche is known for being high quality as well, and damn good looking. square taper is the way to go.

Dubbayoo

I should show you pics of the hills around here. Sometimes I wonder if my Dura-Aces are going to stop in time. Thanks for the ENO tip!

dutret

there isn't THAT much difference between 105s and dura-aces. Getting better pads especially since I assume this is going to be a crap weather bike will have far more effect then upgrading from 105 dura ace.

queerpunk

crazy.

anyway, with fixed, once you get up the coordination, you can also use backpressure to help yr braking.

Cynikal 

If your are that worried about stoppong power, have Brew braze on some canti bosses at the same time.

But I digress to your orig question. Another vote for an ENO here. Why modify a frame when you can have a wheel set that can go on many frames.

baxtefer

+aliens for ENO.

Aeroplane

Eff that, get some Zero-G's and endo all over the place.

baxtefer

Zero-G's suck

Landgolier

This is the huge advantage of the ENO, and not something you think of right away. Once you have an ENO rear and a bb/crank setup that gives you the right chainline, any frame you ever own can easily be set up as fixed (or SS for that matter).

Landgolier

Oh, and on the brakes, I'm just making the point that 90% of the difference between the shimano product lines is weight and logos, not performance. If you take apart a 105 brake and a Dura Ace brake, you might find a few little design differences, but mostly you'll just see places where they removed metal to make room for more magical Duracci fairy dust.

Poorly adjusted Sora sells a ton of 105, and 105 that could use a cleanout and new cables sells a ton of Ultegra/DA

Dubbayoo

I think I'll use D-A brakes because I happen to have some laying about. Rather than sell and get NOS cheapies I'll just keep what I have. I may go with a track crank just to get the correct chainline easier. My old track bike actually had a 165 Stronglight road crank because at the time people felt the road model was stiffer.