humancongereel

has anyone put them on a bike with horizontal or vertical dropouts, and how much did yoiu end up spending to do so? i know someone with a frame with vertical dropouts who wants to buy some track ends and pay someone to weld them on. and i've wondered now and then if it might be worth it on certain frames. any thoughts on cost, how hard it was to find a place to do it, etc?

LoveParkRIP

I turned my friends road bike into a 'track' bike this past fall. It's a lot of work. On average, people normally charge ~ $200 for the parts and labor. Not so bad considering the time invested. Paint is another story. Unless your willing to spray paint the ends, a decent paint job will cost you another $150. I think a project like this is worth it, especially if the frame is unique.

Good luck!

taken67

So did you order the track ends or fabricate them yourself? Mig or Tig? Inquiring minds want to know!

hockeyteeth

Harris Cyclery sells some track ends for $28 a pair - https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/f...tml#frameparts. That would be the cheapest way to go if you know how to weld.

I was quoted $75 per fork end by a frame builder a while ago where I live. So I suppose $150 - $200 is the going rate to have a frame retrofitted.

vobopl

I have, after my chain cut 1/3 through the original horizontal dropout. I have designed track ends (to be 5mm below orignal dropouts to modify the geometry a bit) and had them cut with plasma cutter. $17, inclusive of material. Brazing was free, in an exchange for other services. I have filed, polished and painted the ends with the spray can.

humancongereel

cool, thanks. thought it might be something like that.

operator

But why? You could've bought an entire new bike with horizontal dropouts to convert if you wanted to. Seems like either the frame originally was good/expensive enough to justify putting forkends, in which case you're ****ing up a nice frame. Or it's not, and you'd be wasting money on a crappy frame.

LoveParkRIP

I bought colubus track ends and brazed them on myself. The frame was a 'Faggin' with down tube bosses and lots of braze-on's. All that stuff was removed and the dropouts were cut and replaced with track ends.

Fun project. I have to say the frame looks way better than it did before.

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/95/26...50287633_o.jpg

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/105/3...6f7bbe8d_o.jpg

Ceya

Love ParkRIP,

Nice work.

S/F,
CEYA!

onetwentyeight 

cuz blowtorches are fun!! DIY!

humancongereel

yeah, DIY would be fun, but i don't know anything about welding and the person i know who's wanting to put track ends on doesn't either.

taken67

Nice. How did you remove the original dropouts? Heat?

BostonFixed

Why? you've taken something already functional and made it less functional.

hockeyteeth

Unless you're referring to the removal of a derailleur hanger, I don't see how the frame is any less functional.

What color did you paint the frame, LovePark?

Retem

if it is a lugged steel frame you can strip the paint and chrome off of the chain and seat stays and sipmly heat it and pull out the old drop outs if brazed

then simply go to the hardware store and for about 75 bucks buy and oxy mapp torch kit and some brazing rods

you can get campy track ends for 30 bones from benscycle really nice ones too
or paul comp ends but they cost more built in tensioners

and braze em in your self

hozan makes a tool to respace the rear of a frame it is about 175 of 200 ish and you are set

LoveParkRIP

I hacksaw'd the right dropout and had to re-slot the chainstay, the left d/o was heated and pulled out.

Unfortunately the frame isn't mine to paint. My friend plans on painting it pearl white and getting new decals. I can't wait to take more before/after photos.

The whole point of this project was to take the frame and give it a makeover. I got to practice, and my friend pretty much got a new bike.

humancongereel, what is the frame you are referring to? Do you know the make/model, tubing?

-Chris

humancongereel

so far i know it's a cannondale road frame made of aluminum.

but since i posted the original post....well, i'll put it this way, she's on her computer next to me now looking at track frames on ebay. the diy sounded fun but a little unrealistic, paying someone...might as well buy a track frame.

DasProfezzional

That is a pretty effin' cool job there, LovePark. I'm not even a fan of fork ends, but hot dang it, I quite love it. It'll make a nice road ride, too. Let the haters hate, that's a sexy bicycle.

Pearl white sounds the dopest.

Retem

if she likes al get her a nycbikes frame hey are pretty nice and they come in ten colors and the guys there are cool too

12XU

I'm assuming here, but do you have a pretty bare bones set up when you're doing this? Just an oxy-ace bottle and torch and some brazing rod? I'd like to get into frame repair before I hit frame building and want to know where others have gotten started, be it with a jig, a full set of files, and a stock of tubing or just a torch and rod. Let me know!

Retem

75 or 80 dollar rig you get at ace hardware oxy mapp torch kit and some brazing rods and flux

Retem

https://www.amazon.com/Bernzomatic-We...6?ie=UTF8&s=hi

mascher

I've asked this question a bunch of times over the years and nobody's answered it. To put it more, um, simply, why ever change the ends on a bike? If it's got the right dropouts or you're lucky with a magic gear, you're good, if not, half link/eno/slightly different ratio. 200 bucks plus paint buys a lot of donuts.

LóFarkas

I have a frame w/ vertical drops and now I'm sorry I didn't have the dropouts switched when I stripped the paint. It's just a pita and the ENO is ridiculously overpriced. I could live with horizontal dropouts, though.

(Special bonus rage: it turns out that a local framebuilder would have done it for <$50 including the dropouts. I didn't know that back then. ****.)