This is my old roadie. It's nothing special, as you can see from the pics - early '90s Raleigh Technium Olympian aluminum frame, 7-speed downtube shifters, low-end Shimano drivetrain with BioPace rings, etc. It does have a couple of things going for it, though.

1. It fits me pretty well. (I'm 6'2 and it's a 62cm frame.)

2. It has horizontal dropouts (although the opening is facing forward).

Say I wanted to convert this to a fixie.

First, is it a decent candidate (considering that I already own it and that most of the parts are there and in working order)?

Second, what all would have to be replaced? Or, more specifically, what are the steps in the process?

What I'd be going for is a track bike look, but for the street. The cheaper, the better.

Thanks.

Steve

It's a good choice

new rear wheel or just hub. Given the price of a complete wheelset a new wheelset is your best bet.
track cog and lockring
possibly a new chainring
Anything else you would have to replace(brake pad, cables, housing, tires, chain etc)

Trying to make a conversion look like a track bike is just stupid. The advantage of a conversion is that it has all that useful stuff for riding on the road that a track bike doesn't. Stuff like taking off the brakehoods and putting on track drops is just for hipsters.

This looks like an easy conversion. The quickest way would be to get a cheap 700c track wheel (do a search on these forums) track cog and lockring, plus you may need a new bb to get your chainline correct. Go look around sheldon brown's website for a full guide to fg conversions.

I actually agree with dutret, I find conversions that are trying to look like trackbikes a bit offputting. But it's your bike.

I think that actually qualifies as a tallbike, you may want to post this on the Alt forum. Seriously though what size is that? 68cm?

I probably didn't phrase that correctly (I'm new to all of this, as I'm sure you could tell).

What I really meant was that I'd keep the drops as opposed to going for bullhorns, a straight bar or risers.

I'll be taking off all of the stuff I don't need (derailleurs, shifters, rear brake & lever, etc.) I'll likely leave the front brake & lever on, at least at first.

That brings up another question... What goes in place of the downtube shifters once they're removed? Is there some sort of "plug" available or ???

Thanks, again.

Steve

It's a 62cm frame. It looks odd because of the angle of the pic and the fact that there are no tires on the rims. (The wheels are 700c, BTW.)

Steve

Mickstar there's another thread on the boards about what to do with unused canti bosses etc. The quick answer is, short of grinding them off and repainting, there's nothing you can do that isn't a bit jerryrigged and you might as well leave em alone.

I like two hoods for the hand positions. On the hoods is the best position for climbing and sprinting IMO and with only one hood you're depriving yourself of that. If you get the Tektro aero levers they are sprung so the dummy lever doesn't flop around; they are also very cheap and ergonomic.

[QUOTE=The_Mickstar]

That brings up another question... What goes in place of the downtube shifters once they're removed? Is there some sort of "plug" available or ???/QUOTE]

cable stops or you can make something.

I'd just leave the shifters on and make motorcycle noises when you mess with them.

Crazy, my 62's don't look anywhere near that tall.

Just don't grind anything off, so when fixed gear bikes aren't
cool anymore, you'll still have a decent road bike.

yeah that's a good road bike in a size that makes up for in demand what it lacks in popularity.



you'll do fine, bicyclewheels.com https://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR if you want a cheap entry level wheelset and can get someone to re-tension them... so the popular opinion says at least(i haven't tried them)