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Singlespeed & Fixed Gear "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

What do you call this?

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Old 10-01-07 | 01:01 PM
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What do you call this?

What would you call this bike? Not anything like a track bike. Not a fixed gear. Not really a conventional "road bike", if there is such a thing as a conventional SS road bike... it's currently under construction as a replacement for my other mongrel SS.

Redline 925 frame
lightweight 700c road wheelset (cassette freehub) with spacers and a single cog, 25c tires
Shimano LX (MTB) crankset with 44T big ring
front and rear brakes
MTB low-rise handlebar with bar tape

Is there some kind of common bike shop guy term for this kind of cross-breed bike?
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:04 PM
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Frankenbike
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:05 PM
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car
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by carleton
Frankenbike
Well I think that sums it up pretty well... but also describes all of my bikes!!
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:17 PM
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That's a perfectly reasonable SS, perhaps a commuter bike. I don't see why one wd use a freehub but then it will work just fine so who cares.
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:30 PM
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Bikes: Old-ass gearie hardtail MTB, fix-converted Centurion LeMans commuter, SS hardtail monster MTB

You'll have some spacing issues using a freehub on that 120mm frame, but it's steel and you can squeeze it in there. Other than that, doesn't sound too unique, really.
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:36 PM
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I've heard them called "Frankenbikes" or "Frankenstein Bikes".

Similar to a "Frankenstein Guitar" - a guitar made of mis-matched components.

Here's an example: Eddie VanHalen's "Frankenstrat" (Fender Stratocaster)

https://www.evhgear.com/frankenstein/

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Old 10-01-07 | 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by LóFarkas
That's a perfectly reasonable SS, perhaps a commuter bike. I don't see why one wd use a freehub but then it will work just fine so who cares.
Well I guess since I won't commute on it, I wouldn't think of it as a commuter bike.

I kind of was on the fence about the wheels and hub but I picked the freehub wheel mostly because it eases chain line problems with a MTB crankset, and regular standard road wheel sets with cassette hubs are far less expensive and lighter weight compared with dedicated SS wheels. Likewise it is much easier to work out gearing and even allows me to run a couple of cogs easily for gear changes without flipping the wheel. You can buy several cassette cogs for the cost of one freewheel. Seems to me track hubs only really make sense if you are going to run FG, and I am not. So in the end, the cassette freehub road wheelset just made a lot more sense for my application.

That's the nice thing about just whipping up what you need from scratch. You get just what you need and don't have to conform to anybody else's idea of what's right.
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Old 10-01-07 | 01:46 PM
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singlespeed roadbike.
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Old 10-01-07 | 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by carleton
Frankenbike
i think for it to technically qualify as a frankenbike it needs a banana seat.
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Old 10-01-07 | 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by krash
What would you call this bike? Not anything like a track bike. Not a fixed gear. Not really a conventional "road bike", if there is such a thing as a conventional SS road bike... it's currently under construction as a replacement for my other mongrel SS.

Redline 925 frame
lightweight 700c road wheelset (cassette freehub) with spacers and a single cog, 25c tires
Shimano LX (MTB) crankset with 44T big ring
front and rear brakes
MTB low-rise handlebar with bar tape

Is there some kind of common bike shop guy term for this kind of cross-breed bike?

Done to death.
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