.....if they'd sell a fixed gear 700c rear wheel (no front just rear) for $50-$75. Is it not economically do-able? Maybe a basic rim, and a track hub ( non flip flop)?

Maybe if they were stolen?
Otherwise, the cheapest POS fixed wheel you could possibly build would be about 40 dollars in parts alone, and even with slave labor builds you have to ship the wheel to the US. Then the quality of the parts would be so poor that you would lose money in returns for defective parts if not lawsuits.

There is a tremendous gap in quality between the bottom basement fixed hub and something with reasonable quality like a formula. There are lots of ways to save money on parts, but wheels are probably the worst place to do it.
Our 2 cents.

^^^Maybe, but if a BD messenger is $350. The rear wheel can't be costing much. Take away the cost for the crank, chain, frame, fork, front wheels, bars, brakes, cables, and tires, not much is left for the wheel. I'd take a new rear wheel from a BD messenger for $75.

If you can get a formula/sun set for 120, 75 seems ok for just a rear.

True for the common person, but I'm assuming the OP meant a manufacturer in which case I seriously doubt something like a Mavic/Formula wheel costs $40 worth of materials. Wholesale and economy of scales and all that jazz. The profit margin would be narrow, but I could see it being done, the main reason it isn't I believe would be the relatively small market for it.

somebody would make a fortune if they sold a fixed gear bike that was ready to ride pretty much out of the box for like $350.


oh.. wait.

I'm pretty sure I've seen rear only for ~$70ish ... don't remember if it was an ebay store or not. I know I've seen it though.

EDIT: Also, my wheelset from BikeIsland (if I remember correctly) was $100 total Vuelta.
That was a wheel, with rim tape, tubes, tires, cog, lock ring, washers, and nuts all pre-installed.
I don't ride like a mad man, but i do skip and skid every so often, and do sprints.... no problems yet. I did go with a surly cog and lock ring though... didn't wanna trust the cheapie one.

If they can do that for $100 ($20 more if you want a color other than black), then I think a $50-$75 single rear is do-able.

Have you tried your local bike shop. Quality sells some pretty cheap fixed wheels. Alex rims with no name hubs. Their POS, but depending on your shops markup, might come in at about that range.

-ray

Yeah, someone I know got a fixed rear wheel new from the LBS for $50... no-name rim on some garbage Quando hub. I mean, I don't think it was even really worth the $50, he'll just have to replace it next year...