trying to build a fixie
 

im a noob with fixies, i normally ride mtbs. however being a senior in high school gives me some time to mess around with new things. I live in nyc, and seeing bike messenger and just other bikers riding fixed gear bikes in Manhattan made me wanna build one for myself. Videos on you tube also made me wanna build one. lol. I just found a frame not too long ago, and took it apart. Im sanding off the old paint, planning to re-paint it again. honestly im not a 100% sure of how to build a fixed gear bike. Not sure if or if not i need a new back rim, and what other parts i need along the way. not sure if i can use my crank, and gear. so if any one can give me some input, it would really help.

plans for the bike.

i was thinking of making it look kinda funky.
Might want to paint the bike teal, and than in the near future get some cool lime green rims, with lime green handle grips.lol

if any one has any ideas of any other colors ect. let me know.

i also need to know what else i need to buy after i finish up the frame. and how much it would cost to complete this project.

thanks in advance, and ill be sure to keep you guys posted.


here are a few pics.

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5490.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5491.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5492.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5493.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5495.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5496.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5497.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5499.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/CIMG5500.jpg

just pull off the freewheel and add a bmx sprocket with some jb weld- its good to hear from another high schooler

not sure what that means, lol, but ill try to figure it out, thanks btw.

The crank is cottered, it can be used but there's no point, they suck and you'll never get good chainline.

You need the following:

New crank & matching bottom bracket
Pedals (w/clips and straps, or clipless)
New wheels (front is junk, might as well replace it too)
Tires and tubes
Track cog and lock ring
New stem (probably) in order to use those bars (unless they came with the bike). Brake lever as well. Brake can be reused, new pads are good though.

Will probably run you about $300. Spend some time on sheldonbrown.com reading the article on fixed gear conversions and you'll know a lot more about what you're getting into.

what he said^^^

dont do the bmx with jb weld unless you wanna die soon

Or....


Keep the crank.
Pull the freewheel/gears/dork-disc off.
Add track cog and bb lockring.

Spend $35.

Oh, and 1 rattle-can primer, 2 rattle-cans color plus some clips and straps.

and what would he thread the cog and lockring onto?

he'd just need to pull the freewheel and rotafix the track cog on.

bklnstunt718, go to http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html Read everything but pay close attention to http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html and http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-...onversion.html

First, do you know what bike you have? That'll tell you if the bottom bracket is English, French, or Raleigh. I see you've sawn the spindle in two; if you choose to keep the cottered cranks you'll need a new spindle. I would replace the cranks; you may be able to use the old bottom bracket cups with a new spindle; QBP sells a few of the square taper spindles that would fit a Sugino or Bullet or and crankset that is square taper. I'd go ahead and get new bearings for those bottom bracket cups. They are cheap. Get some good automotive axle grease or marine bearing grease. Otherwise, get a Sugino or Shimano bottom bracket with sealed bearings.

Your rear wheel has a freewheel cassette. You can remove the cassette and rotafix the track cog on the threads. Here is a how to article with pictures. http://204.73.203.34/fisso/eng/schpignone.htm

You may need the rear wheel redished. That means loosening the spokes, centering the hub, tight everything back up. LBS can do it for you. If the wheel is really old/bad shape, it may need new spokes.

I would run at least a front brake. You can try to reuse one of those centerpull brakes but you'll need new cables. Get an old school brake lever from Pyramid; cheap. Proably will need new brake pads, too. See what the LBS has.

I'd get new bearings when you redo the headset, too.

Search results for painting the frame are here: http://www.bikeforums.net/search.php?do=process

You could have saved a ton of time removing the paint with chemical paint stripper.

it took me 8 hours to strip my paint with a wire brush bit on a drill. I am pleased with how it turned out, the work paid off. It was not messy like stripped would of been.

Are people just resurrecting old threads for fun now? I'm guessing the OP figured things out and/or carried a child to term in the intervening period.

bklnstunt718 : please resize those pics. They are way too big.