What would you guys suggest as a fairly affordable fixed for a newbie to the whole fixed thing. i've been riding road for a few years now and just want to mix it up a bit. thanks

What's affordable for you? $100? $500? $1000? Can you assemble a bike yourself? Can you build a wheel? Do you want to put one together out of and old road frame or a new fixie specific frame or even a track frame? There are so many options, so many. You can even get yourself a pre-built one off ebay for less than $200 and see if you like it.

i did mine for pretty cheap, bike $10.00 (80's fuji), rear wheel $110 ( Surly custom built with Mavic rim, good spokes etc), cog $15, lockring $10, bullhorn bars from chucks bikes $10.00 chain $10.00. i dont think you can get cheaoer than that, i could have gotten a much cheaper rear wheel but the lbs messed up an original order for a suzue wheel for like 70 so they gave me the surly for 110, it is an excellent wheel though. i believe i was under 200 with a few asst ends like bmx size chainring bolts.

Go for an older steel frame if you're looking for cheap. I built mine for about 150$; most of the parts I had lying around. The biggest expense was the frame; I paid 75$ for that (but it's a nice frame). Ideally, look for something frame-wise with horizontal dropouts (duh) and as few braze ons as possible.

When looking at older steel frames, avoid anything that has stamped dropouts: this is a sure sign of a sub-standard frame.

You should be able to find a frame with cast dropoutsfor less than $10, if you look around long enough.

How does one distinguish stamped dropouts from cast dropouts?