The problem with free frames.
 

So this roadie who lives near my friend threw out a frame the other day.
Rather than let it sit out on the curb I decided to take it home and do something with it.
So after biking home with the damn thing hanging on my shoulders, I come to find it has vertical dropouts.
Needless to say I was peaved.
However it has a super nice Campagnolo bottom bracket.
So, sell it and get a suitable frame for conversion?

try putting a wheel and chain on it. you might get lucky and it'll work. or if its close, file teh dropouts a bit. that's what i did with my old MTB frame when i converted it to single speed

I'd be scared of filing them.
They are truly tiny. No wiggle room at all.

Hmmmm, a perfectly good frame thrown out. With a campy BB even! Oh, but vertical dropouts, damnit! It's worthless....or is it? Who knows what to do with a frame with vertical dropouts?

Yes... what would I ever do with a kick ass road frame that has vertical dropouts ?

If you want to go singlespeed just throw a tensioner on that puppy.

Well I wouldn't be throwing it out.
I'd probably throw it on craigslist.

Omg Building Up A Geared Bike Would Be Terrible

It sure would.
Those geared bikes and their convenience.
I like breaking my legs trying to get up hills thank you very much.

eno's are pricey tho, i wouldnt do one unless i was set on making a certain frame w/ vert dropouts fixed

What type of frame is it?

Just do an eno, they're badass hubs, i just built a wheel up for my friends trek 1000 and those hubs are NICE.

+1
info on frame = DO WANT

Spending more on the rear wheel than the frame is worth = priceless. :) It's probably still a blast to ride.

chain tensioner and SS?

vertical dropout "conversion"
 

I modified my MTB's vertical dropout slightly to allow for tensioning the chain. I would not recommend this for fixed gear, but I've tested this on single speed.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomm...7604897079471/

cheers,

J

You sure it's not damaged?

Just sell it or give it away to someone who wants to build a geared road bike (if you don't want an ss, that is).

I did the same thing to an old mtb frame & ran fixed. No problem, use "track" nuts.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk//images/p...acknuts_xl.jpg

sooo.... no pics?

I'm with him.

Do you already have a fixed bike?

I did that. Frame=free, wheel=$200 + 6 Moosehead.

Yeah... make sure you give it a good look over. There are exceptions, but you usually get what you pay for, and it could have been on the curb for good reason.

If it is good, ENOs are golden. I see nothing wrong with putting $$ into a good wheelset. You got the frame for free! My backup road bike is a $35 thrift store Sekai with $250 Mavic Ksyriums, and I love it. I don't think people realize what a difference wheels make. Occasionally I would have customers try the same road bike with Alex/Formula, then Mavic Ksyriums, then Rolfs, then Shimano 550s, and maybe some handbuilts if we had any around. In each case, it is like riding a completely different bike. If they are looking to spend the $$, then pull out carbon wheels and start having some real fun...

I have a single speed and an old Schwinn ten-speed.
I really want do a fixed build though, so this frame is no good for me.
As for brand it's a Decathlon. Never heard of it before, but then I'm not some bike company trivia nut.
It looks to be in pretty good shape, not even a scratch on it, much less any signs of major damage.
I'm thinking I'll just get rid of it and find a better frame, I might even be able to come out of it ahead if I can get someone to buy it.

decathlon bikes
 

Decathlon is a French sports goods supermarket - they do a lot of own brand stuff. I've got a pair of their own brand SPD pedals that are decent enough for the price (half compared to Shimano stuff).

Their UK site: http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/

Never actually ridden a Decathlon bike, but they do a whole range - from full carbon beauties to supermarket quality carbon steel heavyasf*ck tanks. Soo... I'd say if the brand doesn't put you off and if its a nice frame I'd go for it.

J

I've heard of these springy things that keep your chain tensioned. Some guy I know, even has his tensioner thingy connected by cables to controls to make it slide back and forth sideways. And he's got this wheel with like a whole bunch of different sized cogs on it. It kind of looks like a corncob. That means he can change cogs without having to flip his wheel around (that wouldn't work anyway, since all the cogs are on the same side for some reason). This guy said that he can even change cogs while the bike is moving and it works better than when he did it at a stop.

Dood, that guy's lying to you.

next time look at the drop outs before you lug it home

Weld some track ends on it?

i always get a kick out of how much everybody in the fixed gear forum hates fixed gears.