First Fixed Gear (advice needed)
 

Okay, so I finally have the cash flow I need to finish this "winter" project of mine, namely, building a fixed gear bike myself. This is not going to be a track bike, I am not a tarckstar, I don't care if it's NJS certified or anything. I am not a weight weenie. Power to you if you are, but I can't afford to be. Road and paved trails. Fitness and fun and the occasional commute. That's it. If it helps, I'm about 5'10", 165lbs, about a 31" inseam.

So far I've already picked up:

Frame: IRO angus 53cm, black
Wheels: Formula fixed/fixed to DA28s F and R
Bars: Nitto Standard Road Drops, 25.4
Pedals: MKS Sylvan Track, MKS Clips
Seatpost: El-Cheapo
Headset: Shimano Ultegra (already installed)

And I'm nearly 99.9% sure of the following (if I should think twice about any of these, please let me know why):

Straps: Toshi Doubles, Black
Saddle: Fizik Arione, Antique Brown w/ Tape
Cog: EAI Deluxe 17t 1/8", DA lockring, MKS Chain Tensioners
Brakes: Don't know, don't care, will figure it out on my own soon enough.

And I'm totally lost on the following:

Crank and BB: Dear god... Okay, I think I've got it narrowed down to the Sugino 75, Soma Hellyer, and the Miche Primato. Soma is my budget choice, even though I know it can be had cheaper under other brands, but I want silver. Miche is my in between choice, I think it looks sharp as hell, but I'm unsure about the 135bcd; proprietary anything makes me think twice. Sugino 75 is my dream choice (even in my dreams I don't need a campy), but I'm totally lost on the BB. I want to go catridge. Toronto is dirty. This whole chainline thing is driving me up the wall. I've been searching for answers for weeks and have absolutely nothing conclusive to work with. Halp!

Stem: Can't decide between the Nitto Technomic and the alloy Jaguar. The Jaguar would be nice, but I'm not sure I'll be able to ride that low, even though my drops aren't super-deep. I've never had a quill stem before, so I was wondering, if I get the long tech, could I drop it down as low as the short one if I find I don't want/need the extra length? Would the only issue be added weight?

I would just like to do everything right without having to hang my head in shame going back to my lbs because "i ordar wrong partz!"

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

the second to last sentence is what you should stick to. do it right the first time. that means sugino 75's and the right stem for the riding position you want. sounds cool to me as long as you aren't going to want it lighter after a month of riding it and realizing it doesn't climb as well as a 1500 dollar road bike.

i too would like some answers concerning cartridge BB's for 75's. i can tell you, though, that you most likely will not be able to get a technomic stem all the way down in a 53cm frame (about 10 cm of headtube, i think).

Well, one of the biggest reasons I wanted a fixed gear in the first place was to make me a better cyclist. For the challenge. When and if I do decide to go the route of a kickin' rad road bike, I want my body to be conditioned to make full use of it.

bro 53 cm sounds a tad small for 5'10 " cat
imho
cheers

I got little legs. Something like a 31-31.5" cyclists inseam. SOH for the 53 is 30", and 31" for the 56 so...

the inseam really matters the most with seat height, not frame size. you want a long enough top tube for your torso, or you'll cramp up.

I was also trying to avoid undue crotch-to-top tube contact. Besides, isn't that what long-ish stems are for?

maybe ull need a nitto dynamic rather than technomic...it may help out if ur TT is actually too short for u

But the technomic (long and short) goes out as far as 130mm, same as the dynamic.

I'm not trying to be argumentative with any of you, I'm just telling you the way I see things, so that maybe you can explain to me why I'm so, so wrong.

ahhh my mistake, i thought the technomic only went to 100mm (those are the longest ones at my LBS's online store at least). my bad

cheap stem

cheap bb

screw double straps (run a brake, friend).


instant savings: $200+

But what cheap BB? What brand, which one?

I'm 5'9" and I ride a 53 that fits me perfectly. Stupid little stubby legs.

shimano and truvativ both make perfectly smooth square taper BBs that run $15 or less

Square taper ISO or JIS?

they poke in the hole. look it up.

This isn't a budget-less build, but I'm not exactly on a shoe-string.

I'm going to run a front brake, but I intend it to be emergencies only. I'd still rather run doubles, since I consider $60 for toshi singles vs. $90 for doubles, and the fact that I don't know if I trust other straps, to point me in the direction of doubles.

Cheap stem, well, let me just say I'd miss the $30 difference between the Nitto and some no-name a lot less than I'd miss the Nitto.

As for the BB, I'm still trying to figure that one out. My lbs recommended the Shimano UN54, some people (Sheldon among them) say the ISO/JIS thing is okay with catridge BBs, others advise against it. I guess the only way for me to find out is to install the damn thing...

I'd be very keen to hear what bb/crankset you end up with as I'm in the same dilemma. Another alternative to the 75's is the Truvativ Omnium as it uses external bearings like roadbikes so you don't have the bb problem. Only downside is they look a bit brutish and possibly out of place on a nice steel frame.

The only other "downside" is that you absolutely need to get your BB shell faced with external bearing BBs.

i run a shimano un54 BB with sugino 75's on one of my bikes with no problems if that helps.

Well, hopefully it will all come together without incident, but it helps me stop thinking about it for hopefully a day or two which is pretty helpful at this point.

The Sugino 75 is ISO but the UN54bb is JIS taper. Theoretically it shouldn't work should it?

A quick google search on this topic reveals that you have a very bad headache and need to lie down for a while.

So what did you end up getting Jabba?