Ok, so I really like bikes and always have--I hope to never own a car if I can. Anyway, I currently have a Trek hybrid and it's good for getting around where I live, but I've been wanting a fix gear for a while now and after this summer will have made quite a bit of money and will be able to get one of those too.

I was originally planning on just getting an old road bike and converting it because 1) it's cheap 2) I prefer DIY things 3) I can feel proud of it

But, I've been doing some research and am worried I won't be able to do it well. I don't have much experience with bike repair or building apart from a bit of tinkering back in junior high and high school. The more I read about how to convert a bike, the more I realize I have very little clue what I'm doing! I'm not even sure which types of pedals I should choose, much less a gear ratio, crank length or bottom bracket height (btw, is that even something that can be changed? I don't think so but I could be wrong).

I do have access to a free bike learning center at my college though, and I do have a friend with a fix who knows quite a bit about bikes (I think), but I'm still worried I'll screw it up.

I'm most concerned with safety. I get the feeling getting a bike specifically made to ride fix would be safest as it should have the proper specs needed to avoid things like pedal strike and all that fun stuff. And I will have the money to spend on a decent one. I could part with 200-300 easily enough, and I could even afford 600-700, but I'd much rather avoid paying that much if possible. Also, even if I do build one myself, I'm not sure how much to expect to spend. Minus the frame, about how much would hubs and all that stuff be to convert a road bike to fix?

What do people recommend? As one of my friends says, DIY or buy. But which should I choose? Am I being overly paranoid with regards to safety? I think I might be working things up too much in my head. Or am I being reasonable here? And if you think I should buy a bike, what would people recommend as far as good quality? I want something sorta simple geometrically. Oh, and if you think I should build, what starting road frames would people recommend? Sorry for the super long question, but I could make if even longer so I think I cut it down pretty well

Do it yourself.
Use a steel frame.
sheldonbrown.com
enjoy.

Sheldonbrown.com to get you started.

Old, cheap frame from the 70's-80's with horizontal dropouts is the cheap way to go. Make sure it has the standard 68mm bottom bracket and it's not a Raleigh or a French bike. These bikes will probably have the 126mm dropout spacing. Your old bike may have serviceable bottom bracket cups and spindle but the spindle will be too long and you'll have to find another one that is shorter on the drive side. Some people have simply flipped the spindle around and gotten a good chainline.

Sugino RD crankset with 165mm crankarms, 48T chainring. I've used a cheap Shimano bottom bracket with a 109mm spindle and it worked fine. I've used the Sugino bottom bracket with the 103 spindle and that also worked great. Get a decent cog for the back; a 17T will be pretty good; 18T if you've got hills; 19T if you have steep hills. I use 3/32" 9-speed chain. If you go 1/8", make sure your chainring and cog are also 1/8". 3/32" is plenty strong. 1/8" often said to be quieter. Others say it looks cool.

You can redish an old rear wheel and use spacers to get your rear cog in straight but I prefer to go with a new wheelset. I've used Mavic Open Sports, Velocity Aeroheads and SunCR18 27" rims; all with Formula/Harris Cyclery hubs. The Formula fixed/fixed hub has enough threading to spin a freewheel cog on there if you want. You can go cheaper but my wheels have cost me ~$200 a set.

Definitely get some brakes. At the very least, a front brake. Shimano and Tektro make some cheap brakes that work well; replace the pads on the Tektros with some Kool Stops.

I prefer clipless mountain bike pedals; the SPD's. No clips means less worry about toe overlap, no straps means less fuss getting on the bike. Not the most comfortable shoes but you can still walk around in them. Clips and straps the way to go if you need your walking shoes.

The older frame will take a 1" quill stem for a threaded fork. Lots to choose from; I've scored some nice Cinellis off eBay cheap. Once got a Cinelli stem with Cinelli Giro d'Italia handlebars for $30. Depending upon your measurements and the size of the frame, you may need a short or long stem. Bars are where you can choose whatever you like, just make sure it'll fit the stem or vice versa. Get some grips or bartape; bars get slippery when hands get sweaty.

Saddles are another place where you can pick whatever.

Depending upon the condition of the old frame, you may want to paint it. Use the search function to find lots and lots of info. on how to rattlecan your bike. Or, hit the local paintshop and get an estimate on a powdercoat job. Can be done for less than $100 though I would do all the prep work myself. Rust bubbling through a new powdercoat is not pretty and can be a royal pain to fix.

BTW, "Use the Search Function" is kind of a mantra around here. It works amazingly well and you'd be surprised at how much information you can get by doing it.

Welcome to BF and SS/FG.


Just doing some quick math; my bikes run around $500 to build. For that money, you can buy some nice fixed gear bikes. For all my suggestions there are cheaper alternatives. Another is to buy someone else's conversion off eBay or locally off Craigslist or off the bulletin board at the local college/university.

Before: 1970-ish Raleigh Sprite $90


After:


Before: Peugeot Iseran mixte $25


After: Piege de la Mort


My First Fixie and daily commuter for less than $600


My next project: (frame, fork, seatpost and bottom bracket for $125)

If you have a frame, it will cost you about $200 or so to convert. If you don't have a frame, you can buy a new track bike for as little as $400-- or you can buy used (probably for about the same amount). Conversions used to be cheap, but good frames are harder and harder to find cheap-

train safe-

I agree with bbattle. Building your own bike up from scratch is well worth it, and just for the learning experience alone. Sheldon Brown's website is a great reference for almost any question you may have.

Find a light good quality steel road bike. Replacing the rear wheel with a track wheelset won't set you back more than 150-200 $ if you are frugal. Then it is just a case of removing the front and rear derailleurs, the shifters and sorting out the chainline. One trick is to flip the outer chainring on to the inner side of the crank arm. That should give you a pretty good alignment. If you need more adjustment, go for a Phil Wood bottom bracket that has a bit of lateral adjustment, or a track crank.

Chain width doesn't matter too much. 1/8" looks cool.

All the rest can be replaced at will. Total cost should be around 450 - 500 $, satisfaction factor will be greater.

I like that. Shame the downtube shifters, though. Ah well!

I really have nothing of use to add to this thread!