Hey BF,

I just picked up a mint Panasonic DX2000 on CL for $73 as a first road bike. After finding Sheldon Brown's site I decided I wanted to try riding a fixie. A local shop let me ride a Masi with a front brake and a flip-flop hub with the fixed gear selected. It was a blast, so I have decided I would like to make the conversion. On top of that, I have always tooled on cars for projects, and due to the way gas is going, I figured a bike project would be a lot of fun.

As you might know this bicycle comes with 27" wheels, so I am thinking of converting to a 700c wheelset. That $140 set from bicyclewheels.com (link) is what I have my eyes on. I measured the adjustment left in my brake pad location, and I have at least 4mm in the downward direction to compensate for the difference. As far as pedals go, I'm thinking of stealing the pedals with toe-clips from my MTB (K2 ZED SE) as well as stealing the seat.

I've also posted a CL ad searching for a 700c fixed wheelset. I had heard of people finding cheap stock wheelsets for fixies that have had the wheels changed, so we'll see how my luck goes.

I'm sure this is the 23048029384th thread like this, but I figured I'd start a log of my project.

What do you guys think of the frame choice?
I was thinking of brazing my freewheel in the meantime; I was wondering what you all thought of this. If I went that route I would definitely keep the rear brake (and of course the front).

Threads are worthless without pics, so here you go!

that mavic wheelset is for sew up tires, dude. i dont think you want those...

also, that headtube is as as long as a 9-iron!

wow, that is a tall head tube

Thanks for looking out on those wheels; still learning!

And yes; the head tube is very long. I'm a big guy tho; 6' 4" 165 lbs. Is that long headtube going to be an issue in the long run?

Edit: wheelset

oddly enough i just picked up one of these too. i just painted it and am about to start building it back together. as far as wheels, i spend hours debating what to do and in the end i realized it was a panasonic conversion and i got the formula hubs with CXP22's from Bicyclewheelwarehouse.com . you can't beat the price. the crank and wheelset weigh a ton and i ditched those asap.

I wouldn't bother brazing the freewheel. You'll be converting it soon enough, so why go through the extra effort? Keep the freewheel for your parts bin. Regardless, good choice for a conversion.

If you think you'll ride this bike for a while, be wary of the stock wheelsets people are flipping -- they're ditching those wheels for a reason. They're alright for the short term (and I'd wager half the folks "upgrading" would never ride past the life expectancy of those wheels anyway), but thanks to fixxxxxie trend price inflation, many of those basic wheelsets are way overpriced. Unless you get a really amazing deal on the stock wheels, you'll likely get a lot more for your money on that Mavic/Formula setup.

looks like it is in great shape...convert away

i didn't mean to be a dick about the headtube. sorry dude.

def. go for the mavic cxp22's though because i got weinmann lp18's, and they are out of true like every week. i'm kicking myself in the ass so hard for buying them (saved a whopping $20)

That's annoying. While those may not be the greatest rims, have you checked to make sure they're tensioned properly? Although an imperfect rim certainly won't help matters, even a fantastic rim with poor tension will keep going out of true.

I'm wondering if the shimano cranks and pedals from my k2 zed se will fit on that pana. I guess there is only one way to find out! I wonder about the difference in crank lengths, but I don't have both bikes side by side to compare. The k2 is at work and the pana is at home. The k2 also has a 42 tooth chain ring which is what I want but it says "shimano ig chain only" I wonder if it even matters?

After I have the mechanical stuff done I want to powdercoat the frame white, keep the wheels black, and tape the bars with beige cork. I think that'd be hot with the chrome the way it is! I also like the idea of BMX levers, well go one step at a time tho... And keep it function/form!

yours looks newer than mine (1980) so from my experiance, I like my hand laced 27" touring wheelset. I'm big so they are boxed and double eyeletted. Rear brake was a bit short in the arms but still safely usable. Also running an ENO hub since I have vertical dropouts. I really like mine and commute and ride it everywhere with no issues. Have fun with yours!

Mine luckily has horizontal drop outs so it should make it cheaper and easier to convert. I'm hoping to start commuting fixed, I've already stopped using the shifters, I keep it in 52/20 at the moment (freewheel). If that shimano crank works out I'm thinking 42/16 but who knows I still have time to decide.

I rode a DX 2000 for several years..very strong and reliable frame. Good luck with the conversion!

nice bike, cant wait to see the results!

My crank set is 170mm with a 52 tooth chain ring that doesn't have a bolt pattern like my MTB does. It appears to be a one piece instead of having a 'spider' or whatever it's called.

am I going to be able to run a flipfop hub with that "one piece" chain ring? or do I need the multi piece ones so I can space it towards the middle?

Been reading on cranks and chainrings but it's still greek to me.

If it helps; I measured from the middle of the frame to the outer gear and it was just about 45mm. Since it was a double chainring, that would make it 42.5mm wouldn't it? I believe Sheldon Brown stated that 42 mm double chainrings would line up well with track sprockets.

I also have 125mm rear dropout spacing. Those wheels are for 120mm. Did I measure wrong or do I have to find a different wheelset?

You'll be fine. I'm still running the same crankset as you it seems. Chainline looks fine and I'm just using it up, so to speak, so I have time to decide if I REALLY want to drop some cash running all White Industries hubs and crankset...
As for wheels, my hub was bought spaced 5mm wider than the dropout. I know its okay to spread and I remember some people here just tightening up when they had the same issue as yourself.

Check out Sheldons' site for spreading/closing your dropouts...

Alright; that sounds good. I'll keep the stock crank for now unless it's way off when I order those Mavics.

Today I stripped the bike and taped the handlebars. I also put my MTB seat and brake lever on there. It's a blast to ride, and the lever feels much better than the stock one. It gives me a lot of adjustment range because the cantilever has adjustment threads and so does the lever, whereas the stock lever had no adjustment. I'm running a cheapo single speed setup until I order the Mavic wheelset. It's 52/20 atm on 27" = 72 gear inches.

Here are some pictures:

I don't think that's a D2000. It just says 'sport' on the top tube. I had a DX2000, later model, nicer cranks, etc. Yours is like a 'Sport DX' or something.

I thought the DX2000 was their 12 spd model. This was a 12 spd, so I assumed it was a DX2000. Does anyone know the exact model and differences between mine and a DX2000?

Does it say the tubing? I believe the one I had was Tange900. C&V would know for sure.

no, you are not a big guy.
im 6'2" 186lbs and im a skinny *****. you must be built like lara flynn boyle.

LoL! I meant height more than anything else.

I'm not sure where I would find that info. All I see is that it's Chromoly; but I think you're talking about something else.



At the moment I'm thinking of 52/19 fixed and 52/22 free for my flipflop. That puts me at 72.2 gear inches fixed (and 19 skid patches) and 62.4 gi free. I'll be riding this guy in both Portlands (PWM + PDX). Portland ME is built like a short ridge with a saddle, so I'll be going up decent grades most of the time. The PDX gearing threads all seem to agree on 67-75 gi fixed. It seems like a good setup; what do you guys think? Is that freewheel too low gearing, or will that be perfect for the days I get tired/lazy?

I'm 6'3" and 220lbs, and I ain't fat. You both must look like Nicole Ritchey...