I'm going to change my Peugeot into a light-duty off-road fixie (fire roads etc.). Would I be ok just grinding off all of the cable and derailer (click here for Sheldon Brown's explanation of spelling) hangers myself, or should I just pay someone to do it? Would it be possible to have it come out looking clean?

Thanks again...

p.s. where should I look for a 700c fixie rear wheel tough enough to handle some off roading?

Don't you watch American Choppers? Fixie fabrication is like that in miniture. I'll be down stairs working my magic with the dremel when Schiek will call and say something like "stop being so lazy" or something like that and then let me know he's going to eat a vegan burrito and watch the 1954 giro in real time on the original 8mm.

Meanwhile at my house, I contently grind away. yesterday morning, I made a chain whip out of an old snow shovel handle and some old chain.

Go get the dremel and some cutting wheels (not to mention eye protection). In no time, you'll be buying old huffys for $5 just so you can cut them up. Big fun.

I used a hacksaw and metal grit sandpaper. It turned out awesome, just kind of took awhile. Cheap too.

jeff

Best bet is to build one yourself. I use a Surly fixed/fixed hub and a Sun CR18 rim. Durable and not too expensive.

What you want to do with your Peugeot is what I'm thinking about doing with my LeTour.

Anwway, yeah, I would use the cutting disks (the larger size), then the grinding (I think silicon carbide??? of the top of my head-maybe I'm thinking about something else...) drums or the rougher grit sanding drums that you put over the rubber cylindrical thingy.

Or, hacksaw, then hand file, which is what I'd do (but then, I'm a silversmith, so I love hand tools)

Good luck!

Jessica

Thanks riderx, that's what I needed to know.

I just started pulling all of the stuff off of her today, so I'll let everyone know how it goes...

every hour you spend dremmeling/hacking/cutting/grinding/sanding is an hour youre not riding.

Leave the litt'l bits of character where they are, go for a ride.

I used a hack saw and hand file to remove all the unwanted bits from every bike that I have converted to fixed (11 so far). If you have access to a Dremel tool, then by all means use it. If not, the oldskool way of doing it is fine. You would probably be able to do a better job of removing the unwanted bits than somebody at a bike shop as you can use your time to do a "perfect" job where as the employee of a bike shop would do a job that is "Good enough" as it is not (their bike).

fixedgearhead

Ok so for everyone that either takes a hacksaw and file or a Dremel tool to their bikes. What do you do after you have ground these pieces off? Do you coat the raw metal with anything?

In other words, do you do anything about the fact that it might rust in that bare metal spot after the grinding and filing?

two things I've done so far:

1) Heat the bare area with a hairdryer or something to get surface moisture off and then wrap in electrical tape so it's won't be exposed while I decide whether to paint or not.

2) Not worry about it because I'm getting ready to repaint the frame.

3) Stickers might not be a bad idea either.

4) Schiek has sprayed bare spots with clear coat to protect them.

i removed all the unnecessary bits from my SS MTB also. it originally used cantilever brakes, and i put on vee's, so i got to remove the unused cable hanger off the rear triangle. also took off the shifter cable-stops from the down tube and chainstay, the luggage mounts on the dropouts and the mounts towards the top of the seat stays, and the derailleur hanger. luckily the frame is white so i just sprayed over the bare spots with some white primer, you can barely tell i removed anything. to remove everything i used a dremel, hacksaw, a coarse hand file and a fine hand file. maybe ill post some pics of the super clean rear triangle.

after it was all removed i could go much much much faster bc i saved so many grams by cutting off the extraneous parts. to save more weight next im going to drill lots of holes on the top tube, down tube, seat tube, and cranks.

Beware: normal primer and clear laquer is pourous. ie your frame will still rust (it'll just take longer). The actual paint is what protects the metal (you can get water proof primers and clears, but they cost more and can be hard to find). You'll be ok for the summer, or if you're just waiting a bit before you repaint, but it shouldn't be a long-term fix.

thanks for that great tip!! i guess i need to go get a can of white spray paint to seal off all those primed spots.

You are having a laugh right? Did a clown suggest this to you? I think the wind resistence caused by all those holes would actually slow you down, not to mention the whistling noise it would make

What about taking a ball-peen to the frame and dimpling it like a golf ball? That could work, especially if the frame is carbon, I would think...

the dimples would be too big for any aero effect. what you need is a center-punch.

fssb
sparky