Jaymond22

Hi, i'm such a noob here its unreal! But i've had this sudden urge to build my own custom fixed gear from scratch, but i have no experience with bikes! I'm willing to put a lot of time into it to building the perfect bike no matter how long it takes. But i need a starting point! I'm 5'10" and quite big built, so im thinking i need a 54 cm frame? i would prefer to restore an old frame and make it my own by cleaning it and spraying it but i'm struggling to recognize exactly what frame i need and where to look? If anyone could give me a list of components i need to get started that would be greatly appreciated!
Kind regards jay!

Nagrom_

Oh boy. There's a few stickied threads on the top of this subforum. Read them all, then report back.

prooftheory

Why are you yelling at me?

You could start by reading the rest of this thread.

Jaytron

FITMENT QUESTION?





>>>FITMENT CALCULATOR<<<

milksteak

All this is very very true as I experienced slipping off the pedal today. I had just finished my bike build and went out last night for a late night bike ride, sprinting and cruising and just overall enjoying trafficless ride in the city with temporary plastic clips and pedals from a bike shop kind enough to let me try them. They are great, except for the fact that getting into them from a stop is a ******** and goofy process. I was convinced nonetheless, and ordered a set of pedals and clips from Scrod. So this morning, I returned the plastic pair back to the bike shop and put my mtb style platforms back on...

... and then continued my commute to the office. Had a clear block and a half of clear road so I went for it, but as time came to slow down, and having gotten used to the clips last night, I instinctively pulled up on one foot (my fault but that's besides the point). Off it came, I nearly **** myself, and fortunately my foot swung out far enough to not get mangled by the bear traps. I had my left foot still on, but not doing much resisting on its own. Thankfully, I had that front brake installed for oh-**** moments, and it seriously helped saved me from barreling into the stopped traffic ahead. I am lucky this happened in a flat city road where I had a brake and only had to fight friction. If this happened brakeless going down a hill against gravity and inertia... ughh

That being said, I don't feel comfortable taking my bike out again (or ride quickly with it) until my new pedals and clips arrive from Scrod. I must say it's terrifying when the pedals are spinning, and your foot (even if it's just one) happens to slip off when you need to start slowing down.

Sorry for the long post. Thought I'd share my oh **** moment today

LessonLearned

@milksteak funny, people comment on my straps, saying that it's unsafe... but I think just the opposite (as you just demonstrated above).
glad you didn't crash man.

LesterOfPuppets

No way I'd roll 54cm if I was 5'10"

onionskin

All you need to worry about is top tube length, if your crotch clears the tt by enough to make YOU comfortable you are good.
As for a frame conversion, I wouldn't recommend it for a fix...I have one but only cuz it looks cool (minty motobecane). You need to be concerned about bottom bracket height, your pedals don't stop when cornering so a track frame give you a higher BB (which also skews other frame measurements e.g., ST lenght...) You will not find an economical vintage used track frame, they are too valuable. I'd look at something like a Soma Rush, good quality steel tubeset and true track geo. If you must convert you need horizontal dropouts and 120mm axle; most any old schwinn road/tourer will do ya. Grab a metric tape measure for TT and rear axle width and hit some shops that keep a stock of old frames around.

As for parts, google: yellow jersey sensible fixed OR:
https://www.yellowjersey.org/sensible.html

Its as good a guide for a starter fix as you will find.

NB, I ride a 54cm godzilla...perfect fit for my 5'-10 frame it has a 550mm TT (FWIW).

Retem

dude I ride a 54`55cm seat tube and I am 6'1" i just have stubby legs man

BTW good starter frames that hold up under hefty fellows are Mercier, KHS flite 100, 1/8 scrambler.... I can only speak from my own experience as I am 6'1" and 250#
I shy away from old frames as they are a little too wobbly under me for my liking

LesterOfPuppets

I have a 1" quill 160mm 25.4mm stem should you ever need one

milksteak

I just had my bike built (but still missing clips for the pedals as described earlier) an old classic chinese steel lugged frame. I'm ~175lbs, 5'10" with proportionally shorter legs. The frame is 53cm and even for my legs, is slightly small. If I get my seat high enough for an efficient stroke then I notice I'm putting noticeably more weight on the bars than feels comfortable. For now, I'll ride with the seat slightly lower so I can keep more weight on the saddle. (I need to break in the b17)

LessonLearned

A very small amount of oil on the underside of your B17 will help speed up the break-in process. SMALL amount.

javaride

I'm VERY new to the whole single speed thing, just now looking to build my own ride. Anybody heard of or know anything about FUBAR cranks or other items/accessories by them??? Found some cool cranks but never heard of them. I'm just an old roady, turned mountain biker, turned both, looking into a new aspect of an old addiction. Shimano, Campagnolo, SRAM, etc., etc., etc., yea, I know them, Fubar, not so much. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

toavii

Hey everyone. I was looking for someone to steer me in the right direction in terms of foot retention. Both in terms of pedals and straps. Bonus for providing me with actual brands!

A bit about me:
-- 27 yrs old, riding a road bike for 10 years.
-- On my road bike, I ride clipless.
-- Live in MN (i.e. lots of hills).
-- Picked a fixed gear bike off a friend to ease my way into a different type of riding.
-- Bike will mostly be a weekend, casual rider with the gal. Which means, very slow.

What I'm looking for:
-- Very unsure of going with clipless as, like stated above, this will be a casual rider. Would prefer to just be able to wear my everyday shoes as we'll likely just be biking around town, to parks/stores/etc.
-- The bike currently has toe clips and a single leather strap. Either way, I want to swap these out.
----- Don't care for a toe clip but would consider a better strap set-up.
-- Very much leaning the way of the "BMX style", thick straps. Any downside to these types of straps that I should know about?
----- Suggestions on brands? (Know of Fyxation, Hold Fast) Any I should look into?
----- This bike will likely need new platform pedals if I go this route. Suggestions?
-- Budget isn't the biggest of concern. But if I'm not going to see a huge difference then, ya, I'd prefer not to pay significantly more.
-- Colors aren't really a factor as black would be fine. Bike has black, brown leather, and tan as the primary colors so anything that stays within that would be ideal but certainly not looking to be picky.


Thanks for your help.

LessonLearned

I recently started using Hold Fast straps with BMX platform pedals on my fixed gear bike. The biggest issue with them is that it can be difficult to put your foot into the strap in heavy city traffic (if you have to stop and put a foot down). If it's 6am and I'm on my way to work, there's no traffic and I'm fine if I have to stop at a red light. I can start out slow and slip my foot in and go. But if it's all hectic rush hour with several bikes around/behind me and lots of cars, I get nervous because I don't want to look down for too long trying to get my foot in the strap while the crank is turning and my bike is moving forward (I'd rather watch where I'm going).
If that happens though it's no big deal you can just ride with one foot unstrapped for a bit until it's safe to sort it out.
That's the only downside. Other than that, I love the Hold Fast straps. So if you don have to make a lot of unexpected stops while you're biking, you're golden.

I bought whatever cheap metal BMX platforms my LBS had in stock. They're black Wellgo platforms and were like $18 or something. They're alright. Worth what I paid. I wonder if I should have gone plastic though...

All sold out right now, but if you want to spend less dough, these seem solid...
https://www.retro-gression.com/produc...twisted-pedals

nashcommguy

Early 80's Fuji Del-Rey frame and forkset. Nice drop outs. Sugino 103mm track bb from www.universalcycles.com. Same w/t crankset. Sugino for around 100.00...chainring will have 48t. Cranks will be 172.5. From www.bikeisland.com get a Vuelta Wheelset for 100.00, plus a 16 or 17t Vuelta cog. Any 1/8" chain, but I prefer silvered KMC. For tires and tubes I got Schwalbe Marathon Plus 25mm and Forte heavy duty puncture resistance 18-23mm tubes w/a 48mm presta stem. Stock seat tube is fine. I've got an old Specialized 'split seat' from the '90s I like real well. Tektro brakeset including all cables, covers, calipers and levers for 40.00. Also, @ Bike Island. Btw, B.I. has no shipping. Cork HB tape and you're good to go. I've got mine set up w/SKS Raceblade fenders and a seatpost rack/trunkbag as I use it for commuting, but accessories are to one's own personal taste. Spent in and around 400.00 for everything. Could've gone lighter on the tires/tubes, but as a part time commuting rig flats are really a PITA.

PS: I ended up having to mount my chainring to the inside of the spyder to get a straight chainline...no big deal. Oh, and I should mention I ride w/dual-sided clipless. Never had any problems...if one loses concentration the crankset will remind you in short order.

LessonLearned

I've gotten WAY better at this. You guys were right, it was all about muscle memory.
What also helped was relaxing. I would get so nervous when I first got those straps because it was completely new to me and I worried about the things that can happen, etc. But once I learned to relax and just calmly put my foot on the pedal and smoothly flip it around and onto my foot... Golden. I still miss once in awhile but it's rare. Just wanted to share my joy. It's made riding even more fun since I'm not concerned with stopping and putting a foot down if need be.

misskaz

Hah, I think you jinxed me. Since you brought up your initial problems with this, I've been thinking about it way too much and had all kinds of problems getting into my clips lately! Heh.

LessonLearned

That's what you get for insulting my soul patch!

QUESTION about geometry... would my frame here be considered "relaxed"? Looks like the head tube is angled back a bit. Would a more aggressive road frame have a head tube that is perpendicular to the road? (straight up and down rather than sloped back)

KDNYC

No experience with the Holdfast straps, but people seem to love them. I've got basic MKS Gr9 platform pedals and laminated straps. Having the straps tight enough and getting into them quickly is going to be about the same as Holdfast with a bit of practice. I'd say it's the same as getting accustomed to clipless.

KDNYC

Relaxed isn't the issue .... bike seems too small for you. That's a ridiculous amount of seatpost showing.

LessonLearned

Yeah I've been hearing this a bit lately around here. I bought the largest frame they make (61cm), but I'm 6'4" w ridiculously long legs. I had no clue the bike was so obviously too small for me ... ? Interesting.

Scrodzilla

That's most likely why you're having so much trouble with your bars/stem as well. Putting drop bullhorns on a bike with that much saddle-to-bar drop would be a nightmare for me.

LessonLearned

It came stock with drop bullhorns.

KDNYC

Wow, my sympathies. You don't have a lot of options besides custom. It sucks when you're not in the percentile. The better answer to your original question is: how does the bike ride? Getting the right fit and feel is the most important thing. A more aggressive geometry may end up being less comfortable for you, with that drop from seat to bars. The best way is to try out other 61cm bikes, which isn't a very helpful answer since they are not likely a common stock item at an LBS.