Hey guys... im fairly new to cycling... i have a newer specialized road bike, and some friends that ride fixed gears are talking me into getting one. But i have no idea where to start... Ive been looking at bianchi pistas but they are on backorder for like 3 months...

So now im thinking of just building my own... What would be a good frame to start with etc? What components should i look for? What sized wheels etc to set up a good fixed gear.. I want it to be as comfortable as possible because i want to maintain my 150 mile a week ride and probably more...

sorry if i sound clueless... but i have been riding bmx bikes for the past 10 years and recently got into cycling...

thanks

If anyone happens to be selling a good fixed gear feel free to email me at westonboege@hotmail.com

thanks again...

welcome to fixed...just read all the applicable postings in this forum and you'll have a good start. plenty of folks build nice fixies with dumpster/goodwill frames...anyway, happy hunting & building!

any old road frame with horizontal rear drops. Components? Use whatever you want. Its all good. The ONLY component you need to worry about is the rear hub; must be threaded. Odds are, if you found the frame with horizontal drops, the wheel attached to it IS threaded.

I'm not trying to over simplify things; its just that there's nothing mystical about fixed gears (its just a bike without gears); but a lot of folks overly complicate this issue.

How big are you? What size bicycle do you think you would need...

Phil

one more vote for dumpster/thrift style. go to every thrift store, etc. by where you live and check out every bike that looks suitable. if it looks like it fits and the frame is in decent condition, and if you like the way it looks, take it home and tear it down. take off the freewheel, screw a cog on the bag, get out your spoke wrench to re-dish the wheel, make sure you have some clips on the pedals, and ride away (carefully). that's basically all there is to it. also, check out sheldon brown's website.

Well i ended up calling almost every bike shop in the chicago area... and some guy on the north side had a smaller Indigo 96 complete bike... it has cheap components and **** but it was 300 bucks... i drove up and took a look at it and ended up buying it...

I am a little over 6 ft tall.. I think it will work for me for a while.. but i will probably end up buying a new frame in the future and switching components over...

Another question... how can i tell what size all my stuff is? I think the headset/stem is 1" threaded... but how do i tell what size bottom bracket and stuff? The frame is made by someone in pennsylvania i think... dont know if that will help...

But aside from that i love riding it... Wore me out quite a bit the first couple times out... i think the gearing is a little tall... but im definately hooked... i have no interest in going back to gears..

Well, if I remember correctly, the BB's on modern bikes are all pretty similar, except some have funky threading (Italian, French, Canadian). The only difference would be the spindle length, which really you only need to worry about if you have a super off chainline. Unless you get a wierd old school Gitane or something like that, you should be able to transfer all the components between the two bikes. If you say it is a smaller bike, I would recommend getting a larger frame ASAP. When I finally got a frame that fit me, I was shocked how much easier it was for me to sustain a longer ride. Now I ride bikes that are borderline too big for me, but still I love em and could not imagine riding anything smaller.

Phil

P.S. I am sure if you needed help, there is quite a contingent of Chicago fixed gear riders on this forum, or you could come out to Minneapolis...