Help! First-time converting to a fixie!
 

Hello all! I've been contemplating converting my grandpa's 1984 Trek 720 into a fixed gear since I do most of my road riding on my Giant and have finally made the decision to join the fixie community. It's a 531c Reynolds frame basically all stock from 25 years ago, it's been to Scotland, Israel, and across the states and I want to give it new life after sitting in my grandfather's shed and then my garage after he passed. I've got a few questions though. As far as I know, I'll be needing a new crankset since the Sugino that's on there now has two chainrings and I can't just remove one. Second, I know I'll need a new set of wheels (I say a set not just the rear because I was planning on upgrading both anyway), one with a rear single fixed gear. I've stripped it down to just the frame now and among other things, I'm replacing the handlebars and upgrading the front brake and chain. I'm just concerned about what crankset (and bottom bracket?) and wheels I should get, and how to install them correctly. ANY and ALL help or hints are VERY much appreciated!! Especially from anyone with experience converting this specific or a similar bike... Thanks!

I don't know about specific parts, but I recomend keeping everything you take off of it. You never know, one day you might not want to ride it as fixed. It would be nice to be able to restore it to original at a later date as a rememberance of your grandfather. If the old parts are in good shape, of course.
Good luck, and keep us posted.

There are a million tips on these forums, but if you don't really know what you're doing, take it to your LBS. It'll be quicker and cheaper.

quicker maybe, but cheaper?

You might f**k some stuff up on your bike that you may could've reused. Plus, getting help from someone who knows what they are doing is always worth the extra $$.

My $0.02

Any chance you can post a photo of the crankset? I can't imagine a 720 being speced with a crank that had non-removable chainrings.Those were really nice bikes back in the day, and still are, so it's quite likely that the parts on it are going to be nicer than anything you can afford now, so unless you have a real reason to upgrade, I would leave as much stock as possible.

You probably don't need a new crankset, just shorter chainring bolts. In fact, a lot of the current fixed gear bikes set up for road, use 130 bcd road cranks with just an outer chainring and shorter bolts. All 3 of my current street fixed gear bikes are set up that way. If you use the existing BB, you may need to put the chainring on the inside of the spider to get a good chainline. This is my old road bike conversion to a fixed gear. VVVV