i'm new to this whole thing!!! help is needed.
 

hey guys so i am totally new to this, i really want to build my own fixie or atleast get all the parts so my friend can put it together.

i know pretty much all the parts i need, but what are some of the better companys that make parts for fixies? or are they just normal any other parts on bikes?

this bike i want to build is mainly for the streets, and getting around.

anyways if i am missing anything feel free to add in, since i am new to this.

thanks alot!!!

Hugo

it's much cheaper to just buy a complete depending on what your budget is.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed-Start-Here!

We get this question asked daily.

thanks!

i cant find the list of brands and stuff.

and i know i would like to buy a complete, but for starters whats a good price for the fixie?

for brands you have to just search the forum for suggestion threads. like what's a good (insert part)?

$400~600.

it's more like $300-infinity

You'll end up replacing some basic stuff on a $300 bike anyways and that'll come out to be $400+.

Ha, I like your thinking. Not to dampen your inspiration, but consider:

the price of a frame, which is going to be chosen first before parts. If you have a frame with non-standard sizing (seatpost, headset) you'll avoid having to send parts back.
Also consider the price of tools.
Then, a good wheelset. Don't forget tires/tubes, and rim tape. Add another chunk of change for cogs and lockring, if they aren't already installed.

Add all these up, and it makes sense to go with a complete bike, where you can just ride the hell out of it, learn how to work on it, figure out how you want to customize it, and go from there.

Also, learn how to use the search function. (I find google better than the forum search feature). Cuz if you're building your own, you'll be using it more often than you think :)

If you're good at wrenching on bikes, you can build your own fixed gear from an old road bike with horizontal dropouts. I once built one from a Schwinn Le Tour for $28 (the bike plus parts!) So don't think you HAVE to spend $300-$600 right away to have a decent bike.

I suggest starting here: http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-...onversion.html

Bikes can come cheap when you craigslist em. Like fastjake said, if you wanna go out and buy an old road bike and convert it into a fixed gear, it really doesn't take too much. I was thinking about doing this for a while, but decided to go with a complete bike from bikes direct. Got a windsor hour which i put maybe 25 miles a week on and I love it to death. It was cheap, 280 shipped. The components aren't great, but really I'm only like two months into have a fixed gear so I really don't care. Since you'll be new to all this, I would suggest you not invest a bunch of money into a bike that might end up sitting in your garage. It happens to a lot of people. I'm always seeing cl ads that say, bought the bike, didn't ride it.

Now if you feel that you're definitely gonna like the bike, maybe you might want to spend more. Building a bike and selecting all the parts would probably be a lot of fun. And the freedom to customize it any way you want is great. But like someone above said, it's pricey. Even with the cheapest parts you're still looking at $600+ if you buy everything separately. Also, for your safety and for the sake of the bike, it would be helpful to have a friend who knows bikes really well or just take it to the lbs.

To sum it all up...

FG conversion
PROS: cheap, fun to build, need to find the right frame size
CONS: might be a bit ugly, requires bike knowledge

New complete bike:
PROS: Looks pretty, little to no work required (could also be a con if you like the building process), medium priced ($300+)
CONS: Will probably spend more money to customize parts

Custom built:
PROS: It's what you wanted, can't really ask for any more than that, fun to build
CONS: Expensive ($600+), if you can't build it yourself labor costs will be added

I would suggest that you just find a nice BD bike like a kilo. It's moderately priced and it's ready to ride. And if you don't like it, you can probably just put it on craigslist for a price slightly lower than the original and someone will buy it.

so i guess i will look for a frame first?

once i find it i think i will end up craigs listing the parts and ebaying the parts....

any notable companys to look for? i want the bike to be colour fullll

Honestly unless you have tons of knowledge, or have an over abundance of cash, buy a bike from bikesdirect.com

Eighth Inch is reputable and cheap: http://www.eighthinch.com/products.html
Origin 8 is reputable and cheap: http://www.origin-8.com/


Neither of these guys are high end as far as quality goes, but they are cheap and you can color coordinate.
If you stick with them, you may be able to build a complete bike for $600 or so.