conversion vs. new SS bike
 

I want to build a SS (freewheel) road bike for riding around town. I have the mechanical skills to build something half decent with an old road bike, I just need to find the right platform to start from. Ideally I would have a steel frame, (canti brakes?), wide tires, and bullhorns. Building this out of an old bike with a 126mm spaced frame will leave me with a bike that will work, but is it worth the trouble when I can buy a bike that I really like from Bikesdirect for $400? I can lace wheels, service bottom brackets and hubs, etc, but how would the most finely-tuned conversion compare to a decent but inexpensive dedicated SS bike? I hear good reviews of some of the bikes on BD.com but I could save money with a conversion.

Also, if I use and old 126mm spaced frame and buy a 120mm hub for it, can i just squeeze the dropouts together with the axle nuts, or should I add some spacers to the axle to widen it a bit?

Please space the rear wheel to fit the frame if you go that route. And personally I would rather a decent conversion over a BD bike. It all comes down to if you are able to find a worthy frame.

At this point in time, I'd rather have a well-done conversion than a BD bike too. Hell, I'd probably even rather have a poorly-done conversion.
http://mises.org/images4/TwoCents.gif
But yeah...use spacers. A lot of 120mm spaced rear hubs come with axles long enough to accommodate the extra spacers.

First, it sounds to me like you'll get a lot more enjoyment and something that is truly tuned to your needs by going the conversion route, since you seem to have the skills to do it yourself. Second, don't assume that a complete SS bike from bd will be good to go out of the box without spending additional money on changes. As to your specific question regarding a frame with 126mm spaced dropouts and a 120mm spaced hub, you can either replace the axle in the hub with a longer one that will allow you to add 3mm worth of spacers on each side or buy a hub such as a Formula that already has a longer axle. I am assuming that your proposed frame has horizontal dropouts. I recently converted an early 1970s French Mercier into a SS per the attached photo. If you are interested in further details, please PM me.

Phil Wood makes a 126 spaced rear hub, if you would prefer that route. But respacing a 120 hub should work just fine. The only issue that could arise is a proper chainline, and clearance for the chainring. But thats pretty unlikely.

this.

Go the conversion route
No BD!

If you want canti mounts and a road frame your kinda SOL. Actual road frames never really came with canti mounts. Now you find most Hybrid frames that run a 700c wheel and have canti mounts. Just the geometry is usually a little more laid back then a road bike being they have more of a upright riding position in mind when designed. It sounds like you know your way around a wrench so I would build something rather then buying something. You can build something to how and what you want. Instead of buying something and then start replacing parts of a PD bike. Plus if your looking to spend 400, you can build a pretty decent custom SS. Pick up some nice older wheels that use a freewheel style cassette and just redish the wheel not to mention if you use an older road frame it'll be made with that spacing in the back for an older wheelset. I picked up a nice Campy Super Record 700c wheelset yesterday for $50 and was debating on keeping it 5spd or running a single speed freewheel. I bought a Origin8 Culter SS after getting back into biking two years ago since I didn't have any bike parts to build off of. Now if I had the chance to do it again I would just build something. I still use it but it's now my kid hauler with a child's seat on the back.
You could find a nice older road frame and build it up or just find a complete older road bike and strip all the gear related stuff and toss a freewheel, redish wheel, screw on new SS freewheel and ride it. jsut my .02

what i had in mind might be more like a touring bike or a cx bike. those are vastly different, i know. Trek has made the 520 for years with canti mounts and the BD bike I had in mind is the Fantom Cross Uno. All City makes the Nature Boy and Bianchi makes the San Jose SS but those last two are out of my price range. i have this fantasy in my head of building a SS road bike that can handle some off-road and jumping curbs, but i suppose i don't actually need canti's for that unless i am racing through mud. so strike canti's from my "want" list.

I have what appears to be a 1978 Motobecane Grand Jubilee. it's almost converted, i just need a SS freewheel. i want to try a 40/16 ratio for now, because i have a lot of long climbs in my area and costing downhill is "fast enough" for my taste. and that's one of the two chainrings that came with the bike. it has crappy 27" wheels with some scary corrosion on all the spokes. if i am going to spend any money on this bike at all, should i just get some SS specific 700c wheels? might i need new brakes for that too? i have some spare tires and I can use the old tubes.

i got started in mountain biking on a converted SS mtb and it always felt like a compromise. when i finally got a proper SS mtb, it felt 100x better. maybe that does not apply to road bikes.

photos of the bike i am thinking of using as a conversion:
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/IMG_4555.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/IMG_4556.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/IMG_4557.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/IMG_4538.jpg
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/IMG_4540.jpg

i have overhauled all the bearings on the bike and spaced/dished the wheel for SS but i don't care for the Mallard hubs and the ancient, thin, corroding spokes. The 27" rims are aluminum and double-walled, but corroding around the eyelets and the braking surface sucks. I chopped and flopped the bars but they are really tiny, maybe too small for me in the long run. I don't like using the cross-stop levers i found either, i would rather use some levers that I can use will on the "horns." I replaced the center-pulls with side-pulls.

the only thing missing to get it rolling at the moment is a freewheel. after that, I'll see how these wheels hold up and maybe replace them.

should this bike have an odd-thread BB and headset? that will be a hassle later too. this is why i am considering buying a new bike instead, or just finding a better bike for conversion. I could also re-build this as a geared bike again (I still have all the parts), sell it, and use the money to buy something better.

your thoughts? I am building up an old geared Schwinn mountain bike to be used as a commuter/grocery getter. This Motobecane will be for hauling ass around town as more of a purely fun bike.

Your Motobecane looks like it was a really nice bike at one time, judging by the Vitus tubing, forged crankset, etc. I'd say it's worth making SS, unless you'd rather have something newer and cleaner.

Unless you're planning to go fixed gear, it's not necessary to get an SS specific wheelset. Any old thread-on hub wheelset will work fine for SS. Plus, the dish of a "geared" rear wheel will mean that your chainline will probably be better right away than with a flip-flop wheel where the rim will be centered between the hub.

The conversion candidate looks great; there appears to be barely any rust and vitus 172 is not too shabby of a tubing being midrange.

french bikes often have weird threaded bb shells, and you may want to forget about changing cranks until those break... then again motobecanes may have used english threading, i'm not really sure.

honestly i don't think that bike is worth buying wheels for, and brakes, and the whole nine yards.

just disassemble, clean, polish, regrease, repack bearings, and maybe get some new brake housing and cables. if you end up having to buy new wheels you may need new brake calipers and it just all gets very dumb very quickly. BD bikes can be awesome and they can be crap, but even new crap is better than old crap you've spent 200 dollars on just to get it to work.

i agree, but why the change of heart? didnt you own a kilo?

he likes leaders so much more, and there have been some quality control issues since then... and likely factored in is how mike runs his business/treats customers in online communications

the few threads i saw mike communicate in he seemed careless and somewhat rude.

I always say if you have to ask me if you should convert a bike then just go buy a new one. However if you have self confidence and a good mechanical knowledge of bicycles you can convert almost anything for very little money. The most challenging thing to do is re-dish the wheel. Horizontal dropouts and a three piece crank make things easier. I recommend adding the spacers to the rear axle for two reasons. Number one if you choose not to then you limit yourself to steel frames only. Also if you do have a flat out on the road and have to change it on the sidewalk it will be a lot easier to get the wheel out and back in if the frame is not bent in.

Just a few weeks ago I converted a 1981 Schwinn Sprint to a SS. I found the bike at a garage sale for $3. By the time I got done with it the only other expense I had was the $7.99 pair of handgrips I picked up at the bike shop. I re-dished the wheel and took the freewheel off and added a single speed freewheel that came from an old bmx bike. The front crank is a one piece. I had to take the sprocket off of it and flip it around to line up with the back freewheel. All of that might seem overwhelming to a beginner but it is all pretty simple.

mechanical skills and access to spare parts for experimentation are not a problem for me. I can calculate, lace, and true wheels in my sleep. i just feel like riding a converted old road bike is a compromise for the "real thing" like I am riding an imitation that does not work as well, but it's cheaper. maybe I am just being a bike snob.

done nicely it is still better than BD.

i am building a sscx bike and went with a conversion over a BD setup and do not regret a thing:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...m/DSC01112.jpg

Err can't you just keep the french threaded cups and if you need to swap the spindle length? :rolleyes:

i believe harris cyclery has new french bottom brackets

A properly executed conversion is going to work just as well, maybe better, than any low cost new bike like one of the bd offerings. Some of the components on the bd bikes like the pedals, headsets and saddles are pretty much junk that you'd want to replace, not to mention random cases of defective parts. The cranksets are all road cranksets with short chainring bolts, rather than true single speed cranks. In effect, they are conversions and adaptations, rather than SS designs from the ground up. There is nothing especially complicated or unique about a SS that cannot be easily replicated with a conversion.

Err this is not the way to go, if you want a conversion on a budget.... usually a long term garage'd bike just needs a BB repack....

yes, but $20 for new cups and bearings is nothing to fret (and something i may do if the bike sees a lot of miles)

edit: and $10 axles...