Making a FIXIE
 

I want to start making a fixie.
My budget is not very much so I will be looking for good but cheap parts on craigslist.
I am really inexperienced as I have just recently bought a road bike but I don't want to have it stolen so I want to make a fixie to just ride around and have the road bike for training/racing.
What should I look for?
Here are the parts I found so far:
Is this frame good?
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/2855646026.html
It looks pretty cheap, but its steel so it might be a bit heavy.
or these?
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/2843059999.html
Carbon Forks:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2837683234.html

Will update when I find more parts.

If you are really inexperienced what makes you think you can build a bike? Labor isn't cheap, buy complete. Also the word "fixie" doesn't need to be in all caps, it's not an acronym.

Buying the tools to properly install your parts is going to cost more than the bike your trying to build.

o mang.

I will gain experience through building this that will help me in future endeavors. Gotta start somewhere :P
I'm not expecting this bike to be super good, but just as something to help me gain knowledge about bikes and such and provide transportation for me besides using my road bike.

I really like your 722

My friend's dad has all the tools I will ever need. He is like a pro.

I'm glad someone else on here enjoys thrashing around on a fgfs bike besides me.

Thanks dude, much appreciated!
I don't fgfs, sorry doggie. BUT... the charge is a blast!
like a pro.

true, but at this point building a bike can become very complicated and expensive because you don't know what to look for. You'll be better off with a complete bike and learning by switching out parts as you learn what you like and dislike.

This alone says you should stop. That looks like a fairly decent frame, and ,no, steel does not equal heavy.

I can't afford a decent complete fixie. I figured searching for parts on craigslist and slowly making it myself is cheaper.

I don't think this is usually the case, unless you have friends hooking you up with spare sparts for free or you have extra parts lying about.

What you're failing to realize is that you will end up spending much more buying a marginal used frame and building it up with crappy parts than you would if you just bought an inexpensive complete bike. If money is an issue and you don't already have a bike to convert, building from scratch isn't the best option. But, you will most likely get mad at this advice, tell me to **** myself and do what you want anyway. Best of luck.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com

(mods...you know this won't end well. lock?)

Like Scrod said, you and your wallet will be better off by buying a complete and upgrading it later. Even crappy parts aren't all that cheap when you're building an entire bike.

Pro tip: Instead of slowly saving up parts to build a bike, slowly save up money to buy a bike.


/thread

Donaldmax, let's do a little exercise. I'm serious.

List every part you need and what you'd like to pay for this part:

Frame:
Fork:
Stem:
Headset:
Bars:
Grip tape:
Wheels:
Cranks:
Chainring:
BB:
Cog:
Lockring:
Tires:
Tubes:
Seat post:
Saddle
Pedals:

Please reply.


Also, the "learning by building" is overrated. You can also learn by maintaining a bike.

Its a lot easier to learn how something works when you get to see it all put together. Bikes aren't rocket science or anything, but blindly going into a build like this is going to be time consuming and frustrating.

Why not buy a old ten speed, ride it around until it breaks, fix it, ride it around more. Then once you build your mechanical knowledge of bicycles convert it.

I was actually in the same position as the OP.
Only bike I had was an old MTB from childhood.

I decided to build my own single speed. From the moment I bought a frame ($100 "Nekkid" track frame from Nashbar) I knew it wouldnt be cheaper than buying a SS/Fixie from a place like bikesdirect lol.

I still went through with it though, cause I'm the type of person that likes DIY projects.
Started last... August, and took a pause since I ran out of funds and it was winter anyway.
Bike is pretty much finished now. How much did it cost..? I'm actually not sure, I'll go and use carleton's post to calculate.
Maybe my experience doing this will help you decide.

Will edit in a bit with price info.

That is not counting $$$ i paid for tools, lube, etc.
Does include shipping for the most part though (I think).
I didnt try super hard to go on craigslist and find deals.
But keep in mind, prices in normal retailers will probably be going up since its approaching spring now.

Similar experience as PandaSPUR. Built up my first SS back in September. Should have my first fixed in the next couple weeks. I've had a lot of fun with it and I've learned a lot.
I will agree with most of the posts however, I'm sure it would have been cheaper to have bought the whole bike in the first place. I'm not keeping track of how much I've spent, but it adds up.

kilo tt.

start by using CAPITALS

Those frames aren't even track frames. Look at the dropouts

I don't fgfs, sorry doggie. BUT... the charge is a blast!

lol neither do I, that's what i'm saying but I do ride one for fun.

where did anyone say they were?

Wow man, just stop posting.

If he wanted to, he could build a fixed gear with those frames. The first one has horizontal dropouts. Second one will need some extra stuff, but it can be done. He just wants a fixed for riding around.

fixed.

Trust Scrodzilla on this.

It is true; I've built several bikes and it is always more expensive than buying a complete bike.

Check out one of the many threads here about buying a fixed gear bike; www.bikesdirect.com has several popular models to choose from and a lot of posters here have bought them. There are also a lot of threads here about upgrading these bikes so you can take advantage of a lot of experience and knowledge here.

Definitely read the Sheldon Brown webpages.

Once you've gotten your fixed gear bike, ridden it a few thousand miles, upgraded a few parts, and read a whole lot more on the subject; you'll be in a far better position to know how to build your own fixed gear bike.

A friend of mine who was the owner of a local bike shop gave me a Trek frame. I only had a MTB when I started riding and he was generous enough to donate a road frame to me whenever I decided to convert to the road side. I held onto that frame for about two years until I bought my LeMond road bike from a friend. So the Trek frame sat for another year and I slowly started buying parts to build my SS/FG. Even with already having a frame, fork, headset, seatpost, and saddle I think I paid more than $250. Let me do the same as PandaSPUR....

Frame: Trek 1500 (donated from a friend)
Fork: (came with frame)
Stem: $35 (ViceVersa from BonkTown)
Headset: (came with frame)
Bars: $20 (DeDa bought from friend)
Grip tape: $20 (Fizik from Performance)
Wheels: $90 (bought from friend)
Cranks: $50 (EightInch Christmas deal, spend $50 get $20)
Chain: $20 (Odyssey Bluebird with half link)
BB: $20 (EigthInch deal, basically free)
Cog: (came with wheelset)
Lockring: (came with wheelset)
Tires: $35 each (H:son Fusion 3 using gift cards)
Tubes: (came with wheelset)
Seat post: (came with frame)
Saddle (San Marco donated from other friend)
Pedals: $10 12 pack of Bud Light (Shimano SPD MTB)

315 total
225 minus "deductions"

Currently brakeless.

Kilo tt. /thread.

You won't get through the wheel set of a quality and safe fixed gear bike before you spend more. Yes you could buy, haggle and barter your way into something but it will cost you more when you have to build them up and time is money. Buy a kilo, ride, learn then try out the build.