Hi! I recently undusted an old 1995 KHS Montana Comp. Pics follow.




I am turning 41 this year and mostly doing road cycling these days, but still would like to give the old KHS a good make-over. I was initially considering making it a SS, fixie. Does this make sense? Or should I simple get a proper SS, fixie if that is what I am looking for? Thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Cheers!

Get a proper SS/Fixed gear.

It would be really hard to turn that bike into a satisfying fixed gear bike. It has vertical dropouts which would mean that you would have to find a magic gear ration that would fit. Keep it as a mountain bike for snow or trails and get a purpose built fixed gear. You would be happier buying the "Kilo TT" from bikes direct for example.

edit: In before "In before"

Thanks for the quick replies! Will check the Kilo TT soon.

FG MTB makes no sense to me for offroading even though I have known several riders who rode them, but SS MTB is well worth the conversion and is very easy to do with just a chain tensioner and it allows reversion to geared if you choose. My Monocog 29er is SS and I love it for what I built it for, but if you want a FG road bike/commuter get a proper road frameset. The MTB frameset will never perform as well as a road frameset will on the road, FG SS or not.

That bike doesn't make sense, but SS/FG MTBs can be fun:

why do people constantly say youd have to find the "magic gear ratio" when ENO hubs and eccentric bottom brackets exist**********??

Because most people looking to do a simple conversion don't want to drop the money for that kind of stuff.

this and it is still a hack that you wouldn't have to go through if you had a bike with track ends or horizontal dropouts.

"Hack" is a strong word for a system that is arguably superior to horizontal dropouts or track ends, since there is no possibility of wheel slip and gear ratios can be changed without readjustment of fenders/brakes.
How do you know the OP wouldn't be willing to build up an ENO hub wheel for this bike? The hub is not significantly higher priced than other high-end hubs and the OP said he's looking the give the bike "a good make-over," which is a far cry from "budget conversion."

I'd singlespeed that KHS in a heartbeat but would probably pass on the fixed idea.

To sinlespeed it you just need a freehub SS conversion kit for $20-30 and a halflink might be necessary if you're picky about a certain gear ratio.

Get an older horiz chainstay MTB off CL if you want a fixed gear one, IMO.

Thank goodness you are here to set everything right. I'm absolutely sure that the guy wants to spend as much on a hub as the bike is worth.

I'm not here to tell him what he wants. It's an option.

Then why are you here?

To offer my:

Which is exactly what we've all been doing.

Well that's your opinion isn't it!