TRac

Some of you may have seen my new bike. It's a Fuji Finest-Le road bike. I'm converting it to a fixed but it has vertical dropouts. Now, the chain has some slack and I'm using a 1/8 chain. I have looked up the chart Sheldon Brown recommended. Now, a different cog won't help so should I try a 1/2 link chain or grind the dropout by 1-1&1/2 cm?

TejanoTrackie 

I wouldn't grind that much material from a dropout. There are other options out there like an eccentric hub or eccentric bottom bracket, but they are very expensive. Also, I wouldn't muck up a Fuji finest.

TRac

Well I knew about te eccentric hub but I don't want to spend that much. And it's a newer Fuji finest but I think that's going to bet only option to grind it.

Scrodzilla

fixed.

TejanoTrackie 

Another thing to consider is that it's a road frame with a lower bottom bracket than a track frame and undoubtedly has longer cranks as well. Since you can't coast through turns on a fixed gear the way you can with a freewheel, you run the risk of pedal strike with the pavement, which can cause an accident. I used to ride road frame conversions to fixed and on a few occasions went down in turns because I forgot that I couldn't coast and went too fast into the turn. Now all of my fixed gear bikes are based on track frames and I use short 165mm cranks. Since your frame is already unsuitable due to the vertical dropouts and you want to grind away a lot of metal, I would recommend just finding a cheap track bike and using that instead. My 2 centavos.

TRac

Well, I used to ride an old road bike conversion and only had one learning curve with pedal strikes so I shouldn't have a recurring issue with that. But, I am on a limited budget to find a frame and this was a really good deal. I could resell but I don't have a lot of quality stuff on my local craigslist and I can't afford to buy new. I'm in a pickle.

hairnet

SS with a chain tensioner is an option. Or go really Sheldon style weird by grinding off the little bit of protruding axle from the hub and using a burly steel closed cam skewer. Or magic ratio plus half link chain. The point is that this may be more trouble than it is worth and the frame wasn't really such a great deal with a fixed gear in mind.

rms13

Kilo. The answers to every problem. By the way it looks like BD finally has replenished stock of all the popular sizes. Get em while they're hot

TRac

Well, here's the update. I did a little messing around with the wheel position and I was able to fit the chain with a proper amount of tension and a proper amount of swearing! But, yes there's always a but, i was putting on the clip for the masterlink when it shot off into the grass. Yup, well atleast I got the chain on.

JohnDThompson 

If the dropout is vertical, grinding it won't help. You can try a half-link, but you only need one, not a whole chain of half-links. If one half-link doesn't help, more won't either.

TRac

Alright I'll pick one up when I go to the bike shop today.

Scrodzilla

Until it stretches...

TRac

Essentially

IthaDan 

Just get out now. Toss it up on CL, get your $125 back and call it a day. It was a great deal according to you, so someone else will take it in a heartbeat.

I'm serious. This has nowhere positive to go.

TRac

I'm heading to the bike store to pick up a half link and new master link. If they don't work out its going to be on Craigslist.

seau grateau

Tie a magnet to a stick.

TRac

I have one of those collapsible magnet sticks in it and I found it! Although, It was only half of it, I found it. Yah it also broke in half.

caloso

I did a magic gear FG once. It was an interesting exercise and learning experience but in the end it was far more trouble than it was worth.

There are plenty of inexpensive frames out there with track ends or horizontal dropouts. Save yourself the headache.

TRac

I still have my old frame with horizontal track drops but I really needed a new one. And I'm not just ready to give up yet. I'm determined to get this bike into a proper fixed gear, I think it's worth the hastle. I guess it's the can do attitude my dad (a.k.a Macgyver) worked into me.

Matthius

I'm in the same boat as you man. Vertical dropout fixies ftw! I'm just gonna find a magic gear that works and go from there

IthaDan 

Matthius

Vertical dropouts...

Bikeforumuser0017

get an eccentric hub. The hanger is going to stick out like a sore thumb and I'd be worried about pedal strike. I've avoided buying track bikes because there was too much BB drop, like on a road bike's.

europa

I'm not sure where the negativity is coming from - if you like the frame, go for it.

The vertical dropouts are a problem. My suggestion is to go SS with a tensioner to start with. This will help you sort her out in that role, plus give you time to consider taking her to fixed gear. If you go to fg, the smart move is an Eno hub or one of the other eccentric offerings out there - they're pricey which is why I'm suggesting SS first.

Nothing wrong with having a nice fixed gear bike, even an expensive one if you can afford it and it's suitable for the role you're asking of it.