My fixed gear project

[dcv]

When looking for new wheels check the rear spacing, measure the distance between dropouts. Most road bike frames are 130mm but some older frames may be 126mm.

Also think about chainline, distance from centerline to the chain. Both the cog and chainring should match. You’d have to check the hub and the crankset/bottom bracket specs.

So much to discuss, perfect coffee club agenda.

Did you look up Sheldon Brown yet?

[dkel]

@dcv 96844 wrote:

When looking for new wheels check the rear spacing, measure the distance between dropouts. Most road bike frames are 130mm but some older frames may be 126mm.

So much to discuss, perfect coffee club agenda.

Did you look up Sheldon Brown yet?

I’ve spent lots of quality time with Sheldon. Good stuff. My rear spacing is 126 without the hub squeezed in the dropouts, but it may be 120 when it’s all tightened up. I’ll have to measure the hub that was in there and see. I’ll plan to get my butt out of bed early enough so I can get to VTCC and receive some wisdom!

[DismalScientist]

If it’s a steel frame, it don’t matter. If you had a 6 or 7 speed freewheel, it’s 126. If 5 speed, it’s 120.

If your bottom bracket spins OK, don’t do anything and slap on a new crank if you are sick of running on your small chain ring. If your bottom bracket needs adjustment, just replace it with a new sealed unit. Replacement will take about the same effort as adjustment.

In the end it may be cheaper to buy new and move all the components to your frame and sell the new frame.:rolleyes:

Rust on the rims? Are these steel? If so, I’ld look for a used wheelset with alloy rims.

[mstone]

I remember the nice chromed steel rims on my old schwinn. Even brings back memories of the time I decided to really make the bike shine and waxed the wheels. (Pro tip: don’t do that. What did I know, I was a young teenager.) I’d recommend a nice new/used set of alloy rims, especially if you run at high pressure (some of the old steel rims didn’t have bead hooks, so you can blow a modern tire off fairly easily) or if you might ever ride in the rain (steel rims are horrible for stopping in the wet, even if not waxed).

[dkel]

@DismalScientist 96866 wrote:

In the end it may be cheaper to buy new and move all the components to your frame and sell the new frame.:rolleyes:

This is true, and it causes my head to spin. I can’t bring myself to do that. (It’s only money, after all.)

[dkel]

Finally got the cranks off and the bottom bracket out.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6831[/ATTACH]

Also got the last bits of the headset out of the head tube.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6832[/ATTACH]

The frame is all cleaned up. It weighs 6 lbs on my bathroom scale. I don’t think that’s very accurate, but it must be in the ballpark.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6833[/ATTACH]

I’ve been looking online for components. Fyxation has some pretty things that are cheap…

[mcfarton]

Now is the time to have the frame powder coated.

sent from your mom’s house

[dkel]

@mcfarton 97273 wrote:

Now is the time to have the frame powder coated.

Tempting, but I don’t think this frame warrants that treatment. It’s not even chromoly; it’s cheap hi-ten steel. I also want it to look like a beater. A nice beater, but a beater nonetheless. If the build works, and I love riding fixed, I can get a nicer frame and move the components over.

[DismalScientist]

Yeah… That’ll add another $200 to the project.

[dkel]

I ordered a cheap headset. I’m thinking I’ll get a threaded to threadless adaptor quill, so I’ll have more options in bars, and potentially less trouble taking the bars off and putting them on something else.

This will be obvious for the experts on the forum, but for the rest of us: if you’ve ever wondered how bikes work, build one up yourself. I’ve already learned a lot about bikes, and I’ve only ordered one part! It’s pretty amazing.

[hozn]

Let me know if you need to borrow a (DIY) headset press or crown race seating tool.

[DismalScientist]

Why bother with a new headset? I would think if the old one worked, just leave it alone (after repacking).

They have quill stems with modern handlebar attachments. That may make more sense than an adapter plus stem.

[dkel]

@DismalScientist 97408 wrote:

Why bother with a new headset? I would think if the old one worked, just leave it alone (after repacking).

The old one had some brinelling. The bottom bracket still worked great, and I was considering keeping it, except I still can’t get the crank arm off the drive side. In any case, it’s good experience for me to replace all these parts.

@DismalScientist 97408 wrote:

They have quill stems with modern handlebar attachments. That may make more sense than an adapter plus stem.

I did see some of those. I’ll look into that further. If I’m remembering correctly, there are few options of that type. One of my challenges is finding bars that I will like, and standard quill stems tend to have retro sizing for bar diameter. Again, more options in threadless, including the wide diameter like I have on my Straggler. (One of my visions is that I might like riding fixed so much that I would move some of these components over and run the Straggler fixed for commuting…)

[Phatboing]

@dkel 97403 wrote:

I ordered a cheap headset. I’m thinking I’ll get a threaded to threadless adaptor quill, so I’ll have more options in bars, and potentially less trouble taking the bars off and putting them on something else.

This will be obvious for the experts on the forum, but for the rest of us: if you’ve ever wondered how bikes work, build one up yourself. I’ve already learned a lot about bikes, and I’ve only ordered one part! It’s pretty amazing.

Oh oh I actually have a threadless quill adapter thingy that you’re welcome to try out.

[bikesnick]

@dkel 97411 wrote:

… I still can’t get the crank arm off the drive side.

I used an automotive gear puller on my single speed conversion of dumpster find road bike.

[Author]

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