My fixed gear project

[mcfarton]

Almost done

sent from your mom’s house

[jrenaut]

How long before you can ride it?

[dkel]

@mcfarton 100870 wrote:

Almost done

Right! Except for bottom bracket, crankset, and chain (ordered), plus seatpost, saddle, quill adapter, stem, bars, brake levers, cable, cable housing, brake caliper, bar tape, pedals, and probably some tools to put it all together. I’m sure I’m forgetting something.

@jrenaut 100871 wrote:

How long before you can ride it?

Once I get the drivetrain together, which will be this weekend, I hope, I can pilfer pedals from my bin of parts, temporarily move a seatpost and saddle from another bike, and put the old rusty quill and bars back on; then I’ll be able to ride it, admittedly without brakes. Part of the benefit of doing that will be to assess fit (the frame may be a tad small for me), and figure out what kind of bars I want to put on (probably drops). This is great fun!

[jrenaut]

Before I got my fixed gear, I suspected that I would like riding it. Now that I have it, it’s even better than I expected. I love riding it. I do 3 days a week on the Xtracycle, taking the kids to school, which is awesome in a different way. The two days a week I get to pick which bike I ride (the Bianchi Volpe commuter or the fixie), lately I’ve been exclusively riding the fixed gear. My Bianchi is a fantastic bike, able to handle pretty much whatever I throw at it, but riding fixed just makes me really, really happy. That may change once I’ve had the bike longer and the new bike smell wears off, but for now I’m riding fixed unless I need to carry something heavy (groceries, the kids).

As for your bike, since this is your thread and not mine to be smug about my new bike – in my limited experience, fit is more important on a fixed gear than any other bike. It’s a lot harder to shift position when you can’t stop pedaling, so the fit of your bike becomes more important. A quarter inch is no big thing when you can coast for a few feet and move yourself around in the saddle. When your legs can’t stop moving, it’s nowhere near as simple. When I get more experience on the bike (I still haven’t hit 200 miles fixed due to weather and family obligations) this might change, but I suspect my experience as a new fixed gear rider will not be that different from yours.

[dkel]

@jrenaut 100878 wrote:

As for your bike, since this is your thread and not mine to be smug about my new bike – in my limited experience, fit is more important on a fixed gear than any other bike.

A good reason for me to borrow parts and ride for a while. Some aspects of fit can be adjusted through offset seatpost or different stem, or—as cool as I think my old Schwinn frame is—I’ve already looked at this. Since I paid exactly nothing for the Schwinn, there’s no loss there, and all the components I’ve gotten so far would transfer right over.

[dkel]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7099[/ATTACH]

Drivetrain should be up and running sometime tomorrow, I hope.

[dkel]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7106[/ATTACH]

Have to get a seatpost and saddle next, since none of the ones I have fit.

[dkel]

I read the “fixed gear chain tension” thread, which was quite useful in setting up the drivetrain today. I have a couple of questions for you experts:

1) How much sound should the drivetrain make? I get a quite a bit of purring from mine, though I can’t feel any particular tight spots…maybe a little vibration, but the cranks turn pretty freely.

2) This may be related to number 1…just how exact does the chainline need to be? Despite my best efforts, and following manufacturer recommendations, I’m pretty sure my front measurement ended up about 45 or 46 mm, while my rear is definitely 42 mm. Is this the cause of my purring sound, perhaps?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@dkel 100931 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7106[/ATTACH]

Have to get a seatpost and saddle next, since none of the ones I have fit.

Would silver work or do you need black?

I have a 26.6 that I was given and can’t use, which you can have. I also have a pretty nice 27.2 that I bought in error.

[dkel]

@ShawnoftheDread 100933 wrote:

I have a 26.6 that I was given and can’t use, which you can have. I also have a pretty nice 27.2 that I bought in error.

Very generous, my friend. The too-short one that came out says 25.7, which apparently exists nowhere else in nature (as far as my short Internet search tells me). Sheldon quotes 25.8 for Schwinn World, but I might also be able to use 25.6 (how much difference could .2 mm make?). So neither of yours would work. Thanks for offering!

[dcv]

@dkel 100932 wrote:

I read the “fixed gear chain tension” thread, which was quite useful in setting up the drivetrain today. I have a couple of questions for you experts:

1) How much sound should the drivetrain make? I get a quite a bit of purring from mine, though I can’t feel any particular tight spots…maybe a little vibration, but the cranks turn pretty freely.

2) This may be related to number 1…just how exact does the chainline need to be? Despite my best efforts, and following manufacturer recommendations, I’m pretty sure my front measurement ended up about 45 or 46 mm, while my rear is definitely 42 mm. Is this the cause of my purring sound, perhaps?

On my fixed gear bikes it seems like frame material makes a difference in drivetrain noise. Aluminum frame is noisiest, then carbon, then steel being the quietest. Would flipping the chainring to the inside of the crank spider help your chainline?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@dkel 100935 wrote:

Very generous, my friend. The too-short one that came out says 25.7, which apparently exists nowhere else in nature (as far as my short Internet search tells me). Sheldon quotes 25.8 for Schwinn World, but I might also be able to use 25.6 (how much difference could .2 mm make?). So neither of yours would work. Thanks for offering!

Sheldon’s seatpost chart has been wrong for me twice now. Be wary. I think .2 can make a big difference. You might be able to fudge .1 though.

[DismalScientist]

@dkel 100935 wrote:

Very generous, my friend. The too-short one that came out says 25.7, which apparently exists nowhere else in nature (as far as my short Internet search tells me). Sheldon quotes 25.8 for Schwinn World, but I might also be able to use 25.6 (how much difference could .2 mm make?). So neither of yours would work. Thanks for offering!

Use the smaller one with shims. Unfortunately, I speak from experience.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dkel 100932 wrote:

I read the “fixed gear chain tension” thread, which was quite useful in setting up the drivetrain today. I have a couple of questions for you experts:

1) How much sound should the drivetrain make? I get a quite a bit of purring from mine, though I can’t feel any particular tight spots…maybe a little vibration, but the cranks turn pretty freely.

2) This may be related to number 1…just how exact does the chainline need to be? Despite my best efforts, and following manufacturer recommendations, I’m pretty sure my front measurement ended up about 45 or 46 mm, while my rear is definitely 42 mm. Is this the cause of my purring sound, perhaps?

the better the chainline, the quieter it’s going to be to a point. chains and gears are always going to make some noise. if the cog and chainring will accept a 3/32″ chain, sometimes that can significantly reduce noise, too (tho, fixed gear traditionalists will scream bloody murder…). The proper way to set a chainline is to adjust it by using a different bottom bracket spindle length – something that’s pretty easy to do in a shop where you a can just grab 4 different BB spindle lengths and install only the driveside (fixed) cup.

[dkel]

@Harry Meatmotor 100948 wrote:

the better the chainline, the quieter it’s going to be to a point. chains and gears are always going to make some noise. if the cog and chainring will accept a 3/32″ chain, sometimes that can significantly reduce noise, too (tho, fixed gear traditionalists will scream bloody murder…). The proper way to set a chainline is to adjust it by using a different bottom bracket spindle length – something that’s pretty easy to do in a shop where you a can just grab 4 different BB spindle lengths and install only the driveside (fixed) cup.

Right. It’s a little frustrating that I followed the manufacturer’s guidelines, and have not only a wide chainline, but a wide chainline with the shortest BB spindle available. I moved the chainring to the inside, which is fine, but now it’s too far inside instead of too far outside. At least I can go to another BB with a longer spindle to correct it. The question is: what spindle length? If I need to move the crank out 4 mm, does that translate directly into 4 mm of spindle length, or is it more complicated than that? It would be easy to go from 103 to 107, but if the 107 doesn’t give me all 4 of those mm on the drive side, that’s a problem.

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