Teach me how to fixie

[americancyclo]

@EasyRider 147323 wrote:

Judd, this is your mother. Please don’t practice learning to ride a fixed gear bicycle in heavy traffic.

Yes. Ride in traffic before you build your fixie.

[bikesnick]

I recommend using clips or clipless pedals.
My fixed gear came with regular pedals. On the first big downhill my feet slipped off. It scared me enough to get clips. I now have clipless pedals.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@bikesnick 147352 wrote:

I recommend using clips or clipless pedals.
My fixed gear came with regular pedals. On the first big downhill my feet slipped off. It scared me enough to get clips. I now have clipless pedals.

Foot retention is essential for fixed gear. For ultimate skill/style/challenge points, I recommend one-sided road pedals combined with no fewer than 75 gear inches on the drivetrain.

[Judd]

@TwoWheelsDC 147354 wrote:

Foot retention is essential for fixed gear. For ultimate skill/style/challenge points, I recommend one-sided road pedals combined with no fewer than 75 gear inches on the drivetrain.

I hope to retain both of my feet.

[Judd]

Thanks to everyone for all of the discussion and advice so far. I’ve been cruising Craigslist this week. I’m planning on going to the Bikes for the World warehouse sale tomorrow and might also hit up Velocity and Phoenix if time permits.

After looking at a bunch of examples on the internet, I think I like the look of a lugged steel frame.

Any suggestions on frame types or places to look for frames?

[OneEighth]

Have gotten many years, miles, and smiles out of my Surly Steamrollers. Versatile and durable steel frame if somewhat utilitarian (which is kinda appealing to me in a commuter).

[KLizotte]

@Judd 147360 wrote:

Any suggestions on frame types or places to look for frames?

You may wish to check Mt. Airy Bicycle/College Park Bicycle’s website. They have about 4,000(!) bikes in their warehouse and a little bit of everything. They maintain an online database.

[Judd]

I bought a frame today from Phoenix Bikes for 60 bucks. It’s a Shogun frame. Sticker says it’s a Chromoly 200. Another sticker on it professes that it is Tange 900. It was made in Japan. Initial googling indicates that it’s lower end.

Current paint is mostly intact with a small few nicks that have some oxidation. I plan on stripping and repainting.

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[ShawnoftheDread]

I brought Phoenix a shogun with Tange 900 this afternoon. The guy said, “I just sold a Shogun.”

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[Judd]

I was able to strip the Shogun down to just the frame today. The parts all appeared to be original and it doesn’t appear that the bike was ridden more than a few hundred miles in the last 30 years.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12580[/ATTACH]

My next planned step is to strip the paint and repaint it. I had originally planned some sort of orange color because it’s my favorite, but since I bought a Japanese bike with a Japanese name, I’m tempted to do some sort of Japanese related paint scheme.

[vvill]

Nice! Ok, if you can disassemble a bike and strip and repaint a frameset, I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble building a fixed gear.

Are you repainting because of the small nicks/oxidation?

The next question is… 3/32 or 1/8th? :rolleyes:

[huskerdont]

Since I can’t buy a new bike every week, I have to live vicariously. This is great. Glad you posted the pics.

Second the thoughts on clipless/platform SPD pedals. Nothing worse than having the egg-beaters going off while descending a steep hill. If you didn’t have a hand brake, your only option would be to jump off before it bursts into flames.

[EasyRider]

Nice stem. Nitto?

[Judd]

@vvill 147410 wrote:

Nice! Ok, if you can disassemble a bike and strip and repaint a frameset, I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble building a fixed gear.

Are you repainting because of the small nicks/oxidation?

The next question is… 3/32 or 1/8th? :rolleyes:

I’m repainting for a couple of reasons:
1. It seems like an interesting thing to do.
2. I’ll get extra cool points for saying I did it.
3. The aforementioned blemishes in the paint.
4. If you’re going to build a fixie you might as well go full hipster and give it a paint job.

I’ve done some significant refinishing of wood in the past. The process appears pretty similar.

Overall the current paint is in good shape and I somewhat like the color.

Here’s some close ups of a few of the blemishes:

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[Judd]

@EasyRider 147420 wrote:

Nice stem. Nitto?

Here’s the only markings I could find on the stem:

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[Author]

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