good luck with finding BB's and seat posts!
man, fixedgear gallery is getting some serious attention lately

+1, hold onto your seatpost tight and never let go!

weld the fucker down, i say.

didn't i read that you can rethread the frame for the bb?

if by re-threading you mean grinding down x-isting threads and then grinding in new ones, i don't know about that.

i did however just have the threads on my bb re-chased, as in they run a threaded tool through it to scrape off the junk/paint/etc and clean them up.

i would imagine that re-chasing can only be done a few times before you've ground out the threads so much that the size has changed on the bb itself. but i've only done it once...

+2 on the attention given fgg. who can blame folks for moving to the darkside.

fixie fever strikes again!

well, i'm going up to providence this weekend, hopefully i can get some time next week to work on her

Damn! I just lost a long message that basically said I narrowed my touring bike choices down to Surly Cross Check and Long Haul. The Cross Check has a shorter chainstay, which should prove to be more comfortable when unloaded. I can't own both, so might as well have versitility.

Anyone own either?

ARRRRR!

ordered new BB on friday and a long reach brake which i needed... but stupid company was still processing the order yesterday and i'm leaving for china tomorrow. so no new chainline for me until i get back. boo.

curious to see the bike's in china...

Just finished my first fixee--A Schwinn Letour from the 80's with NYCBikes wheelset, 17t fixed cog and 18t freewheel and 44t chainring. Flipped and clipped bars. Everything else pretty much original. Thought it would be hard, but got a little help from Will at NYCBikes (thanks bud) and everything went pretty smooth. Here's a description of the project with photos for newbies like me or people looking for a way to wasting time at work on the internet:

http://www.jaycokingpin.com/singlefix.pdf

cheers

Nice, hankNYC. Under $600, too.

what would happen if i bought a gentlemen's bike frame (straight top tube, but and used that for a conversion, with a pair of dropbars? wold the geometry make it unrideable? i can't seen to find a steel racer frame! help!

Did you try Ebay? I have found many.

bigness, what size are you looking? I have a 1989 Le Tour (from 6th grade... ha ha). It is a larger frame - I think 58, though maybe 59. Lugged steel. I am 5'-10" and it is a bit big for me, but that's subjective.

Anyway, I'd let go of it for pennies. Are you in US or UK?

wow hank, great how to. if i can ever get a free weekend [and some cash!] i'm going to head over to nycbikes and pick up some parts to attempt my conversion

i am not a bike expert by any stretch but i bought a bianchi pista this weekend and my heart flutters every time i look at it. im riding it as a single speed becuase ive never ridden a fixed gear but im going to give it a shot this weekend. hopefully i wont die.

floatingtooth: last years Chrome or the new Gang Green?

last years chrome. i feel like this bike is the equivalent of a 29 yr old dude buying a golden retrever puppy. i had a guy ride up next to me and just smile and say 'thats a lot of chrome'.

damn right.

although the green is pretty hot too.

My first skid stop.

wow sarah..did that hurt as much as it seems to have done?

unrelated:

haha!
bought my first conversion frame!
stripped yesterday, removed most of the paint, under several coates of spray paint laid a nice patelli champion special frame, with some really cool braize-on's. the fork is chrome and looks great...can't wait to get back home.
how do i pull the freewheel apart without the tool?

Sarah- that looks pretty gnarly. (also, welcome to archinect)

i just bought a new wheelset from IRO, so i can't help you out w/ the freewheel...

my fixie as it stands right now. BB is in but still needs the long reach brake for the front. will be the first thing i do when i get back home from vacation...

I didn't crash and thanks for the welcome. I was compelled to post on archinect when I saw the bike discussion- though looking at all the clean fixies is making me want to paint mine!

SarahFIBS: is that from chainring bolt failure? intense...

floatingtooth: I love the Bianchi Pista Concept. I want to get just the frame to build up as my ultimate hotness machine. I'm a sucker for seat tubes that are modified to allow a tighter wheelbase.

Speaking of seat tubes, my friend's Colnago I posted the picture of on the second page of this thread got trashed in Chicago the other night. It deserves a moment of silence...

Even though I like to pretend it was my awesomely powerful legs- yes it was the chainring bolts. They were really old/rusty. I have a Franken-bike.

There have been/are a few problems..... but I feel devoted to it now.

Does anyone actually wear one?

Yes.

Warm weather when I'm racing. I have the habit of pushing myself very hard and taking some risky lines through traffic, but thats the only time. The winter it'll most likely be all the time because I'll be a lot more likely to go down in the snow.

I'm a helmet poster-child, meaning I dont just wear them, I use them. A good vomiting, deaf-in-one-ear, nothing's-the-right-color concussion will even make you want a better helmet.

garpike: found this and thought you'd like to see it. I'd study with Yamaguchi any day over the UBI course (he built San Renshos): Yamaguchi Bicycles Framebuilding School

While on one hand i love seeing anything in the press about people getting out on bikes...i'm not sure about the editorial tone they struck. i don't fit the neat little mold they outlined for the 'fixie' rider, and i imagine many of you don't either.

read and comment at will.

Oooo thanks Pixel! The stem course is a nice novelty, but just not the real thing. Would leave me ithcing for the whole deal. When you signing up?

I finally decided on a touring bike. I got a 91 Trek 520. Purple! Ha. Lugged frame with all the good braze-ons. Well, no extra spoke holder or bottle opener.

Once I win the lottery, I'll swing by Boston on my extended trip.

does anyone post on fixedgeargallery forum?

anyway, this is my current project

apologies to garpike, i did not read your message about the frame size, thanks for the offer! i'm 6'5", usually i ride a 60 but for commuting and day to day stuff i got a 58, slightly smaller, with a more upright riding position (itì's all done on naroow, busy streets, loads of traffic lights etc).
And to answer your question, I'm in italy.

Ah, I thought you were in London, bigness.

Here's my friend's folding fixie.

i was, in london!

Ah, good I am not crazy. Which is home?

bologna, italy.

I've got a gunmetalgray Univega road frame. Rear hub is a Shimano Nexus 7-spd internally geared hub. So it looks like a fixie, but isn't.

are the internal hubs are horror-story as they're made out to be for working on, etc.? never met anyone that actually rides one so i've never been able to ask...

2nd "are" should be "as"...

I have a 3-speed Shimano Nexus and my roommate has an old 5-speed SRAM/Sachs and both have treated us well. I wouldn't want to work on it, but then again if the cheap Nexus broke gave me problems I'd throw it out. I bought the special grease for it from Harris Cyclery, but I don't think I'll ever use it. I think the next scheduled lube job is in 17 years.

I guess the idea is you should never really have to work on the hub, but before dropping $1k on a Rohloff, i'd be nervous about what I was getting into.

There are some benefits of course: My favorite is shifting at a red light.

Wooo doggy. 14 speeds.

my peugeot is currently a singlespeed, i took of the derailers and just shortened the chain on my current chainring and freewheel. not perfectly lined up, but next weekend i plan on getting new wheels, track cog, chain and chainring, so i'm not too worried.

General question, but for a londoner....what ratios are people using? I need to upsize my on-one.

I was going to go for a 38-16 but i'm wondering if this is still too small?

(I'm not brave enough for a proper fixie as yet. I'm still clinging to my freewheel for now. All in good time.)

garpike: I love that illustration... would make a good tattoo!

antipod you beat me to the punch. How about with a 46 front ring on a fixie?

Really? That just seems massive. Hank was talking about 44-18.

I do still encounter the odd hill here in London-town. Maybe I need to grab a geared and try some combos out.

I need to find some shorter bolts as well so I can do away with the bash guard.

I know its not much of a help, but in Boston I'm running 47x16 in the street. Boston is pretty flat though...

it's all helpful. London is very flat but every now and then you get a hill sneaking up on you.

Guess I'll go a big sucker against the 16 and jut see how it goes.

Anyone here a SS mountainbike convert?

yeah... i'm in LA so it's somewhat flat. running 46x16. i have one hill that's steep but short on my commute so i unceremoniously huff and puff up it. i have a 17t freewheel on the other side in case.

ridden by cute hipster girls (chg)

sorry for the uncropped image, couldnt be bothered.
anyway, it's on the road, hefty 16/50 gear to be swapped soon, wheel needs redishing etc but it's looking good, at least so i think