Gravel Singlespeed Build

So I’ve purchased a couple of old frames that I want to convert into a commuter. It’ll be about 8 miles along gravel paths and I wanted to build a gravel singlespeed.

I am completely new to bike building and was wondering if the community could help me with some advice, good places to find parts etc.

I am on a budget of about £200 all in so don’t really want to spend more than £100 on wheelset, do I need specific wheels for gravel or will normal singlespeed ones work? Looking to run 30mm tyres off them.

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Normal wheels will be fine, it'll be more important to get good tyres. By which I mean ones that will fit your frame and fork clearances (allowing for mudguards or not, depending on your preference) and are tough enough. 30mm tyres pumped up 70(ish) PSI should be a comfortable starting point, then adjust as you please.

Other components might be found from: eBay, classifieds on here, bike jumbles, your local bike project/recycling charity, maybe even your LBS if they have a second hand parts bin.

Good luck and enjoy!

And keep uploading pictures and updates to the build thread!

If you just want to get going with minimal cost and don't care about having bling parts, definitely investigate local charities. I used to use the Julian House place in Bath a lot - it's a goldmine of old, average, but perfectly usable parts that are dirt cheap. Plus the mechanics are always more than happy to help with stuff that you don't know how to do

This should be good. I'd focus some attention on making sure the bb/cranks/pedals are in decent order. Some average but new pedals, with a refreshed bb, can make a big difference to how the bike feels imo.

Thanks for all the information everyone. I am thinking of converting to 650B wheels so I can run 32-38 tyres on it. I’ll see what I can find!

You might have bags of room in there already for 700c, those look like some long drop calipers.

If you need calipers that long for 700c, 650b might put the rim too far away from the brake hole?

700 x 38s should fit without mudguards. I found a similiar Peugeot in a ditch a few weeks ago with a bent dropout and seized BB, 38s fit ok.

You will have trouble finding a 650b singlespeed rim brake wheel and would need something custom built. There are cheap geared 650b wheels on ebay that could be run with a single speed conversion kit, but they are 135mm spaced where as the frames rear dropout spacing will be 126mm.

That’s good to know, thank you!

I think mudguards would be important, particularly winter commuting, maybe I go for 700c with a 32 tyre. I’ll do some research and report back!

Just double checked and it may be a bit tight .These tyres are marked 38 but measure 35 in height.

Along similar lines.

A Raleigh Tempest rescued from a hedge.
Wheels shot, headset notchy, bars rotten, miss matched cranks and cup & cone BB etc etc.

Stripped out, checked frame over and forks. Went from 12 spd to SS with a special price set of wheels from Planet X of DP18 rims and novatec hubs for about £100 added a Shimano SS 18t freewheel (go dicta or Sturmy Archer as cheaper).
Added new brake pads and cables and outers, some old risers bars and canti-brake levers. Used the cup and cone BB until it properly ate the bearings then slipped in a cheap sealed cartridge BB. Had an old Raleigh chainset from a record sprint so used that straight away as a matching crank set.

I came joint 4th in a Euro SS champs and 2nd and I think the second time 22nd in the Klunker Classic. I think this picture is set for the second Klunker.

Brakes barely worked even with new cables and pads due to caliper flex so racing downhill in the wet and trying to stop was exciting. Front would take maybe a 42mm CX tyre, the rear I reckoned would do a 38mm "maybe" a 42mm I went with 35mm front and rear Conti CX Races.

Best bike ever, raced it, crashed it, had loads of fun on it.
Downsides.... way too flexy frame for what I was doing. Have since skipped the frame, in theory nothing wrong with it on the outside. Starting to rust and things I have done to it ment I wasn't happy letting anyone else take it on so binned it... but kept the fork..

Still got the wheels and chainset on a Steamroller which does the same job just without the internal rust issues and a stiffer 1 1/8" headtube set up and stiffer frame :)

Don't overthink it. I did a Badger ride on the Roller with CX Speed tyres on and Mashton attacked it on a pink missile Tarck bike.

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Thorn have 650b rims for rim brake! Cheap too!

This is all of a sudden my current fantasy bike build

Shall point out some ghetto mods :)

Milk carton mud guard on downtube and a bit slipped inside the brake caliper to try and stop it clogging (worked)
A boxed inner tube would almost neatly ram into the space above the rear brake caliper.

Seat tube has bit of inner tube taped to it to hold a 13/15mm spanner.
Also a lump of wood taped to it to screw the blue bottle cage to.

Saddle is held down with very big zip tie as stripped the splines while landing a jump, so had to hold the saddle down to stop it pointing upwards everytime i hit something.

2 scariest memories.
trying to chip a chicane at speed after overtaking downhill because "Brakes" i hit the apex perfectly to jump through..... my arms and bars locked in line... the stem/frame/fork all deflected and followed the contour of what i was trying to jump.
Next day the game was trying to peel off stickers to see if my frame was cracked as the bike crab steered badly.

Build up a bike, add CX tyres, get rad. have fun for cheaps.

Sorry for lack of update. It has been a mega crazy year and this dropped tot he bottom of my to do list. I am now moving to London, therefore the gravel side of this project has dropped off. I have all the parts I need apart from a wheelset. I am trying to do this on the mega cheap. Can anyone help me with a set of 700c wheels with flipflop hub? Or know the best place to look? LBS doesn't seem to be an option and the prices on the internet for new wheels seems ridiculous.

Finished the bike today. Need to work on the gearing as it's way too big right now, but as a starter for ten it certainly works!!

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You might enjoy something like this:
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYCONSCII/continental-sport-contact-ii-700c-wired-tyre

Cheap, well regarded and will improve how much contact you have with those gravelly surfaces. They should fill in the gaps in the frame nicely too. Good build!

Nice pug! Maybe level off the bars and saddle? Chain looks a little slack too, can the wheel move back a touch?

Yeh there is still space to come back a bit. Must admit I didn't pay too much attention to saddle level. Well spotted!

The bottom of those bars are supposed to be perfectly horizontal .. they are vintage style not akin to modern bars with a flat top section... so about 20 degrees ‘down’ rotation ideal