First single speed project - help!

Hey James,
I'd go fixed/fixed too, I splashed out on a fixed/free Phil just to have that option but didn't use the freewheel in the end, which kinda rankles...
Riding fixed is a piece of p*ss as long as you've got a front brake...

Yeah, I'm not paying £800 for what essentially is just gonna be a commuter bike! Perhaps I'll test ride a fixed and see how I get on. Do have a soft spot for Wilier though.

Convert your allez, get one of those surly(?) singlespeed cassette kits ...

Leave your wilier for the weekend and sunny days.

jashburnham Yeah, I'm not paying £800 for what essentially is just gonna be a commuter bike! Perhaps I'll test ride a fixed and see how I get on. Do have a soft spot for Wilier though.

come to CM you can have ago on my fixie see what you think.

Yeah stone circle, you will find many an obliging fixer.

Annoyingly I can't make September's Critical Mass as I have to be in bloody Bristol for work that day and won't be back til late. Thanks for the offer though Millie. I reckon I'll get down to Brixton Cycles on saturday and have a chat to them. Anyone recommend any other London bike shops that are good with fixies? 'Cept Condor, too pricey!

Fixed is way easier than you'd think. I went singlespeed first to see how I'd cope (I'd only ever had MTBs before) without gears, and it's no problem at all. I wish I went fixed first - it's such a pleasure to ride, and whenever I ride a non-fixed bike it just feels really, really weird.

My advice (because you're a roadie, I wouldn't say this if you were totally new to road riding) is just go fixed straightaway. As I think MrSmith once said, riding ss is like sucking a boiled sweet with the wrapper still on.

Surly do make something called the "Fixxer" that converts shimano cassette hubs to fixed.

It's quite expensive, about £59 I think, but it's a lot cheaper than a whole new bike and you could probably make the money back by selling your shifters etc. The only downside is that you'll need either trackends or semi-horizontal dropouts to adjust the chain tension. Using a chain tensioner on fixed is not a good idea.

Good luck jasburham. Were do you live? I am sure there will be somone near you if you fancy a quick go on somones bike.

As far as gearing goes start off in the mid seventies and you can always swap around a cog if it is too hi / lo, but the genral thought seem to be that if you need higher than mid seventies when riding in traffic (you must be quite central if you commute is only 15 min and hence not have many long runs) you could do with learning to spin a bit, but if you are a raodie I guess you prob already know alot about optimum cadence e.t.c:)

People.

Jos and his tour de ville.

Roberto bikes (on ebay)

Brick lane bikes (real bike shop!)

jb, if you are sarf of the river you could try moose in colliers wood who have the Charge Plug and Giant Bowery. putney cycles have Bob Jacksons but for that price you may as well satisfy your penchant for Wilier

TheBrick(Tommy) As far as gearing goes start off in the mid seventies

??

Giddy up.

hi jashburnham. i remember you.

fuji is an option.

yeah i picked up a fuji track for well under £300 which isn't an expensive way to dip your toes, esp as most off the shelf fixies seem to have a decent resale value on the bay if you get hooked and want to upgrade

they go for silly money these days.

my fuji did me proud. i still have it, and quite bring myself to sell it.

Sorry to buck the trend, but I bought a flyer (and also remember you as the fulcrum man on c+). Had it just over a month and am still riding ss. I DO intend to switch but it seems I need to buy a new (surly) cog and spacer to get the chainline right :-( That said, I'm liking the bike for commuting and the fitness thing helped me get up Ventoux ok last week (on the geared bike, and I don't care who calls me a wimp). I'm just recovering from this wretched virus thing that's going around and I need my rest on the downhills of my lumpy commute from North London into the City.

I bought a Flyer recently too. From Cyclesense, they have a sale on - £420 - Cyclesurgery didn't have my size. Rode singlespeed for a couple of days, bought a 17t On-One cog (to go with the 48t ring at the front) and haven't looked back. I'd say you could do a lot worse than that setup for your money.

If you're used to road bikes you could do worse than getting a Pearson Touche. It's basically a road bike frame with track ends. I agree with the above posts-- forget about single speed and just jump straight to fixed. It's really not that big of a change plus it gives you more control in wet weather and the risk of pedal strike against curbs encourages you to ride around the right side of traffic and not do stupid things like squeeze between a bus and the curb. I have a singlespeed on the other side of the hub but only use it for longer rides when I want to give my legs a rest on the downhills.

+1 on the pearson,

jashburnham I don't want to look like a wanna be courier, just like the idea of a simple low maintenance commuter with roadie gemoetry, bars and styling etc.

don't advise the man to get a fuji track

What size? 55cm italian track bike - bit nice for a cummuter perhaps? Its got a fixed-fixed ambrosio hub.
Details here: http://mike-dean.fotopic.net/c1331963.html

He's asking £475 - I'd hit it. You will need to drill/replace the fork but he's giving you the brakey bits..
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12545345

that is pretty!

I wish it was bigger!

The ad says its 57cm, if that helps.

Just to update you all, I've ended up going for a Pearson Touche in blue (hate the name) after a chat to the guys @ Pearson. I've always heard good things about Pearson and at least they're not as ubiquitous as say Specialized, nice to support a British firm as well. Spoke to the fellas at cyclesurgery about the Wilier Pista but they couldn't give me any info on the geometry and seemed a tad clueless. The touche has a flip flop hub so I can experiment with fixed when I want. Gone for a 48 16 SS to start, with a 17 fixed I believe. Sent Pearson over all my bike fitting measurements from my cyclefit trip a few years back, so they shold have a good idea of what I'll need.

Doubtless I'll get the upgrade bug in a few months, anyone recommend a good place in London to build me some wheels? I'd like some blue rims to match the frame. Also what tools will I need for maintenance, wheel removal etc? I have a chain whip, allen keys and a shimano/camy lockring tool.

Finally is it possible to put a SRAM powerlink (or similar) on a ss chain or am I being a noob?

Thanks for all your help guys, and sorry I've not fully embraced Fixed at the first attempt, but give me time...

Does the Pearson have allen bolts for the wheels or typically 15mm track nuts - you'll need whatever fits 'em to fix p_nct_res.
You might use a chainwhip and lockring tool when changing cogs, if you change cogs.

I've used an SRAM powerlink with 3/32 ss chain. Not sure if SRAM do a 1/8th version, nor am I sure what the Pearson comes with, chain-wise. Google will know..

Wheels

Buy the bits and Arup will build you a good set for 10 gbp, or learn to build them your self, simple 2 , 3 cross or radial is not that hard.