New bike build up, need some expert advice

Hi

I found this forum whilst looking for info a frame I have been given and thought you guys were probably perfect for giving me some much needed advice.

I was recently given a lovely all chrome Lygie frame and forks by a friend who had no need for it and I want to build it up as a SS - ideally with a flip-flop hub so I can have a try at fixie riding too.

Problem being I have spent my life in the world of the mountain bike and love building up bikes but I know very little about road bikes. I currently ride a SS Santa Cruz Chameleon which I love but couldn't resist the chance to build up this lovely looking road bike as my current bike is a bit of a beast for riding round town.

What i really need guidance on is wheels, I don't know what size would be right for the bike - it has a 120mm spacing at the back if that has any impact. What would you guys recommend as a good value starter SS wheelset? Where is a good place to go for wheels?

I don't want to spend a fortune on building it up if poss. It came with a Campag Seatpost, Campag headset and a no-brand bottom bracket already installed so other than the wheels I just need to get brakes, bars, stem, saddle and cranks - if anyone has anything going cheap let me know.

Any advice on any part of this build, or insight into good parts for it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

D

Some pics of the bike after a damned good clean!

Hi Dan,

I'm new here too and like you a fellow Chameleon SS rider. Also looking to build up a road fixie. My plan is to go with Formula hubs, Mavic Open Pro's and DT DB spokes. Just a classic, affordable, quality wheelset. I have used Mavic rims and DT DB spokes for 17 years odd - only wish would be that Hope started making suitable hubs...

what max are going for is quite a good starting point. always depends on your budget really...
120mm is perfect at the back.
that bb you got there looks like a shimano one i just fitted last week! mine's 107mm... your's might probably be the same, should be quite easy to find cranks to give you a good chainline...

for wheelbuilders:
arup (he's on the forum) will build you a wheel for a tenner labour money he'll even order the hubs rims spokes and calculate everything for you.
harry rowland's one of the best, you can get his wheels on sale in brick lane bikes, but could get pricey.
brixton cycles will build you a set for about 40quid labour (last time i asked). they sell built fix/ss wheels with ambrosio rims and hubs for about 140.
google kiwicycles paul sells complete wheelsets too.
or, wait until someone comes up with something for sale on this forum.

anything else maybe ask more specific questions as you go along...

Good bit of advice, ed.

Boa !
I need friends like that Dan,
make sure to post pictures when the rebuild is finished !

Another option I am toying with is using two wheels based around Hope front disc hubs. Bear with me... :) on my Chameleon I have a standard MTB (Mavic) disc/cassette hub - this allows me to use a flip/flop free/fixed arrangement using a drilled cog and the 6 bolt ISO disc mount.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/monsieurpoilu/scc7.jpg

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/monsieurpoilu/scc5.jpg

Obviously the O.L.D on a front hub is 100mm but the disc mount face places the drilled cog at a chainline of around 40mm. Because the cog is mounted against the face on six bolts it is easy to space this out with 1mm washers to give a perfect chainline to match the front chainwheel. And nothing is as solid as a fixed cog mounted in this way.

With the O.L.D on a typical track rear end being 120mm it would just be a case of using a replacement axle and a 10mm spacer each side.

Just an idea...

Try BETD (Goldtec https://www.betd.co.uk/product_list.asp?CategoryID=15) their wheel builds are really good value for money - thy're only charging £30.50 a wheel for open pros including spokes (considering 36 spokes will cost you £18 and an Open Pro rim is about £30 it's hard to imagine beating their prices!)

The frame is lovely by the way, thinned lugs ! That's a sign of some real class!
Is it designed for 27" wheels or 700c. If it's 27" wheels you'll need deep drop brakes (if you want to run brakes).

I have seen the drilled god thing before looks like a good idea. Do you know where to buy the cogs or do you have the equipment to drill hardened steel?

Hi Tommy - this is a cut and paste of a post I made on other forums about this, bear in mind this all relates to an MTB with different O.L.D.

Just done a couple of hours riding off road fixed in Epping Forest this morning BTW, great fun. But - I had forgotten the disc front wheels are also dished so I will probably scrap the idea for a street fixie - off road the flip flop cassette/disc mont works well as it makes a great do anything wheel - SS (with infinite chainline adjustment), 7/8/9 speed cassette, custom 2 or 3 cog set up, anything really. However, on road with a sleek fixie I think proper fixed/fixed non dished conventional wheels look much better.

Anyway, back to the 'how-to':

I used a cheap pressed steel cog that came with a SS converter kit. These are quite easy to drill. Mine is an 18 tooth. You need a standard 6 bolt dics to mark it up - lay the disc on top of the cog and center it up - make sure of this - eye up the centre edges of the cog against the centre circle of the disc and measure the distance in three places to check it is in the middle. Hold tight and draw the 6 round circles where the bolts go. Centre punch these and then using good quality HSS bits drill the holes. 2mm first all the way through and then a 5.5mm to finish. De-burr with a 7mm or similar and that's it. Mine ended up spot on - just take some time and care - worth a try for a few £'s specially if it is not for you. The washers are just to perfect the chainline.

A pressed steel cog is easy to drill and at around £3 each if you screw it up it doesn't matter - try another. The cog I drilled sits more central than the Surly cog on my cassette hub. A proper hardened track cog would be more tricky without a decent pillar drill.

Regarding chainline, the disc mount position is obviously fixed in the ISO dimension. It can be spaced out a little simply by fitting washers between the cog and hub. If mounted directly to the hub the chainline in mm will be around 52/53mm IIRC. This is easy to check on your bike if you have a disc hub - measure from the inside face of the drop-out to the centre of the mounted disc. Subtract this figure from 67.5mm and that is your rear chainline. Check this with your current front chainline and you can see where you stand (measure from the centre of the seat tube to the centre of the teeth). You can fine tune the front chainline by varying the BB/spindle length/chainring position etc.

Couple more pics here, just about the most solid way to mount a cog, far better than any lockring or similar system:

be careful with mavic hubs. i have cracked the freehub on two sets of DEEMAX's in the rear. the holes for the rotor bolts (in your case, cog bolts) is too shallow.

clever indeed though:)

cool well done Max, I have read a post on bike forum about soem guy doing this with a track cog, I thinck he had to heat it up to remove the hardening drill it then tried to redo the hardening by re heating to blood read and quenching. Difficult to get right with back yard engineering set up. Your method looks good and like you say because the cogs are cheap you can just replace them reguarly with out worrying.

Maxwell Duryea be careful with mavic hubs. i have cracked the freehub on two sets of DEEMAX's in the rear. the holes for the rotor bolts (in your case, cog bolts) is too shallow.

clever indeed though:)

Hmm, never heard of a problem with these - the only issues of disc mounts cracking I remember was on earlier (maybe Hope?) hubs where the holes do not go all the way thorough and people mounted bolts too long or maybe 'hydrauliced' the mount. The Mavic ones are about 7mm thick - 6 bolts spread the load well enough.

I also thought about running a front disc hub on the rear with a pair of 10mm spacers, you could also fit an identical hub on the front and have another another cog on there, swap the wheels over (and spacers) instead of just flipping the rear wheel to change ratio.

Thanks for the info,

In reference to the post by AlexB - how would I determine if the frame is designed for 27" or 700c wheels?

Cheers

Dan

find yourself a 700c wheel and mount it on the bike, it'll be very obvious if the clearance between the wheel and the forks/frame look ridiculous it'll be for 27"

something like this:

and measure the caliper mounting holes to the rims, this'll give you an indication of the drop length of the brakes.

or measure the mounting holes to dropout centres (esp the fork) then post them up here for comparison!

edmundane find yourself a 700c wheel and mount it on the bike, it'll be very obvious if the clearance between the wheel and the forks/frame look ridiculous it'll be for 27"

something like this:

Just to clarify; 700c wheels are smaller than 27" wheels so you need brakes with longer reach. Otherwise they grip the tyres quite nicely!