Diddy Fixies

I've been thinking about purchasing my first fixed gear for a couple of years, and I think now is the time.. There are obstacles in my way, though - my fairly limited budget of around £300 and the fact that I'm only 5'1 (and a half). I've had no luck at all in finding a suitable small frame, and even the smallest size of Fuji Track might be slightly too big. The Fuji Track SE would be small enough but I don't fancy riding 650s and I've not seen it for sale in the UK before anyway..

Don't suppose anyone has any suggestions? And is there a list of Fuji stockists in the UK anywhere? I'd like to try a small Fuji Track on the off chance it'll be a decent fit.

Definitely worth looking into track frames for youths/juniors. Some good quality stuff is out there - might be worth asking some of the VC Londres lot about where to find them eg. winston, or just visit their website and post an enquiry.

Talk to Vic - she has a tiny, yet amazing bike, with (I think) 24" wheels.

She picked it up for £60 or so and converted it.

BMMF is right, talk to the VC Londres people - I did the induction training at Herne Hill and they have bikes for all sizes, even kids, so they're out there...

Good luck

I've found a juniors frame that might be ok, but the wheel size is listed as 600-28a. What sort of size is that?? Would it be a massive bitch to try and get decent new wheels for it?

StraightFacedTracey I've found a juniors frame that might be ok, but the wheel size is listed as 600-28a. What sort of size is that?? Would it be a massive bitch to try and get decent new wheels for it?

According to this website 600 x 28 is a french size with a 541 mm diameter rim this looks like it may be a miss print in the table as it is very close to a 650 A road tyre according to sheldon. I am not sure how easy these rims are to get hold of. They are not as common as 650 C (used on time trail bike I think) rims but being as they are apparently used on wheel chairs they should not be too hard to find however wheelchair rims would not have machined breaking surface but some people on here run brakes on no machined with out problems rims so it must be ok.

Good luck finding a bike. You will get one in the end

Also it makes since that they would be 650 A rims as it is a juniors frame and that is one use for 650 A rim according to Mr Brown

Also if the rims are any good on the bike you can re use the rim when building a new rear wheel just get new hub and spokes.

StraightFacedTracey The Fuji Track SE would be small enough but I don't fancy riding 650s and I've not seen it for sale in the UK before anyway..

I reckon it will be hard to find a bike that fits you that has 700c wheels. The geometry would get really screwed up trying to fit big rims in such a small frame. 650s aren't so bad - rims and tyres are reasonably available because they are used in tri and some TT bikes.

i think edwardes in camberwell used to have the 650 fuji frame on sale as well for 100 golden nuggets for frame and fork and headset.Maybe they still do......phone them or check them out.......and yeah having a 700 wheeled bike means your toe overlap will be at least 5 centimeters.......ie....you can only ride in straight line......good luck with finding y'self suitable frame ...

Would 48cm be a good size for you? If so...
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/mem/classified_ads/classified_ads.asp
FOR SALE: Tery Dolan Track Bike (pictured right). 48cm. ITM stem, ITM seat post, alpina forks, ambrosio wheels, miche crankset/chainset.

what momentum & broken77 said makes perfect sense.
any reason why you don't want to ride 650c?

yeah try edwardes in camberwell i've seen those fuji SE's there. they've had pinarellos in that size too but will be way out of your budget.

as far as i can remember those junior bikes from vc londres at herne hill are mostly peugeot conversions and run 24" wheels... i might be wrong.

Thanks all for the replies. To be honest the only reason I didn't fancy riding 650c is because I just thought it'd be far more difficult and/or more expensive to get decent suitable wheels. That is, if I'd put it together myself using an old juniors frame. Is that the case, or would it be farely easy?

As for the Fuji SE - I'm not so keen on the slightly more sloping geometry, but being a short-arse there's not really any way around the fact that I need a more compact frame I suppose..

Yeah - sloping top tubes make sense on very small and very large frames for different reasons. On smaller frames it helps keep the headest in the right place while allowing you to stand over the bike. I ride very large bikes and sometimes you have to accept that the bike that fits you might not look as proportional as you'd like.

I think you will find it easier to find rims and tyres for 650c wheels than for 24" by the way.

vic's bike is a 47cm junior raleigh, currently with 24" (520/18 ISO) wheels, which are hard to source tyres for. she's upgrading to a 650c deep-v set, which brick lane bikes (our LBS) stock all tube etc for. its pretty easy to find 650c tyres, in nice colours too. the only down side is it set you back £70 just for rims. the 650's will fit the current frame better with better/tighter clearance. you can see a photo of the current setup here here:

oh, yeah, i guess i should say vic's my girl, and i know she'll post too, in fact i can hear her typing in the other room! haha! :D

Indeed! You will have a real job finding any kind of bike with 700c wheels to fit you if you're shorter than me! I'm just over 5'2". A 48cm frame is too big for me if it has 700c's on it, so I would suggest if you're going for an adult frame like a Fuji 48cm then you definitely need 650s on it, if not smaller (but the clearance would be massive if you went smaller) unless you have ultra long 36" legs or something. 650s are quite easy to find - as well as Velocity Deep Vs, Mavic also do some, and if you're after a bargain there's usually pretty decent lil Mavics on eBay (and the Holy Arrospok often comes up in the old 650 size on eBay too! Even though aerospoke no longer make a 650, they told me. Oh and Hed3!)

On the availability issue, even Evans Cycles stock 650 tubes (apparently) so once you have your rims the only issue is running into the bike shop when you have a puncture. I know this because Evans Cycles on Farringdon Road (very small shop, they must have even more retarded staff than usual in there) "could help me if my wheels were 650, actually are you sure they're not 650?". Yes I am sure they're not.

shit vic, you're not really that short at all! could also use 26" tubes as well for 650c ;)

Ha, thanks ;D. I'm confused about 26" actually, doesn't Sheldon say it's really hard to get a true 'inch' measurement...? Like there's a bunch of 24" sizes, and only 520 fits mine (not the more common 540).

So what might the right ISO be for a 26/650c? a 571?

max and i hard this argument recently, when i bought a 26" trispoke and sold it to him, which he said was 650C. 26" is 1 cm smaller than 650c so more like 56cm in diameter and there is no way a 650 tyre will fit on a 26" tyre.

i was merely saying that you could get a narrow 26" mtb tube to fit on a 650c.

we do have about 1000 new fujis at the track, in loads of different sizes, not sure about the 650cc size wheel ones though....there might be as I think they might have been a direct import...come down on saturday mornings and ask....when the weather gets a bit warmer though....

my other half bought a fuji se (43cm) on the bay, new for about 150. stock wheels ok after a tweak but she got some narrow mtb rims built onto track hubs anyway and they fit very well (virtually no adjustment of brake blocks for the different wheels). so now she has 22/23mm tires (not too easy getting anything else) on the lighter 650 wheels and a set of 25/26mm tires on the narrow mtb rims, which is what she uses mostly. she's 5'1" and she's had fun playing with an adjustable angle (giant) stem to get a ride that works best for her.

Seamus on ACF was Googling for tyres that size and found this thread.

He has now sourced some, see the thread here;
600/28 or 25 tyres

Hi I just found this thread and wanted to add this to the mix;
I ride folding bikes (just finished a brompton fixie - possibly a first?) and happen to know that the high end folding bike, the Airnimal, uses 520 wheels and that you can get a reasonable selection of tyres for it (or any other 520 wheeled beast from this shop should anyone feel the need to splash out...
I've dealt with them before and they're a really nice shop.

http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/airnimal_tyres.htm

Vic - love your cream Raleigh! I have a Raleigh Twenty Shopper fixie that's a bit of a step from it's Granny-transporting past.

My Raleigh Twenty:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/july/2/HuwGwilliam.htm
My Brompton:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/dec/3/HuwGwilliam.htm

dogsballs max and i hard this argument recently, when i bought a 26" trispoke and sold it to him, which he said was 650C. 26" is 1 cm smaller than 650c so more like 56cm in diameter and there is no way a 650 tyre will fit on a 26" tyre.

i was merely saying that you could get a narrow 26" mtb tube to fit on a 650c.

funny when i told you guys it's not going to work none of you believed me :P

Littlepixel
My Brompton:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/dec/3/HuwGwilliam.htm

great work! interesting - how does that tensioner thing work on a fixed?

Littlepixel Hi I just found this thread and wanted to add this to the mix;
I ride folding bikes (just finished a brompton fixie - possibly a first?) and happen to know that the high end folding bike, the Airnimal, uses 520 wheels and that you can get a reasonable selection of tyres for it (or any other 520 wheeled beast from this shop should anyone feel the need to splash out...
I've dealt with them before and they're a really nice shop.

http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/airnimal_tyres.htm

Vic - love your cream Raleigh! I have a Raleigh Twenty Shopper fixie that's a bit of a step from it's Granny-transporting past.

My Raleigh Twenty:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/july/2/HuwGwilliam.htm
My Brompton:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/dec/3/HuwGwilliam.htm

saw a fixed brompton, with massive gearing ages ago... sorry, the guy riding it was total pric though, so you can be the first decent person on a fixed brompton :)