Making the commitment...

Hi there - long time lurker, first time poster yada yada yada...

I've been riding a converted '90s Raleigh for about 8 months now. It was never an ideal frame - 60cm when 56-58cm would have been more appropriate - but I wanted something cheap I could build up and see if I had a taste for riding fixed or if it was just a passing fancy.

Well, I'm still here, and still riding. Now I want to sort myself out with a proper fixed - the right size and with track ends, but I have a dilemma - hopefully you can help.

Looking around (eBay, here, LBS, council dump etc...) I have a choice - either buy a track frame or stick with the converted road frame approach. Most of the track frames I've seen are stupidly expensive, unless you go down the Ribble/Dolan route and deal with the associated quality control issues. Either that, or I could get hold of a Fuji or Surly or something similar, but again, cost is an issue - I'm not that keen on spending £300 on a frame that, let's be honest, could be knobbled at any time.

The most interesting option for me seems to be buying a cheap/vintage road frame and sending it away to get track ends fitted. I'm guessing that the road geometry would be better suited to general thrashing about town. I don't know if I could deal with the guilt of killing all those puppies by converting an old Holdsworth, Mercian or Witcomb like that, but it looks like it would work out as being cheaper.

In brief, I just want to know what would be the better option - bite the bullet and spend a few hundred on a proper frame, get a half decent vintage frame and get the ends swapped, or forget about the track ends and just get a decent vintage and run it with the original dropouts?

Apologies if this comes across sounding confused - that's probably because it is, but hopefully you can see what I'm getting at. Appreciate any help.

keep searching is what i would say, track frames will say you a lot of time and be nicer to ride, it just depends on how twitchy you want it to be

this frame is available for 250 its a bargain http://www.londonfgss.com/thread4280.html

Yup i was in Cavendish and checked out Dogsballs Dave Yates and its a beaut, the pics dont do it justice . . . its a steal at 250 and rare as f@@k, i would be all over it if i hadnt wasted all my money on bits i dont actually need on ebay.

speak to jos on this forum... he has lots of nice track frames available at good prices

Yup i was in Cavendish and checked out Dogsballs Dave Yates and its a beaut, the pics dont do it justice . . . its a steal at 250 and rare as f@@k, i would be all over it if i hadnt wasted all my money on bits i dont actually need on ebay.

yeah that's also a good idea

Vintage Raleigh track on ebay . . needs some love though

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=190218559007&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI

Excellent - thanks.

Had a look at the Dave Yates and will definitely keep it in mind. £250 might be too steep (I really am a tight bastard) but I'm very interested in that Raleigh - I don't know how I missed it. Thought I had all my keywords sorted but that one completely passed me by.

Happy to put in the legwork to make it rideable too - took off the braze-ons on my Raleigh and did an average re-spray, and would be more than happy to have a go at that.

What's the best way of getting in touch with Dogsballs? As a noob I don't want to just barge in there...

hes on here...he will appear.but hes on holiday at the mo

Fujis are £300 for a complete bike aren't they, so a Fuji frame should be fsck all.
Same with the other common off-the-peg frames - Langsters, etc.

I've been riding horizontal dropouts on my fixed gear for awhile. I stand behind the notion that they're just as convenient, if not more than track dropouts. I guess the one problem I can think of is the lack of good chain tensioner for horizontal drops, but at the same time, I hardly ever see people using tensioners on a track frame... But if you need that label of having a "track bike," then make the purchase.

i have a peugeot 531pro px-10 that i converted in a veritable puppy holocaust.

it rides absolutely beautifully and looks lovely. however, i do have a couple of track bikes as well, so don't feel any sense of lust or envy when i see a gorgeous frame at the lights.

why do you feel like there's a need for one with track ends? just ride. dont worry too much bout how you look or what others think. if you're tight then to hell with hipsteria

But if you need that label of having a "track bike," then make the purchase.

I actually think you're spot on there - and is probably exactly the same thing my missus would say to me. If I'm completely honest, the track ends bit probably isn't the be-all and end-all, but the idea of it is nice...

Funnily enough, I do have a Holdsworth with horizontal ends I was planning on building into a geared bike (I have a shed full of new Campag Veloce that's just dying to be put to good use), and it's actually the right size for me, it's just the thought of the puppies...

In the end, I do need a new frame - the Raleigh's just too big, and the bottom bracket is too low for anything tighter than a long, sweeping bend, but it seems the consensus is to just keep an eye out for something - anything - that can be converted that's the right size. I'll keep an eye open on the 'Bay - or failing that, there's a nice Peugeot down at the dump that I might just have to pick up...

what dump?

what dump?

It's outside London, but is sometimes worth a trip - lots of '80s and '90s stuff that's been cleared out of garages. I'd have to go back for a closer look though - I get a feeling it was quite small, probably around a 54cm, but then it could be worth a squirt. There's a Dawes touring bike there too...

Of course, I'd be more than happy to pick it up if anyone here's interested.

i'm currently up to 4 bikes, with two more on the way, one frame being sent and one to pick up from DT and hops' house. .

so probably not a good idea.

I will like to have the peugeot, for the sound cpuld be a nice summer project, mooks can you hook me up on this one?

why do you feel like there's a need for one with track ends? just ride. dont worry too much bout how you look or what others think. if you're tight then to hell with hipsteria

I ride an old road conversion, which I like a lot. But I can't flip the wheel with the horizontal drop-outs: either the chain isn't long enough on the larger cog, or I put in another link and there's not enough room to get the tension right on a smaller cog. Perhaps I could change my chainwheel, but I suspect I'd end up with the same problem again.

So I'd like a frame with track-ends. But to be honest I'm waiting for the Apocalypse so that I can get one at a reasonable price. I'm not in that much of a hurry.

I will like to have the peugeot, for the sound cpuld be a nice summer project, mooks can you hook me up on this one?

I'll do my best - I should be able to get down and have a look over the next week or so. If it's there, I'll pick it up and post some photos. They do sometimes charge, but it's unlikely to be any more than £15-20.

where is this place, exactly? if you don't mind.....

But to be honest I'm waiting for the Apocalypse so that I can get one at a reasonable price. I'm not in that much of a hurry.

It's coming, trust me.
Some guy recently told me he'd given up riding his 'fixie' because it wasn't cool anymore.

Looking back on it I should have offered him a tenner for the bike....

really?

so he'd started riding it because he thought it "cool" ?

wow.

still, nothing surprises me any more, people have just voted Boris fuckwit as mayor of London.
maybe Russell Brand will be prime minister by 2015.

I think I'll go live in a cave somewhere on a deserted island

where is this place, exactly? if you don't mind.....

It's in Aylesbury - Buckinghamshire. Hope I haven't painted it as some magical fixed wheel wonderland, with frames hanging on trees from their horizontal dropouts, but it's always good to go to a place where they haven't got wind of the fixed wheel 'craze' that's going on, and get bikes for their actual price...

As for the apocalypse... It was bound to happen sooner or later. I remember when it happened with skate and BMX - twice. I hate to sound like some fixed wheel warrior, but I knew the moment I got on my Raleigh, as low as the bottom bracket and big as the frame was, that I'd be doing this regardless of whether it was seen to be cool or not. The thing that worries me is the way prices will be affected once the kids have had their fun. We might have a golden age of being able to get frames and parts for stupidly cheap, but when that dries up, who knows...

Hi there - long time lurker, first time poster yada yada yada...

I've been riding a converted '90s Raleigh for about 8 months now. It was never an ideal frame - 60cm when 56-58cm would have been more appropriate - but I wanted something cheap I could build up and see if I had a taste for riding fixed or if it was just a passing fancy.

Well, I'm still here, and still riding. Now I want to sort myself out with a proper fixed - the right size and with track ends, but I have a dilemma - hopefully you can help.

Looking around (eBay, here, LBS, council dump etc...) I have a choice - either buy a track frame or stick with the converted road frame approach. Most of the track frames I've seen are stupidly expensive, unless you go down the Ribble/Dolan route and deal with the associated quality control issues. Either that, or I could get hold of a Fuji or Surly or something similar, but again, cost is an issue - I'm not that keen on spending £300 on a frame that, let's be honest, could be knobbled at any time.

The most interesting option for me seems to be buying a cheap/vintage road frame and sending it away to get track ends fitted. I'm guessing that the road geometry would be better suited to general thrashing about town. I don't know if I could deal with the guilt of killing all those puppies by converting an old Holdsworth, Mercian or Witcomb like that, but it looks like it would work out as being cheaper.

In brief, I just want to know what would be the better option - bite the bullet and spend a few hundred on a proper frame, get a half decent vintage frame and get the ends swapped, or forget about the track ends and just get a decent vintage and run it with the original dropouts?

Apologies if this comes across sounding confused - that's probably because it is, but hopefully you can see what I'm getting at. Appreciate any help.

Just f*ing search you c
;-)

just F*ing Search You C
;-)

Your Mum!!!