New Member, Find Me A Frame.

Been lurking in the background for a while now and a combination of this forum and the fixed gear gallery has gotten me hooked, so hi to you all.

Anyway, a couple of months ago i bought a Giant road bike (before i discovered fixed or SS) i'm a bit cheesed off at the moment as i could have had one of the Charge bikes for around the same price, i have bought a single speed conversion kit but sadly because of the vertical dropouts i needed a tensioner but it is far to noisey and just doesn't look right, the term " Trying To Polish A Turd" has now sprung to mind.

I now feel that my only option is a new frame and switch most bits over.....Soooo can anyone recommend a frame for around £200 or less so i can get myself out of this FIX,Cheers.

ebay. frames a plenty, for that sort of price too.

I don't know what to look for TBH, plus i'm a short arse 29in leg, and all the 1980s style frames all seem to be 20 inch + frames.

What size is your Giant? That'd be a good starting point.

there's shitloads of small frames on there.

What size is your Giant? That'd be a good starting point.

Frame size 50 cm

The thing i don't get is, my road bike is 50cm, my mountain bike is 16 inches, if you divide 50cm which is 500mm by 1 inch you get 20 inches, no way is my road bike a 20 inch frame, or am i going to look a complete dick here because my calculations are wrong.

different geometry. funny measurements.

So how do i know what size to go for if i was looking for frames form the 70s or 80s.

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Ugh.

20/21 inch frame sounds "about" right.

i reckon on 19" being a 48ish, 21" being around a 54ish, 22.5 being a 57ish, 23 being 59/60ish, 24 being 62+.

these are very rough measurements and guesstimates. have a look at the headtube for a really rough idea - the closer together the welds/lugs of top and downtubes, the smaller the frame, and the rear triangle - it gets more equilateral on smaller frames, the bigger frames look more like an isoceles.

how tall are you?

big frame (24+):

smaller frame (21.5):

Did you measure the MTB yourself, or is what you were told? Could be a different measurement (C to T rather than C to C, although 4" is a shit load of tube).

In any case, go by the size of your road bike if you're buying another road bike for conversion or a track frame (although you can often drop a couple CM with a track frame).

Also: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html

[quote=pj (pj);

how tall are you?[/quote]
5ft 6in, 29in inner seam.

buy the allin above.

ebay search 'allin'.

buy the allin above.

ebay search 'allin'.

Ok, one other thing, i'm prepared to replace things like stems, seat posts, bottom brackets, but would my quick release wheels fit that frame 700c x 26, come to think of it what else might not fit. Cheers for the help BTW.

Seems a shame to dismantle your Giant to use the parts (you'll not be able to use the gears [duh], rear wheel, chain, rear brake, chainset [possibly]). Why not just sell the Giant and buy 2nd hand parts for your fixed/ss build?

yes.

should do. i guess you have road wheels yes? you'd have to redish or change the back wheel. if the spacing on the rear is out, it's probably not by much so you can squeeze out or in.

also if your giant is new it'll most likely have an Ahead whereas older frames tend to have a quill which is fine but you'll need to buy an adaptor.

Seems a shame to dismantle your Giant to use the parts (you'll not be able to use the gears [duh], rear wheel, chain, rear brake, chainset [possibly]). Why not just sell the Giant and buy 2nd hand parts for your fixed/ss build?

keep both bikes. that way you have one geared, one fixed. perfect.

it's a longer project but entirely possible to go from pig (or "hogg") ignorance to workable knowledge in a couple of months - you'll spend less too. Good luck.

@ PJ:
Couldn't agree more. Just depends on money. I was figuring he was swapping parts over to save money.

Just considering my options here, i was looking on Cotic and came across the Roadrat, http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/roadrat
also Brick Lane sells similar frames, would these be a good option.

mike c rides a coltiic rugrat. so does veevee. they like them.

mike also rides a simoncini. much much nicer.

OTP is a very good idea. you can then upgrade your way to enlightenment in a slow and steady fashion.

Track-path frame, £170, auld english (possibly holdsworth):

more/better photos here

PM me if you're interested, selling for a friend, offers accepted.

Comes with headset/cottered BB. All currently in pieces. The headset has a rod-brake mount, so it must be old. I'm guessing '50's?

that frame ^ is 54.5 cm C-T.