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@Professor_Tim
OK folks, first post, so I have to post on an existing thread. Like the site - SO much information if you sift a while. And I am like the OP, looking for some similar advice but which doesn't seem to be said elsewhere...
In my case, I have a BFO old Raleigh I want to turn into a single-speed. Reasons for thinking of doing this are that it needs lots of work anyway, so if I'm going to replace much of the bike, why not convert to s/s while I'm at it, because I'd like to try s/s riding. It was an old bike that came to me for free, the gear cable snapped a while back, so I just took it as an excuse to ride everywhere in top gear and I get on fine with that. So an s/s conversion seems to make sense. Plus I have other bikes to ride, if I want transport in the mean time.
Now Raleigh may not be da schizzle when it comes to frames but it stands 34" high at the crossbar and is equally long from seat to handlebars. I'm 6'1 but I have a really long back and long arms (just ikkle 32" legs), so in terms of frame geometry, I kind of need a frame size that's more for someone about 6'4-ish but with the saddle down a bit, so I like riding this one. It's also an American Raleigh, made from "Reynolds 501 all terrain frame tubes" which I am told are much better steel than the British counterparts. I'm not fussed about the weight of the frame - I weigh nearly 16 stone, so a few grammes here and there is making no difference. And it's not like I'm doing time-trials or anything, this is just for getting around town. Oh and it has a forward-facing horizontal dropout for the rear wheel too.
So if I want to do this conversion, I guess I'm looking at a flip-flop hub, buying good 2nd-hand bits from folk off here seems to be good advice and I have the time to fiddle to get the bike up to scratch because I have other bikes. I'm also pretty mechanically minded, I just never put too much of it into bikes before, so this'll be a good learning experience for me.
BUT...
I know people seem to use smaller frames for single-speed and fixed-wheel particularly. However, I can't seem to find anywhere that discusses WHY you use a small frame and whether it is a necessity for some reason. Am I being a madman for wanting to convert this bike to s/s..?