Help me get started...

i was just being an egg

you aren't the first egg and won't be the last.

This place is quite literally full of eggs.

(and nastymen).

Yeah i picked up a book from the library about bike mechanics so im gonna just sit down and soak all the information into my mind. Ive seen Sheldon Browns website but it looks pretty hard to navigate but im sure ill just trawl through it and then practice on my bike and see the outcomes.

The only thing i am concerned about is the specialist tools which are required like the cone spanner, chain breaker and the tool used to get the lock nut off the bottom bracket thing. How do i get these tools and are they expensive?

Serious, Sheldon is all you need unless you are lacing wheels... if so his guide is a start, he also has some cool links to various spoke length calculators and sites on lacing patterns etc.

Cone spanner is probably not needed - if you are buying one of the sealed cartridge type hubs that is. Also you need at least two really, if you value your sanity and have a hub with adjustable cones. A chain breaker is prob worth buying but don't be scared, it's easy. Don't get a cheap one though, cracker from hubjub is great and only 15 squid. As for BB, well if your on a budget prob best just to get a bike that has decent BB and cranks and just concentrate on the rear...

you aren't the first egg and won't be the last.

This place is quite literally full of eggs.

(and nastymen).

That wasn't much of a yolk...
Ovary man in the street could have done better - Benedict, for example...

Keep away from fixie bikes, they will scramble your brains.

My point eggactly. Perhaps someone needs to have a word in his shell-like before his brains become fried or he is poached by another forum.

And drain your wallet of course

Keep away from fixie bikes, they will scramble your brains.

You can get pretty good track hubs at this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/IROCYCLE-32-HOLE-LOW-FLANGE-HUBS-FIXED-FREE-NEW_W0QQitemZ330328474338QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item4ce91c82e2&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1240%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Or go to IroCycles website where they are on sale, these hubs are made by Formula and rebranded as IRO Cycles.

The cheapest cranks and appropriate for a fixie are road cranks with size of 165mm and 110BCD or 130 BCD. See Sheldon Brown's recommendation on that. At eBay USA you can find a Sugino XD with a 46T / 110 BCD for GBP 38.00, in this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/TRACK-FIXED-GEAR-CRANK-SUGINO-XD-W-46T-CHAINRING-165mm_W0QQitemZ230342563787QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item35a17c97cb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1546%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50.

important you need to make sure the frame has horizontal dropouts. otherwise you won't be able to get chain tension right. hope i'm not patronising you. it's not clear what you know

im new aswell , i was given an old raligh road bike and have jus put on a 14t fixed rear driver , i dont have horizontal dropouts and a quick release , will i need a cghain tensioner?

im new aswell , i was given an old raligh road bike and have jus put on a 14t fixed rear driver , i dont have horizontal dropouts and a quick release , will i need a cghain tensioner?

Chain tensioners are a no-no for FG. You could try a half-link but that'll work only if you're lucky. Also try to "magic gear" it - that's not easy tough.

Fixed gear + Chain tensioner = Fail

Fixed gear + Chain tensioner = Fail

Yah, downright impossible and dangerous. Personally I don't even get the need for chain tensioner on SS, just bloody well get the right length chain and move the back wheel. Now the sun is out, it's amazing to see all these guys with chains so slack that I'm actually scared for them.

i dont see how it is soo dangerous? please explain

Just spotted a girl running this setup on Essex road. Her bike was yellow.

Attention to detail mr balki. You missed your calling.

Elementary, my dear Andy.

Evening all, possible redirect in progress here as the new face about town, but where else can I go!!

Needing advice on somewhat of a problematic issue - got hold of a lovely old '91 kona cindercone (http://www.konaretro.com/articles/catalogues/1991/91Inner2.jpg) and with eager intentions of a single speed transplant operation then got my tool kit (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=T0045). Lovely. Or not so lovely as it turned out to my utter dismay. The problem? A full Suntour XC drivetrain stubbornly resisting my futile efforts to get the ruddy 7 speed cassette of the hub, and what's more my supposed do-it-all crank tool, quite frankly, doesn't.

How can I get the cassette off! And secondly, if I even can, will the Suntour hub even accomodate a nice shiny new SS cog (Surly / Wheels Mnf / Gusset....) ?? Any ideas welcomed, tho within reason....

If it absolutely won't budge you'll need to put the tool into a vice and turn the wheel.

Anyway, is the wheel dished? You may have to rebuild cos a casette is a lot wider than a bmx freewheel.

how do, my god a response already! hm, the wheel looks in decent enough fettle to me, the problem is more that the cassette tool just doesn't do it! managed to undo both nuts either side on the actual axle (spindle? whatever it's called) running through the hub, but all that did was, well, just loosen the spindle. did give me a nice look at the bearings within it for what it was worth. I have seen that there particular Suntour specific cassette removal tools with eother 2 or 4 prongs, (Park do em, and a few others) but again can't see where that goes either. Contemplating 2 chain tools to whip off the smallest cog on the cassette???

hang on, it's a bloody freewheel isn't it.... damn damn damn. new wheel, new hub. ah well

Thanks ehren - it certainly seems like the picture on the left. I had heard that on the Suntour sprocket cluster, the smallest cog acts as a lock ring which can be whipped off so as to remove the rest of the cluster - having cleaned the whole lot up though it really doesn't look like that is the case here. I'm still stumped!

i dont see how it is soo dangerous? please explain

unless you mean chain tugs, a chain tensioner will just move on fixed gear because it cannot deal with that much tension.

Howie, try here: http://bicycletutor.com/replace-freewheel/ & http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=48

right, may be getting somewhere close to single speed liberation here.

there certainly seems to be no corresponding notches on the suntour that relate to the advice on the park tool site - which suggests that the unit may well be held on by the smallest cog.. bit loathe to attack it as i don't want to damage it in a double chain whip frenzy tho my thinking now is that if this the case it seems more likely to be a casette, which in turn means i may ave a usable freehub after all on which to screw on an SS cog. here's hoping, tho i might ask an LBS to do the actual deed....