My First Fixed (British steel budget)

Never documented a build before so hopefully this will read and look nice.
Before anyone gives me flack for my gear ratio, I had never riden fixed
before and I rarely cycle on flat ground.

Standard British steel racing frame conversion; a winter project on a shoestring budget.

Bought the frame for a £1 - Dings in top tube, hashed repainted forks, no bearings and chrome was pitted.

Removed the decals, filled the tube dings and sanded down, covered with tape as three stripes (temporary measure until better sticker presents itself)
Painted lugs detail in silver to try and rejuvenate the frame.

Sugino crankset and unsealed shimano BB. Flipped the spindle but still had to mount the chainring inside for useable chainline. Looks cool though.

Wheelset was a near NOS maillard 27" standard chrome pair, relaced onto a sturmey single fixed hub with 16t sprocket. Tyres are also near NOS standard Raleigh racing 1 1/4" gum wall linear tread.

Forks were a total mess so before I thought it through I stripped them with a heat gun and resulted in this

Thought I had ruined them and would have to buy a chrome threaded replacement but I took out a sander and went from 60 to 240 grit removing the messy primer streaks and ended up with a brushed steel look for most of the fork

Greased some bearings and setup the headset. Had a mock up

Rummaged for some matching parts and decided on a turbo gel seat as I like their profile. Bought some ally track bullhorn bars which as if by magic had a finish resembling my sanded forks. Dug out a quill stem and seat post that were unpolished to match. Bought a singlespeed chain - £20 overall and put some dusty parts to use, a good weekend - Voila -

Nicely done! £20 :)
So how does she ride?

Nice work!

Well done conquistador. You have given us a timely lesson in how to achieve a great deal with very little. This is a pleasure to follow.

oh yeah ! what are the tyres please?

Nice, I thought I was doing well with a £40 frames etc (with bars and stem) and £15 wheelset. Nice looking budget effort.

Very nice build for the budget! Well done

So how does she ride?

Better than I do, went over the bars trying to lengthen my skid. Bike unscathed. Nice and nimble in corners, I like the seat tube angle, allows good power transfer with my riding position.

Bike unscathed.

Happy to hear that :)

This is a fantastic contrast to many other Current Projects builds & very resourceful. A bike is a bike and it goes.

Love this.
Great effort mate.

You've inspired me to rustle up a grocery getter type bike.

Ultimate beater, love it!

Chapeau!

Posted here.

Really nice job considering the budget.