Looking for some advice...

Hey all, I've been lurking for a while - mostly reading - and decided to finally make a thread, firstly, to introduce moi-self, but mainly to clear up a few queries and get some general advice.

;o

I'm 20, a student, really enjoy what little experience I've had of cycling in my YOUTH-youth and on a geared roadie that I've been riding about London, since moving up from Brighton. I'm not ashamed to admit I know little, or rather, have very fragmentary knowledge of the build-up, or the geometrical make-up of frames and so on... and probably am a little more comfortable with riding than I am talking about riding.

I've searched around the forums and learnt a fair bit from sheldon brown's site so I know some basics, most importantly I know how some people have been riding consistently for hours, day-in, day-out, for more years than my entire life can account for. The way I see it is that people ride for different reasons like couriering, racing, training, poloing, touring, down to pretending to drive an 'air-bike' around your living room when you were 6 years-old (massive insightful tangent), and some people know more whereas others know little, and possibly even little about them knowing little, which is a phase of progression all pass through.

Since getting more and more into cycling and trying out a couple of friends FG builds, I'm beginning to feel ready to try and go for an upgrade from the 59cm, tubular tyre'd monster which I currently claim as my steed, which is also a little bit sore under the hoofs, and has just been a temp ride for me.

Although I couldn't think of a better way to better acquaint myself with the experience and enjoyment I read comes from building your own first road FG or flip-flop, there are too many signs hinting at a bottomless pit conversion, costing me time, money, and beer, that I cannot or will not (in the case of the latter) squander. Dub me a thirsty spendthrift if you will.

What sort of price range should I expect, having my lack of expertise, in either getting a simple/standard first fixed-gear bike off the peg, or in building or altering one through the help of others, and if so what frame should I be aiming for etc. I like to make my money count, and although I can respect that business has to turn a profit I'm not really willing to go blowing a bundle of cash on a poorly made, dangerous or uncomfortable ride without researching or at least asking for some advice of those who already know better. I'd like to stick as close to/or as less than £300 as possible, at least in starting out.

Advice, pointers, ideas, constructive comments and I'm all up for those of you who wish to flame, but at least make it relevant; unguided wit is like a drill to the eardrum. All will be appreciated. Sorry for the ramble, hope St. Paddy is nice and prosperous to yo' bellies,

Si

I've heard that you can't go wrong with a Charge bike...

Welcome to the forums.

Converting a bike to fixed gear doesn't have to be a bottomless pit, it depends on what you start with and wether you feel you *need *to have lots of shiny components or can make do with what came with the bike. In theory you could start with an old 10 speed bike and replace the back wheel and leave it at that. If the bike is complete and in a rideable condition you'll have everything else you need.

My bike is an old 10 speed rescued from rusting in a garden. I replaced everything except the frame, fork, BB, seatpost, stem and headset, mostly from 2nd hand parts and spent less than £200. If you start with a bike in good enough condition you can easily do it for less than that.

for £300 I would either go for a fuji track or try to build up from scratch. But the latter takes a lot longer. You will need to hunt ebay/forum for frames then source parts. Most will have to be second hand to fit into your budget-which isnt necessarily a bad thing. I think after budget, time is your second decisive constraint.

PM Paul Michel, he has all the answers.

On a more serious note search for OTP, all depends how much cash you want/have to spend.

What a charming post.
remember + £40-110 for locks.

I agree with both Booga and Aleksi. Get yourself a road worthy old racer (i plucked my old 80's beast from a car boot for 18 sheets and swear it had never been ridden-there are plenty of old racers out there) strip the unwanted linkage and larger crank get and heavy duty chain, a new back wheel with a fixed sproket and away you go. The fun part is researching what components you want and digging for them. In a few months time you will have a unique ride for a couple/few hundred quid and you get to enjoy all stages of development. By the end you learn a thing or two and will have the build bug! Roll on bike number two...

I've searched around the forums and learnt a fair bit from sheldon brown's site so I know some basics

What sort of price range should I expect, having my lack of expertise, in either getting a simple/standard first fixed-gear bike off the peg, or in building or altering one through the help of others, and if so what frame should I be aiming for etc. I like to make my money count, and although I can respect that business has to turn a profit I'm not really willing to go blowing a bundle of cash on a poorly made, dangerous or uncomfortable ride without researching or at least asking for some advice of those who already know better. I'd like to stick as close to/or as less than £300 as possible, at least in starting out.
Si

First there's the OTP option, if you go that route a Fuji Track would be suitable for your price range. A bit dull though, especially if you think you might enjoy the build.

Well, first off do you know how to lace/true a wheel? Or would you be comfortable learning? If you're looking to convert then look for a bike with a decent frame to start with, 531 or similar. What you will then need to do is:

1. Get a fixed hub for the rear (unless you fancy chancing it without a lockring).

2. Lace up that hub and true the rear wheel, you'll prob want to buy new spokes and a new rim too, although if you're on a budget you could use the same rim if it has the right number of holes for the hub.

3. Get some short stack bolts, take off the outer chainrings.

4. Whack a fixed cog on your new rear wheel.

5. Get the chainline right. You have two things to play with - spacers on the front for the chainring and the spacing on the back. Unless someone else does it, you will need a chain tool and cone spanners.

6. Get the tension right. You did get a frame with horizontal dropouts didn't you? Also make sure if buying second-hand that the chainring/spider are connected with proper stack bolts, not rivited as on some cheaper models. You need proper stack bolts to get the tension roughly even all the way around. If you're running ss it's not so much of an issue, for fg it is.

That's the basics, it doesn't have to be a money pit but it depends on how much you are willing or able to do yourself. In terms of cash I would say (with nothing fancy) roughly:

Bike to convert £100 - £150.
Rear hub £30 - £60.
Rear rim, spokes, cog. - £60.

So you are looking at about £250, but if you have no tools or can't do it yourself it will be more. Plus you'll prob want a new chain while you are at it. if you don't own a spoke wrench, cone spanners or chain tool either then we are closer to £300.

Personally I think building up your own is far more rewarding, depends on how confident you are really. If money is really tight then an OTP does at least give an upfront cost. It shouldn't be a money pit and certainly not unsafe if you find a nice bike to start and do it right, just depends on how much time and effort you are willing to spend on it.

A bike to convert can cost a LOTS less than £100-150.

it could range from free to £50 easily if you know where to look, especially if you ask relative and friends if they have any old bike in the shed.

a complete rear wheel cos £75-100 OTP, and you're sorted (once you get the small stuff sorted, i.e. chain).

Looking for some advice.... on how to title threads.

The only advice I would give is this: only buy second hand parts, you'll inevitably buy the wrong size this or that, or your BB and chainring won't give you the correct chainline or you one thing wont be compatible with another. If you buy second hand you can sell it on with little or now loss. Just don't saw or force anything until you are 315% sure it needs it.

When you saw "tubular tyred" do you mean clincher tyred?

Oh, and don't contribute to the my little pony phenomenon of fixed gear bikes... just make the fastest bike you can and forget about "aethetics".

PPphhheaaaaccceeee

A bike to convert can cost a LOTS less than £100-150.

it could range from free to £50 easily if you know where to look, especially if you ask relative and friends if they have any old bike in the shed.

a complete rear wheel cos £75-100 OTP, and you're sorted (once you get the small stuff sorted, i.e. chain).

Agreed, put the word out that you're after an old racer, loads of people will have something in the shed that will sit there until they hear of someone who wants to re-home one. Check on freecycle.org as well.

To give you an idea of how much a conversion could cost here's a run down of mine:

Old Townsend 10 speed (don't laugh!): Free from a neighbours garden.
Brand new fixed rear wheel: £100, check on here for cheaper 2nd hand ones.
2nd hand tyres, tubes and front wheel: £30 from this forum.
Grips and brake cable: £10 from Evans
Brake lever: £5 from ebay.
Chain: £6 from ebay.

All the other bits and bobs I either had lying around already in my shed or was kindly donated from the pile of bits my mate at the local bike shop has.

I'm not ashamed to admit I know little, or rather, have very fragmentary knowledge of the build-up, or the geometrical make-up of frames and so on... and probably am a little more comfortable with riding than I am talking about riding.

Given this^. I would suggest getting an OTP (see Ga2G's thread for all your options) to start with.

a) you will likely have a flip-flop hub to try fixed or SS if more comfortable.

b) stuff will break or wear out (or you will fancy a change) over time and you can build up your mech knowledge and tool collection gradually.
Depending on your energy, inclination and cash money, you will sooner or later have plenty of spare parts and will know pretty much how to build yourself a bike.

For £300 I would go for a new or second hand OTP. Converting / building your own can get a little frustrating if you're mechanically inexperienced .

i know loads of advice. what you after?

i know loads of ad vice. what you after?

Duffy and Diet Coke?

I just added up the total cost of my first ss/fixie build and it comes to the grand total for everything inc. tyres & painting etc is £ 491.50. I could have spent less but wanted to get it finished (is it ever?) as quick as possible as the primal urge to ride it was just too damn strong. I also wanted it to be looking its best. Paint was £66 on its own, I could have stuck with cheaper stem & bars and a cheaper back wheel, probably saving easily another £50-60. I couldn't use very much off of the bike that came with it apart from the headset, frame & forks - meaning I had to buy everything else.

The best piece of advice I could give is to unlike me to buy a complete secondhand bike, like an old racer. There's plenty of unloved & barely used ones out there gathering dust in someones shed. You may find one that's already converted. Best to pay a little extra for decent quality (future proof) and resonable working order so you can re-use a bunch of the old parts to get you mobile.

A bike to convert can cost a LOTS less than £100-150.

it could range from free to £50 easily if you know where to look, especially if you ask relative and friends if they have any old bike in the shed.

a complete rear wheel cos £75-100 OTP, and you're sorted (once you get the small stuff sorted, i.e. chain).

You're right, it could cost a lot less. I was thinking more along the lines of a cheap 531 steed or similar - whatever would be the best available within budget. I did neglect to mention the OTP option for the rear wheel too... but building wheels is fun!!! :)

I just added up the total cost of my first ss/fixie build and it comes to the grand total for everything inc. tyres & painting etc is £ 491.50.

Strangely enough, mine just came out at £560. But the weather's nice and I'm loving the weird, barely-remembered feeling of riding fixed.

Just weighed it: 19lb. Lighter than a Fuji Track, Condor Tempo, Steamroller or Langster and much lighter than a Plug.

Pix to follow. Thanks to all the many LFGSS folk who sold me parts.

I'd say patience is the secret to doing your own build. This took me since November but I am pretty skint and do have other bikes to ride. And it's a beaut!

First off welcome and how do.

i would recommend building up a conversion or if your lucky to get a cheeeep track frame, as building up the bike you learn the nuts and bolts of the bike so as you up grade you can put stuff on your self but more importantly if it breaks you have a good idea of how to fix it and eliminate problems, so if you do take it to your LBS you can expalin whats wrong rather than just turning up and saying "its broke please fix it"

what ever you choose enjoy the ride :)

Im sure you have seen that this site is gold mine oftechnical Info when you search through.

do a conversion, DO IT NOW

Hang about here - people are often selling full complete bikes on the forum; theres a couple going right now in the classifieds' thread.

Strangely enough, mine just came out at £560. But the weather's nice and I'm loving the weird, barely-remembered feeling of riding fixed.

Just weighed it: 19lb. Lighter than a Fuji Track, Condor Tempo, Steamroller or Langster and much lighter than a Plug.

huh? I thought the Langster is lighter than 19lb (it is alu after all).

huh? I thought the Langster is lighter than 19lb (it is alu after all).

Apparently Langster is 21.38lb with brakes, freewheel + 28mm rear. Pretty damn heavy for an ali bike...

Oh and a 59cm OTP Pista is 19lb. No idea why the Langster is so heavy...

Firstly, as someone getting into cycling ask yourself if you really want to ride fixed. Why does it appeal? I'm 38 and only started riding fixed last year, despite having first joined a cycling club when I was 14. My decision was based on wanting to have a bike with minimum maintenance, and which made me focus on riding.

OK, so you do want to ride fixed. Why not attend one of the beers sessions and speak to some people directly?

Consider your options - £300 is (to my mind) a tricky budget. It's not really enough to get an OTP bike, and buying a bike to convert can be an almost bottomless pit. I'd go for something second hand, that has been ridden and you know is reliable.

Lastly, whatever you do, be happy making that choice. I bought a Langster despite reading that they were the devils own machine. I then discovered that quite a few people on here had owned a Langster. It's now gone and I've bought a different bike, but I don't regret having owned it.

Whatever you decide - good luck...