Should a fixie have 700c wheels or 26 inch

Well currently building a fixie with an old mountain bike frame and was wondering shall I go with 26inch wheels or 700c wheels.

which would suit it better in your opinion.

724 mm

dude.. at least put your query in the right section of the forum.. this time last year you'd have got lambasted for this kind of post, these days everyone's just suffering from indignancy fatigue. if you put this in 'mechanics and fixin'' you get a whole different bunch of people looking at your query. in the general threads you'll just get people taking the piss and hi-fiving each other like when the dumb kid at school rocks up with clompy shoes.

if your frame can be experimented with in terms of wheel size then build what you like, you'll soon find out if your ideas work for you. and props to you for building rather than pointing at something and saying me want and throwing nine hundred quid at it.

My mountain bike is so heavy compared to the road frame, that I wouldn't bother to convert it to a single speed, just to sweat with a fixed ratio. I don't know. Sit down with a measuring tape and see for yourself what would suit better.

I asking for peoples opinions not can it be done.

Then my opinion is buy a 20 years old Raleigh for £70. As for your frame, only you know it's size and geometry and what would be better. What do you need this bike for? Off road? If road, go for 700c. Why don't you get a new frame and leave the mountain bike how it is?

Well 501 frame ;) with 120 spacing.

I'm torn really trying to see what really suits the fixie. Hve been running around recently on my hercules 3 speed bike and it feels more comfortable than the 700c (700cx 23) aluminium road bike. So gave me the idea of running a fixie on 26inch road slicks or using 26 x 1 5/8 tyres.

you mean 28?

It depends on your budget. As you have to get new wheels and a chainset, perhaps you can cough up for an old frame and have the best of two world - one for the road and one for the weekend fun in the wilderness? Once you decide what you need, people here will help you - even they like to play hard to get. I've found out everything I needed on this very forum.

No 26 old 3 speed.

and where does that put your bb shell?

how do you feel about pedal strike?

Think about wether the brake pads will still be able to touch the rims if you change wheel size, this will depend on how much reach and adjustability your brakes have.

and where does that put your bb shell?

how do you feel about pedal strike?

With the 26 as its a mountain bike frame it should be fine.

Well I'm going for the 26inch with road slicks. Now to build the wheels.

You will need to swap the fork or do some bodging or buy this or ride brakeless. Some long reach caliper might reach depending on your fork.

If you put 700c wheels in a mtb frame you will have more b.b height (maybe good, up to a point) and you will effect the trail. You will increase the trail. This will be equivalent to having less fork offset, so the handling will be quicker, prob a good thing for road. You will also have wheels which run better over bumps as a 26" mtb wheel with a narrow road tyre actually ends up with a diamiter closer to 24".

Personally I'd go with 700c wheels but would buy the brake adapter I posted above or tyr a long reach caliper.

also your Hurules is not the same 26" as mtb 26". Your Hurcules is probably 597 mm ISO where as mtb 559 mm ISO. Remember if you have 700c wheel no one says you have to put 23 mm tyres on there. If you want more bounce put some 28 mm or even 32 mm tyres on.

I have a mtb frame with 700c wheels, a normal reach road caliper brake fits fine on the front but a long reach is required for the rear. Can't say for sure that it will be te same for you though.

also your Hurules is not the same 26" as mtb 26". Your Hurcules is probably 597 mm ISO where as mtb 559 mm ISO. Remember if you have 700c wheel no one says you have to put 23 mm tyres on there. If you want more bounce put some 28 mm or even 32 mm tyres on.

Its not the hercules, that is being left as it is. That is my practice for a single speed. Even though the frame is a little small for me.

I have a mtb frame with 700c wheels, a normal reach road caliper brake fits fine on the front but a long reach is required for the rear. Can't say for sure that it will be te same for you though.

It'll be fixed so no need for a rear brake.

i did a poop in a button hole.Is this okay? x

I would usually say stick to the size of wheels the frame was designed for. However if your BB shell wasn't overly high in the first place, narrow slicks will drop your pedals really low. The difference in radius between normal mtb tyres and 1" slicks is significant. In my experience with one particular frame it was so low I could easily get pedal strike if I didn't concentrate, which wasn't fun. I just got 2" slicks in the end. Also shorter cranks and spds help.

in the general threads you'll just get people taking the piss and hi-fiving each other like when the dumb kid at school rocks up with clompy shoes

Bloody hell this made me laugh

if you put this in 'mechanics and fixin'' you get a whole different bunch of people looking at your query. in the general threads you'll just get people taking the piss and hi-fiving each other like when the dumb kid at school rocks up with clompy shoes.
Ive just learnt someyhing... No wonder i love this section!!!!

Whos got the clompy shoes???

I would usually say stick to the size of wheels the frame was designed for. However if your BB shell wasn't overly high in the first place, narrow slicks will drop your pedals really low. The difference in radius between normal mtb tyres and 1" slicks is significant. In my experience with one particular frame it was so low I could easily get pedal strike if I didn't concentrate, which wasn't fun. I just got 2" slicks in the end. Also shorter cranks and spds help.

700c wheel with 23 mm tyres is about 1.5 mm bigger in diameter bigger than a 26" (559 mm) wheel with a 2.125" tyre on, with a 28 mm tyre it's still only 11 mm bigger in diameter, 5.5 mm higher b.b. Makes a good reason to switch to 700c to keep closer to the original geometry..

Here's a mtb 26" - fixed gear 700c conversion I saw a while back

Well I'll start with 26 wheels and if it goes wrong i'll 700cc it.

I like the look of an slight off road fixed look.