Apollo Plateau fixed gear bodge bike build

Bought an Apollo Plateau gas pipe mountain bike frame from FB marketplace for £5, with the plan to turn it into a fat tyre fixed gear bike, with aid of a disc cog that's been dormant in my spares drawer.

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Initial progress: found some cheap wheels, got a seatpost and a saddle. Crankset and pedals on the way. Still haven't decided on handlebars. Someone suggested Bullmoose, though that might cost more than the rest of the bike put together.

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Enjoying how low grade this is. It’s the kind of build that’s within my skills and budget.

Very good. I need a frame exactly like this for my wheelset.

Got a rhs brake lever you can have for free for this if you want

Budget builds rule.

I've gone for some Raleigh North Road handlebars, mounted upside down for the “poor man's Salsa Woodchipper” look.

Might flip them the right way up again depending on the fit. Grips are temporary

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Oops

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Ah…

Was able to fish it out relatively easily with some pliers. I guess old bolts aren't worth reusing

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Bit of a delay as my pedals and crankset got stuck in the post. Finally assembled into a “rideable” form. Tested it round the car park and managed not to fall off

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That crankset looks proper death! Otherwise rad, proper cafe racer vibes!

Almost surely the worst crankset that money can buy! £18 new

£18 more than you should have spent!
Be super careful with those. The chainrings may very easily fold on you while you're riding which believe me, can be a pretty nasty crash.

Noted. Will treat it as a placeholder until I get my hands on a better quality used one

How is it riding fixed on a QR axle?
Any slippage?

They are enclosed-cam skewers, tightened right down. I've marked their current position with a Sharpie to see if they move at all. No slippage yet.

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I like shiny bikes but this is fucking awesome.

What is the most valuable component on this bike? The bolt on sprocket, the clipless pedals.

The pedals and the saddle are tied for first place at £30.

More testing (in a traffic-free environment). No issues so far, except wet feet. Handlebars feel good. Tyres (that came with the wheels) are slow and noisy on tarmac, as you'd expect

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Obvious trouser appreciation post.

Bike’s awesome too

This is my first fixed-gear bike and I am enjoying it so far.

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Fixed-gear gravel. Everybody should get one of these

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Cool Fred Dibnah-spec chimney. Whereabouts is that?

I don’t think the chainset is scaring me as much as the others. It might be because BITD I did a race on one of those ultra-cheap Mighty chainsets and didn’t die. I don’t think you’ll do a kersplosion in a ball of fire. I’m loving the fake chainring bolts though!

ID on the tartan gravel trousers?