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Budget? Intended usage? Otherwise theres way too many options...

buddha: this might be a good option, depending on how 'used' it is:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-CAMPAGNOLO-PISTA-TRACK-RACE-BOTTOM-BRACKET-68SS_W0QQitemZ110183120277QQihZ001QQcategoryZ56197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

He doesn't specify axle length so you'll need to check.

The switch to singlespeed is easy and the only tricky thing is getting the gearing right (sames true of fixed as well).

However, going fixed, takes a couple of days to build 'muscle memory'. You'll probably have a few buckaroo type moments when you try to coast and the bike reminds you that you can't. Once you're over that hump then you just need to build confidence and handling skills.

Fixed is not for everyone and you may find that you prefer the attributes of a singlespeed/geared bike. However, like a lot of us, once you go fixed, you're not going to look back.

Another good option for trying things out, is to borrow a friends (or a strangers) bike and have a go. Sure someone at bike polo and the like, would allow you to have a quick ride.

jackade - if you're interested in making the singlespeed/fixie switch then first take a bike and try and find a gear (somewhere around 70 gear inches) and don't shift out of it for a day. Gives you some idea of what you're getting into. If you want to make the switch then you need either a flip/flop hub or a fixed/fixed hub. Put a lowish fixie gear on one side and a freewheel on the other side. Ride with the singlespeed for a bit to get comfortable with the frame and then, find some quiet streets, flip the wheel and try out the fixed gear side. Get used to the fixie feeling until your legs 'remember' to keep pedaling. And then my son, you're ready... :)

If you want to know pros/cons and more details, go and read Sheldon Brown, Fixed 101 or the Puma book:
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html
http://www.63xc.com/gregg/101_1.htm
http://staufenberger.typepad.com/repository/PumaFixedGear101.pdf

Brakeless is really for the foolhardy/skilled (see the 1000s of threads out there on the pros/cons). Seen a lot of newbies trying to copy that messenger steez without realising how hard it is to stop a rotating wheel. Theres an awful of force required. My advice to anyone thinking of the brakeless route is to practice like hell, with a low gearing, until you skid and skip with both feet with confidence. Then leave the front brake on your bike and only remove it, if you feel inclined, when its dusty and untouched for months.

Reusing the cranks depends a lot on your current set-up. If its a cottered retro raleigh crankset (ie theres a visible cotter pin on the crankarms) then you're probably best replacing the cranks as cottered cranks kind of suck on fixies.

Basically, you need to work out what your chainline is and replace components according ie what rear hub are you using? what chainline does it give? How close to that chainline can you get with the current cranks (consider moving chainrings onto the inside of the crankarms etc)?

Have you read any of the Sheldon Brown fixie conversion articles? If not they'll really help clarify what questions you need to ask.

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-to-fixed-conversion.html

If you're stuck still, post some pictures of your bike as its much easier to give advice when folks can see whats going on.

You can do it but its going to be a bit of a pain. You have to do a little math to work out the spoke lengths following the general principles set out here:
http://sheldonbrown.com/mismatch/

Lacing to a 36h rim is probably best as you'll only have to skip two holes on each flange, but figuring out a strong lacing pattern is probably going to take a little trial and error.

Find early mornings the best time to use the track as most of the ball games don't start until 10am at least.

As Elvis said, Preston Park does indeed have a 'serious' track league but they do make decent effort to encourage beginners. At the beginning of the season (March/April) they have a few intro to track sessions which are a good way to get some experience with the track. Sadly there are no organised training sessions for the track, but you can get to Herne Hill quite easily on sats if you're serious.

During the racing season, they guarantee you 6 (I think) races every wedsneday night and often you're racing just in your category so you can actually have some competitive races. They do have national champions (youth, masters etc) racing down there on some nights, so the standard can be quite high (even for such an exposed track with an uphill back straight and no real banking). However, everyone on the whole is really friendly and theres a really nice tea lady as well, for when you've had enough.

'bout the only downside to the whole thing, is that up to now they haven't been part of British Cycling's "Go Race" initiative which is all about bringing more beginners into the sport - so you can't race on a Bronze licence, you have to the more expensive silver licence. But you I think you can buy just a day licence if you just want to turn up and ride.

Look out for posters announcing the new track season in the beginning of next year, if you're interested.

Nice article here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/tra/EventReports2007/20070502_Preston_Park.asp

The good thing about the Flites are the frames, which are decent, solid and fun (they did use to also come with Sugino 75 cranks as well which was a really good deal). If you want a no frills but nice handling bike then the Flites are really decent. You can just buy the frames on their own for about 150 quid, which gives you some idea of what they're worth:

http://www.spicercycles.com/index.cgi?cat=22&sub_cat=Track%20Frames-Standard%20Steel&prod_id=516&cat_desc=Track

(Could be wrong - but I was always told the cheapo Spicer frames are the same as the Flite frames).

I'd double check that the maillard hubs are not french threaded before parting any cash for it.

Miche is ISO taper so a replacement would be a Sugino 75 BB, Campagnolo, Phil Wood, TA etc. Shimano are all JIS so won't work well.

When I was looking for cheap Campy BBs, GB Cycles had quite a few for cheap:
http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=subdept&wce=125

Just to give you some options

Ripley is in Surrey. Also decent bike jumbles at Thornwood (outside of Epping).

CampyOldy has a fairly decent list of bike jumbles:
http://www.campyoldy.co.uk/events.htm

Another rec for a Shimano 105 dual caliper. Cheap, reliable, very easy to dial in and with all the stopping power you should need.

Generally any dual caliper brake should stop you more than adequately. If you're having problems, check your cable tension, current brake pads and rim condition. Over time you'll get the road 'glaze' building up which reduces the brakes effectiveness. Clean your rim and pads every now and then and you should be laughing.

You can also upgrade the pads to wet weather ones if you want, which can help during the winter months.

I bet you he just called up UPS. Thats about their price-point if you walk into their stores with a bike. I know, I once tried to ship a complete bike from the US to the UK and it was so bloody hard to find someone who could do it for a reasonable amount. Even dragged my boxed bike down to a post-office after being told on the phone that it would be ok, only to be denied at the counter... that was a fun day.

Best bet is to find a friendly freight forwarder or freight specialist, but thats probably much more grief than your seller wants to deal with. Another suggestion would be to get him to split it into a wheels and separate frame package - may get the packages' size under the minimum for USPS and then at least it can go out via ship (4-6 weeks).

Good luck.

Some interesting and not so interesting bike mods here. I'm a big fan of this one, would be great when you've got the bizzies on your tail :)

See http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_bike_hacks?slide=1

Cool - Thanks Mr Smith. The instructions with these pedals say they are not servicable which I thought was weird.

I'm a little gutted that I killed the bearings so soon, I wonder if the little plastic bodies aren't up to skidding?

NO NO NOT SHIMANO

75s have an ISO taper according to Sugino. Shimano are JIS.

Try a cheap Campy ACH BB (111mm) or similar. Phil wood make a very nice 110mm ISO BB as well. Or a Miche or similar. See here for suggestions:
http://www.londonfgss.com/discussion/2116/

Or one of the 100s of threads over on bikeforums.net:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=345962&highlight=sugino+ISO+JIS
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=290531&highlight=sugino+ISO+JIS etc

Currently I'm using a cheap Campy symmetric 111mm sealed BB. Works a treat.

I was given some of these:

The main problem is now that the right-hand pedal seems to have a little play in it as well as creaking after about 4 months of abuse. Before I try and work out how to `service' them, I just wondered if anyone had any experience working on these? Its driving me mad.

If you want to do this on the cheap, have you considered just building a single speed? That way you wouldn't have to replace the rear hub at all, could use the old derailuer as a chain tensioner (if you can't find a magic gear) and would probably only need to spring for: new chainring bolts (or some washers to space the old ones out) and spacers for the rear cassette (and maybe a cog).

You could then spend some time saving/searching up for a cheap wheel while having a very clear idea of what was needed to make this bike fixed.

Just a thought.

Pitlock do do locking track nuts as well:
http://pitlock.de/en/onlineshop/indexshop.html?solid_axles_rohloff_sets_and_parts.htm

Probably wouldn't trust them on the rear if I skidded/skipped a lot.

Yeah, if you have a symmetric Campy BB (such as some of the ACH ones or the Pista bb), your cranks will sit 1mm further out on either side. As most cogs+hubs tend to not give you a perfect 42mm chainline anyway, I seriously doubt you'll notice the difference.

111mm is worth considering just because its quite hard to find 109mm ISO BBs these days (and the prices can vary wildly).

I would personally buy a cheap ACH Campy 111mm BB (or similar), use that in the meantime and then sort out either:

1) A NOS 109 Campy pista bb

2) A Sugino 75 BB (109mm allegedly ISO but I'm still not 100% confidence thats its truly an ISO taper)

3) Phil wood - make a very nice 110mm adjustable ISO BB, which you could dial in perfectly

4) Royce BB - can make you a custom BB in almost any length taper

5) TA Axis BB, which I believe are ISO taper and come in a 110mm length.

No never missed 'em. In fact when I did run standard road brakes on drops on a fixie, way back in the day, I found they just got in the way of where I wanted my hands to be.

I'm really digging the crowsfoot wheel I built for my lady. It looks really good and has been tested on a number of massive potholes already. The only downside to crowsfoot seems to be that it only works on certain spoke counts. However, hybrid crowsfoot also looks good for the in-between spoke counts.

Try searching for David K's pictures of his hybrid crowsfeet wheels, they look really good.

110mm is the old NJS standard, so you can find a few Japanese hubs in this width (DA, Suzue etc). Phil wood also makes 110mm adapator kit for any Phil hub.

This might also explain why you think the frame dropouts might be an issue. If its built like an older NJS frame then they're designed for slotted axles. Its quite easy to either mod the frame or the axle.

Holdsworthy Still on the look for a cheap wheelset.. what do you make of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150170523388&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:uk

They're ok. Decent entry wheels but shipping+taxes from the US will probably hurt.

What crankset is for? Older campy pista stuff needs a 109 mm bb and newer stuff is 111mm.

On my old bike, with a 70s Campy crank and the same spec as yours, I ran a BB stamped 68-P-120 (P indicates pista and 120 indicates the suggested width of the rear). You could probably get away with a 68-P-110 in there.

However, pretty much any symetric 111mm Campy BB will also work for either cranksets. It really won't make any difference with your chainline esp as most cogs tend to push the chain out to 43mm anyway.