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I almost bought open-pros but A319s were cheaper and my frame will take fatter rubber if I decide to change later.

This will tell you everything you need to know:
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php
I went for Mavic A319 rims (36 spoke, and you are limited to >28mm wide rubber) and DT Swiss competition spokes. They are the second pair of wheels I have build and 20st of me hitting potholes and dropping off kerbs has not knocked them out of true yet.

I'm going slow :) (and the oxy kit is a friends, I just go round and borrow it now and again, I have access to TIG too and we have a proper tube bender and notcher at our disposal)

I have the bits to build a fork first, once that is done and I've ridden on it a few months (and I'm confident in my brazes) I'll start on a frame. My plans started as a 29" mountain bike, fillet brazed and very chunky, I'm now thinking lugged flat bar road fixie :)

Yes I'm on the frameforum.

provenrad: I only need to lengthen the present crimp in the chainstay by 3/4" not a big issue and I'd rather keep my 1/8" rings and chain

Yeah you would need to do some metal work, you could probably get away with using a reamer to remove the current thread (enlarging the BB hole) then re-tap to italian. its a lot of work but worth being aware of.

I could do, but I'd end up with something like 36:13 and I'm trying to avoid such a small rear sprocket. with my 20st stomping through the pedals there is quite a lot of torque and transmitting that through 5-6 teeth on the back end worries me a bit. If I crimp the chainstay a bit more and move the 44t chainring to the inside of the spider I should get the chain line about spot on.

I just needed to know it was worth doing.

Yeah, you would have to get the BB re-tapped to italian thread which is probably complete overkill for this project unless you know someone with suitable gear to do it, BUT its another option to be aware of (and a good one if you have stripped BB threads ;)).

How accurate does it need to be? my chainwheel is about 5mm out from my rear sprocket, I'm running 1/8" chain, with a 1/8" chainwheel and 3/32" soon to be 1/8" rear sprocket. I can move the chain wheel to the inside of the spider and crimp the chainstay for clearance (not enough room as it is because its an old MTB frame), but would this be worth it, I do find it a little noisy. I started with a shimano 9speed front chainring which was quiet but it would throw the chain off when decending multiple kerbs and steps unless the chain tension was over tight.

Ceeway do a italian-english convertor sleeve for bottom brackets, you could possibly get your BB cut to the italian thread and then fit the sleeves? probably overkill for this but worth knowing:

http://www.framebuilding.com/Sundry-Components.htm

I'm in Guildford (I'm a tech at the uni).

I don't actually think the BB height has really changed going from 2.1X26" tyres to the 28X700c rims and rubber. Even with 170mm cranks I doubt I could get the pedals to strike the ground on cornering, no probs with the 165 suginos :) . I'm going to have to paint the rear triangle and braze-on points as they are now bare metal.

I've now got the moustache bars on there which lengthen the front by up to about 3" depending which hand position you use. I may drop back to a very long stem and risers though, not sure yet, I'm still playing.

Hi

I'm a fixed noob from Surrey, I started cycling again to try an get in shape (currently 6'5" and 20st ish), bought a specialized rockhopper for playing in the mud and re-built my old Raleigh Yukon early 90s mountain bike as a fixie for the commute to work. My intention was to go single speed, so I built up a flip-flop hub with an 18t freewheel I had and got a 16t sprocket. I rode to work twice on the free wheel decided 44:18 was too low a gear so tried going fixed and found it really good (I won't be going back). I've now got moustache bars to make the bike seem longer (may try risers again and a longer stem) and sugino messenger cranks with cheapie cage pedals + clips and straps. I chopped the original drops off and brazed longshen track ends in place, this worked really well (more by luck than judgement) and narrowed the back end to 120mm for a track hub.

Still needs paint and a bit more brass on the track ends to smooth them into the seatstays and where I removed the gear cable mounts on the down tube, I've taken an angle grinder to most of the surplus braze-ons but the canti mounts still need to go. Any suggestions on a colour scheme, I'm leaning to satin black and white lugs. I'll also move the chainring to the back of the spider and crimp the chainstay to get the chainline a bit better (currently about 5mm out).

bibbeedebob I have a 109mm UN53 I think (sub £20 shimano) BB with about 6 miles use on it (rode to work and back and decided I wanted something shorter), and its too short for my Monty frame, so its been in 2 frames, greasy but good nick. Any interest to you? I'm looking for a short stem, threaded or threadless (what do you want for that cinelli?).

The A319s are a touring/tandem rim, I'm running 28X700c Schwalbe marathons, they are the narrowest tyres I can run but I have the option to go up to proper baloons if I desire, 2.1 wide rubber was on the previous 26" MTB rims. I went with the A319s as they can run a narrow tyre, 95% or my riding is on tarmac with 5% on very hard packed dirt, they are a very sturdy 700c rim though, and 20st of me hopping up and down kerbs requires something good and solid. I did look at cyclocross forks, but the brake lines up perfectly now I have drilled out the steerer (there was a 6mm pilot hole, I just had to drill the back out to 8.5mm I think) so I don't see any real reason to change. I have the bits to build a nice straight blade steel road fork which actually looks quite strong, this will probably end up on the bike, mainly for asthetics.

t.o.: in what way was your 23" frame too small? I found this frame a bit short and the 'tach bars really helped in that respect.

I'm 6'5" and 20 stone! I'm riding a converted mountain bike, early 90s Raleigh Yukon (21" reynolds 501 lugged frame). I've brazed LongShen track ends in place of the drops (narrows the rear to 120mm and makes single speed easy) and fitted moustache bars to make the bike feel longer (to good effect), taken an angle grinder to the old canti bosses and braze ons to clean up the looks and fitted 700c wheels (Mavic A319s on 36h Harris hubs) and a shimano 105 front brake (drill the fork/steerer out and fits perfect). Works a treat for me would something like that be an option?

Edit: meant to add, I have about 6-8" of seatpost above the frame and the old riser quill stem brings the bars a good 6" over the top tube. not the prettiest thing in the world, but it works for me and it was relatively cheap.

Phone up local powdercoaters and ask about coating a frame, if you can pay cash and wait until they are doing something the same colour (so they already have the powder in the gun) then you should be able to get a good deal. I have found somewhere in portsmouth (fareham) that would do me a clean prepped frame for £30, £25 if I supplied my own powder (I have a friend who powdercoats but his oven will only fit something upto BMX frame size). That was for a saturday morning, I assume while the boss is out and cash in the back pocket job.

I have a pair of the Harris hubs in black (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed-hubs.html)

they are very nice, but I would suggest you look at On-One if you want cheap because Harris have a $100 minimum order +$35 carrage for overseas stuff. A pair of hubs, sprocket and lockring just nicely gets you there though if you do go with them.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=158