Fixed Wheel Bicycles

Chop Logic

So, I just recently found out what a fixed wheel bike is, and I really want to get into it. It looks like the ideal riding experience for me. I'm really into riding my bike now, but it's just a normal bike.

Problem is, I know nothing about it. Should I buy an old bike and convert it? Buy a new, cheap one? Where should I be looking?

Thanks a lot for any help.

fuelish

I have a couple:

My converted Trek. Built from a crashed frame. Everything except the frame, cranks, and BB are new.


My Yamaguchi, He built the Olympic bikes in the late eighties. This is from all used parts except the tires


My wifes IRO Mark V. All new parts. IRO out of NYC has some good frames at good prices.

You have a couple of choices. The easiest thing is to buy a fixed/single speed from Giant, the Bowery. Specialized, The Langster. KHS, the Flite. Or one of the other prebuilt fixed single speed bikes. You could then use the parts from This bike when you find your dream conversion frame

You can also build a bike from a seventies/eighties steel road frame. It needs to have horizontal(or semi horizontal) dropouts to adjust the chain tension. You will aslo need to redish the wheel for chain alignment if you go bum wheel or use a track flip flop wheel. You can get away with the parts the come on the bike for the most part. Other small things you might want to change are removing one chainring which requires single chain bolts and removing the back brake, it feels a little weird to run a rear brake and fixed cog. I do run a front brake just in case. And if you run a bum wheel you really need to keep at least one brake.
Look for used bikes on Craigs list. You really want a bike old enough to not have braze on shifter mounts but new enough to have 700c wheels. The Trek above is from the late seventies and is a perfect conversion bike.

I do this for a living, if you have any questions put them here or PM me and I will give you me email for further questions.

Chop Logic

Thanks for all the info. I really know nothing about bikes though, except that I love riding them, haha.

The fixed gears you buy, would I need to modify them or when I bought them, would they be good to ride already?

Could you recommend some I should look at? Depending on the prices, I'll either just get a new one, or fix an old one up if getting a new one is too expensive.

I'm really tall (6'3), and live in the suburbs. I'm just looking for a fixed gear bike I can ride around, and do some cool stuff on.

Thanks a lot.

fuelish

The best deal for the money is probably the Bowery or Langster. Some people do not like the look because they have sloping top tubes and alluminum frames but they are less than $600 come with brakes front and rear and both have a freewheel and a fixed cog.
If you want a more tradtional looking bike the Flite is a good choice. Steel frame, traditional look, and track geometry. But it is over $700(As I remember)
At your height you are going to be looking for the biggest thing you can find.
You will learn lots about bikes if you decide to build your own fixed. Try and find a shop that knows what is up about them. They will be able to help you with a good gear for your area and some special parts that make life easier, like Miche bottom brackets. If you do decide to build up from an old bike, stay away from old french bikes(like Peugeot) they use part sizing that can be hard to find.