WTB: Old road bike

[Mike]

looks great! i've put my plans on hold as i instead picked up a second set of wheels for my mountain bike and mounted some slicks on the old ones. it's heavier than a typical commuter, but i can launch off curbs and shit without worrying about anything. my commute is very urban so that's a big plus.

where did you end up getting your parts?

[mrbaggio]

Looking at the pic, it's a pretty steep drop from your seat top, to the top of the bars. I don't think I maintain one quite that steep on my race bike right now... you've really got to spend a lot of time in the saddle to get used it. The stem (from the frame, to the handlebars) should have a bolt in the top that you can loosen, and allow you to raise the bar height, which should help until you change bars. Just make sure you don't raise it beyond the max. height.

*edit* You may also want to toss a level on the saddle. It looks like the nose might be tilted slightly up, which can _really_ make things uncomfortable.

Yeah I know about adjusting the stem. There is not a ton of slack to play with. It is kind of short. The seat has already been fixed. It was KILLING my nuts. A slight downward angle has helped a lot. That pic was taken about 4 mins in to the maiden voyage. So I have made some changes even from the time that was taken. I also filed the drop outs a bit more to take out some of the slack in the chain. The chain stretched out a bit over the first ride.

looks great! i've put my plans on hold as i instead picked up a second set of wheels for my mountain bike and mounted some slicks on the old ones. it's heavier than a typical commuter, but i can launch off curbs and shit without worrying about anything. my commute is very urban so that's a big plus.

where did you end up getting your parts?

I got the wheels (came with a cog and lockring) from <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/">http://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/</a><!-- m -->
Bar tape from chainlove.com (not on the bike yet)
I got the chain from the LBS.
I stole the tires off a parts bike I picked up for free.
I also found <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://nycbikes.com/">http://nycbikes.com/</a><!-- m --> and <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bikeisland.com/">http://bikeisland.com/</a><!-- m -->
NYC has some cool cheap stuff and Bike Island has free shipping. Most of the parts were on the original bike. The bearing are still in good shape so I repacked and reused those suckers.

[ScottyB]

that's pretty cool, it looks so streamlined without all the componentry messing up the lines.

[mrbaggio]

that's pretty cool, it looks so streamlined without all the componentry messing up the lines.

I think so too. I dremeled off the cable stops I think that helped too.

[Ginger]

Found this today:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.webcyclery.com/product.php?productid=17476&cat=436&page=1">http://www.webcyclery.com/product.php?p ... 436&page=1</a><!-- m -->

Don't worry about the mtn/road wheelsize, the hub could be built to either... it's a really freaking cool hub! My Serotta can be a fixie after all

[Mike]

that's a lot of money to go "simple."

[Ginger]

So go buy cheap fixed gear parts if you want - I don't ride fixie to be cheap

[Evan]

that's a lot of money to go "simple."

yeah, Andrew is too much of a gear whore to get the whole point of a fixed gear

[Ginger]

I am a gear junkie... but there isn't just one "point" of fixed gear.

I rode fixed gear in the past because I raced on track... you know... where you can only race fixed gears. I also rode it for training to strengthen my legs, and develop a more smooth pedal stroke. Being simple, easier to maintain, and cheaper than geared systems are fringe benefits to me. If I wanted to build a cheap junk bike to commute on, then I'd build the cheapest I could.

Besides - a $200 wheel vs. a $100 wheel that means I don't have to spend any time or money finding a horizontal dropuot frame (or a different crankset since the eccentric one delivers perfect chainline for road pitch cranksets) isn't that much extra money. Spend money here, save it there. Whatever.

[mrbaggio]

How much play do you think you really get with that hub? You are only getting two options? There is a big difference in the feel of the bike when the chain tension is not right on. Seems like that would be a nightmare trying to get that right. Changing links, chainrings, cogs, all that business.

Plus the used a splined cog???? WTF $45??? Nope.

If you are really going to try it save 50 bones <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/white-hubs.html">http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/white-hubs.html</a><!-- m -->

[Ginger]

Well, there's a lot more wiggle room in fixies than you really think. I used to set up for 'right on' until a track junkie chastised me when I was using his gears for an event. I won't bother saying "the way he said to do it is the way" because that's the kind of statement that'll get you in trouble but there is a lot of room for the user to play with.