first fixed project

[lip03]

hi guys! i was given an old mountain bike few months back and its been sat in the garage doing nothing! its been ridden once to the station and thats about it! recently i have seen a lot of fixed/ss bikes around and i think they are beautifull to look at so decided to make one going to be doing a full restoration frame and forks are booked in at the sandblasters and just bought a new quill to Ahead! think i am going to go for a white and black coulor scheme! anyone customised a mtb?? not seen many about mainly old 70s racers but as the bike was free and i like to be different so thought why not! only thing i can see a prob with at the minute is the wheels! as the frame is quite wide near the wheels is a set of road wheels going to look silly?? or shal i spray up the original wheels and get a set of full slick tyres? any thoughts?

this is a similar bike to mine not the exact one just a googled image!

 

[Sittingduck]

Can't really see from the pic but are the rear dropouts vertical or semi horizontal? Fixed is going to be a problem if they are vertical, which I suspect they may well be.

 

[lip03]

oh crap! lol why is that? not sure at the minute i am at work is there any way around it if they are?

 

[lip03]

i am guessing its a tension thing right?? could just use a tensioner?

 

[Sittingduck]

Yeah - you need to be able to tension the chain - which you can't really do with vertical dropouts. You can use a chain tensioner for SS but not fixed. At least that's my understanding of it. There are creative ways around it including weird hubs and hacking away at drop outs. Somebody who actually know what they're talking about will be along shortly

 

[lip03]

haha thanks for that! send em my way!

 

[biggs682]

try a gusset chain tensioner should get you going ok .

are you just running on 1 of the original rear cogs or re dishing wheel and fitting a single speed bmx freewheel ?

 

[Pennine-Paul]

Save yourself a lot of hassle,sell the mtb on and buy a quality steel frame
with horizontal dropouts
You'll find things just don't fit/line up using an mtb as a donor

 

[lip03]

bit late to sell the mtb lol i have just stripied the forks and primed em!! the dropouts are semi horizontal so we should be ok must say i am pissed off tho just got rain all over my wet coat of primer bringing it in the house!!! but it first coat so should sand out

biggs682 i was gioing to swap for single cog why you ask>?

 

[lip03]

p.s photos to follow

 

[lip03]

Save yourself a lot of hassle,sell the mtb on and buy a quality steel frame
with horizontal dropouts
You'll find things just don't fit/line up using an mtb as a donor

sorry pennine-paul dont want to seem rude! this is just a bit of fun project not spending the earth and having a bit of fun (and hopefully breath a bit of life into an old bike!)
all the bit i have are either free, i aleady had them or very very cheap! i.e a set of road bike wheels i got on gumtree fot a tenner! i always have an eye out for an old road bike to convert so if you get wind of any send them my way! thanks guys very helpfull all round

 

[Pennine-Paul]

If you can get it to work then fine,you'll not see many converted
mtb's on the net as the chainlines are usually a mile out,
If you throw your chain off at speed,you will be eating tarmac
fixed gear is not as forgiving as s/s
If you get stuck just ask
Probably come across most problems over the years

 

[biggs682]

lip03 i was asking to see if you were going to just removing rr changer and lining fr chainwheel up with 1 of the rear cogs (not recomended) or whether you were going to get rear wheel dished so chain line is near as spot on , are you going to run std chainwheel using outer or middle ring or fitting a single chainwheel . loads of options all down to cost .

where are you in beds if close feel free to come up a county and have a look at a couple of road bikes i have converted

 

[lip03]

Thanks biggs very kind! I may take you up on that in the near future I have been looking at single chainwheels on ebay so hopefully I'll get a good chainline I am in ampthill about 15 mins south of Bedford

 

[biggs682]

lip03 not far away , there is no reason to change chainwheel normally a bit of re spacing and dishing can get close enough to do the job .

must admit older per 90's road bike with horizontal drop outs are easier as you can pull wheel back for tension rather than fitting a chain tensioner and then still having to play with half links etc etc