Fixie Project

[grayhamzyvicz]

i thought i'd give you an update. i spoke to Matt from http://singlespeedcomponents.co.uk and he has been very helpful. my understanding of bike basics must have increased 10 fold in the last day

i'm going down the same route as colly to simplify things, buying all from Matt. i could orobably save a few £ here and there looking about on ebay, but i'd rather be sure everything will work together, and Matt's advice has been spot on so I'm wanting to give him my custom.

So i should have the necessary parts to build next week. This weekend i'll remove all the paint from the frame, then consider which colour i want it and probably start preparing it.

next question is, can someone point me in the direction of a good step by step guide of repainting, from removal to finishing the job properly? i want to know things like sanding or paint stripper, and what types of primer/paint to use? i had a look on sheldon but couldnt seem to see anything.

 

[colly]

i thought i'd give you an update. i spoke to Matt from http://singlespeedcomponents.co.uk and he has been very helpful. my understanding of bike basics must have increased 10 fold in the last day

i'm going down the same route as colly to simplify things, buying all from Matt. i could orobably save a few £ here and there looking about on ebay, but i'd rather be sure everything will work together, and Matt's advice has been spot on so I'm wanting to give him my custom.

So i should have the necessary parts to build next week. This weekend i'll remove all the paint from the frame, then consider which colour i want it and probably start preparing it.

next question is, can someone point me in the direction of a good step by step guide of repainting, from removal to finishing the job properly? i want to know things like sanding or paint stripper, and what types of primer/paint to use? i had a look on sheldon but couldnt seem to see anything.

I stripped my frame off using Nitromoors Paint and Varnish stripper. It is thinner than the 'paint only' stuff and it doesn't 'cling' as well but it works very fast.Worked it in and rubbed off the old paint with wire wool. Messy!
I don't know if your budget would run to getting it powder coated but assuming you can find a good place near you it is well worth doing. I changed tack and decided to get it done rather than paint it myself.
It cost me £30 all in. In fact if I had gone to the trouble of priming, undercoating, painting and laqcuering the frame myself it would have cost much more. I didn't really need to strip it because they shot blasted it anyway.
The finish was great and it is as tough as old boots too.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

Well with a chainset where the chainring is bolted on, you can always move the chainring from the inner side to the outer side. All you have to do is work out if the chainset is out or too close to the frame (so check the chainline and see if the chainset is in which is causing the non-straight chain line) or out. If it is out, try moving the chainring to the other side of the crank arm. If that isn't enough, you can try changing the bottom bracket to a smaller one...judge it and try to work out what length you might need. If you find that a smaller bottom bracket sorts out the chainline but your chainset is too close to or rubbing on the chainstays, then you'd have to do something about the back wheel. I'd adjust the length of the cone nuts on the hub on the back wheel then. You can change the length of the spacers involved in the rear hub. But you want to try to keep the same length from one side of the hub (including cone nuts) to the other. So you have 125mm between dropouts and the hub on the rear wheel (including cone nuts) has the same. So you just want the wheel to sit in the dropouts but slightly more to the right (this would help to sort out the chainline, if the freewheel is not to the right enough). There is always more than one option when sorting out the chainline so don't worry about that.

 

[Ashtrayhead]

Are there any Mods reading this thread? Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a Sticky Thread along the lines of 'How to turn your ebay bargain into a Fix*e Fixed wheel bike bicycle'?

 

[Cyclopathic]

I have recently aquired a fixie that I think would make an exceelent project to restore it into a proper touring bike. Any tips?

 

[Pennine-Paul]

yeah, price up a new pair of derailleurs ,new chainset and shifters

and all the hassle that goes with em and come to your senses

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

I have recently aquired a fixie that I think would make an exceelent project to restore it into a proper touring bike. Any tips?

What sort of frame is it? Is the frame made for a fixed gear or a conversion to a fixed that you want to turn back into a touring bike?

 

[colly]

What sort of frame is it? Is the frame made for a fixed gear or a conversion to a fixed that you want to turn back into a touring bike?

I think it was a tongue in cheek post.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

I think it was a tongue in cheek post.

Lol, I am stupid when it's the weekend

 

[Cyclopathic]

What sort of frame is it? Is the frame made for a fixed gear or a conversion to a fixed that you want to turn back into a touring bike?

Ahh bless you for answeing that seriously. I have to admit though I was teasing just a little bit and in good humour. I have never even ridden a "fixie" so from that uninformed position I feel completely justified in scoffing at things I don't understand.
I suppose one of the ideas behing the fixie is that less is in fact more. I find that this is defimitely the case when looking at the prices being charged by bike dealers who have specialised in fixed gear bikes and accesories. I would have expected to be able to find new entry level fixies for less than new entry level anything else but this doesn't seem to be the case. But please don't take offense at my jibes. I am only pulling your leg, which of course is something you will be used to if you have had to go down any steep hills without the ability to freewheel.

 

[colly]

if you have had to go down any steep hills without the ability to freewheel.

Sir ! You are not wrong.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

Ahh bless you for answeing that seriously. I have to admit though I was teasing just a little bit and in good humour. I have never even ridden a "fixie" so from that uninformed position I feel completely justified in scoffing at things I don't understand.
I suppose one of the ideas behing the fixie is that less is in fact more. I find that this is defimitely the case when looking at the prices being charged by bike dealers who have specialised in fixed gear bikes and accesories. I would have expected to be able to find new entry level fixies for less than new entry level anything else but this doesn't seem to be the case. But please don't take offense at my jibes. I am only pulling your leg, which of course is something you will be used to if you have had to go down any steep hills without the ability to freewheel.

I believe you can just take your feet off the pedals and rest them on the down tube, problem solved on the freewheel aspect, or just make sure you have some pedals. I ride my fixed everywhere. I will conquer Cornwall on my fixed one day. I did Le-Jog on my fixed, except it was on freewheel mode. I think the most expensive part of a fixed gear is the back wheel, and bike shops like uniformity so you might as well have a matching front wheel as well. Most of the cost is on the wheels, possibly the chainset as well but mainly the wheels. I wish you could buy some decent wheels that have a flip flop hub but people know they are in fashion right now and people need them so wholesale places sell them for stupid prices, and the bike shops need to add a small mark-up on them to actually create some sort of profit, and by the time the customer gets it, you are looking at £300 plus. I'd just use used parts to lower the price considerably.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I believe you can just take your feet off the pedals and rest them on the down tube, problem solved on the freewheel aspect, or just make sure you have some pedals. I ride my fixed everywhere. I will conquer Cornwall on my fixed one day. I did Le-Jog on my fixed, except it was on freewheel mode. I think the most expensive part of a fixed gear is the back wheel, and bike shops like uniformity so you might as well have a matching front wheel as well. Most of the cost is on the wheels, possibly the chainset as well but mainly the wheels. I wish you could buy some decent wheels that have a flip flop hub but people know they are in fashion right now and people need them so wholesale places sell them for stupid prices, and the bike shops need to add a small mark-up on them to actually create some sort of profit, and by the time the customer gets it, you are looking at £300 plus. I'd just use used parts to lower the price considerably.

Is there any snobbery going on between those who stick religiously to fixed and those who will just use the freewheel option? Is it seen as less hardcore or less authentic to just use the freewheel but have all the trappings that go with the fixy style. What I'm saying really is IS IT CHEATING?
Much respect for doing the le-jog, especially with just the one gear. Fixed or not that's quite an achievement.
Do they really charge £300 for a flip flop wheel? If so then that is outrageous and it would be cheaper by far to buy two seperate wheels unless they are charging way over the odds for an ordinary fixed wheel as well. It does prove the point that less is more. A lot more.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

If you have a fixed gear with a flip-flop, it would be stupid not to use the fixed side atleast a bit of the time, because otherwise it is just wasted money and I guess added weight (by like 50g lol). There shouldn't be any bike snobbery when it comes to bikes. I personally hate campagnolo bits with a passion because nothing can justify the price.

When I stated that £300 price, I meant for the entire bike, not the wheel. I can imagine someone making a wheel with a flip-flop hub and DT Swiss spokes and what not but again, I'm not a big fan of stupidly priced bike components unless it is the only option. For me, buying expensive components for a bike and telling people is the very definition of bike snobbery.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Yeah but expensive bike components have been made with love with top secret recipes and the best engineers who have contact with with unicorns and faries

Your bike will have been made with hate by poor starving children and the bike will tell you this every time you ride it