Need your fixie wisdom guys..

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clefty

New Member
Location
London
I'm going to see a potential new bike tomorrow, I'm dipping my toe into fixed (cos it looks a lot of fun!) and dont want to spend 400+ on a new bike, and don't quite have the confidence or know-how to convert my own.

Anyway the spec of the bike is below, he wants £160 for it - what do you think?

Reynolds 501 frame (1980s Raleigh) resprayed in grey with black cro-moly forks.

Campagnolo crank set - 42 chain ring

Wolber profile rims laced to Campagnolo hubs with 16t fixed sprocket secured with BB lock ring.

Vittorio Rally tubular tyres (not clinchers)

Selle Italia Gel Titanium railed saddle. SR laprade seat post.

Dia Compe Aero lever (dummy on left)

Alloy bars and stem

Alongha Deep drop front brake.

1/8th pitch chain.


It sounds like a good price to me, but I could be talking absolute tosh, any opinions gratefully received.
 

skwerl

New Member
Location
London
sounds ok but depends if all that's in good nick.
BTW - An irrational pet peeve of mine. 1/8" is the width. All chains are 1/2" pitch, except the old track kit which was 1". Pitch is distance between sprocket teeth.
God, I'm a pedantic git
 
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clefty

clefty

New Member
Location
London
Is there anything in particular I should look out for when I go and see it as far as condition of sprockets and such like?

I got a picture of it, although its not detailed.

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Christopher

Über Member
Eyeball it for general condition. Spin the wheels for trueness, have a very close look at the headtube and downtube for cracks or crash damage, rotate the bars to check the sooothness of the headset, see if you can move the seatpost, try the brake. Oh and if you can move the cranks at all at 90 degrees to their normal plane of rotation, the bottom bracket's knackered.

Bit concerned that it has tubs. You might be okay with them, but most people go for the ease of clinchers. If the hubs are nice you could perhaps get them laced to clincher rims in the long term, or you could just use another front wheel and hope the rear tub doesn't go pop. For all that £160 sounds reasonable to me.

PS: is the rear a Pista hub? If so it's worth a few £ by itself!
 

Mr Phoebus

New Member
Seems a reasonable price, like mentioned previously check as thoroughly as you can for trueness,wheels, frame, etc.
 

Christopher

Über Member
Tubs are where the tyre and inner tube are combined into one piece and glued onto the rim. They apparently are much nicer to ride than clinchers and corner better but a complete pain to change or repair, as you have to tear the thing off the rim, find the hole, unstitch the tyre casing, patch the tube, sew the casing back up and glue it back on the rim. Or you can post it to somebody who will repair it for £10 or so. Most racers use tubs for the slight extra speed over clinchers (tub rims are lighter than clinchers too).

Clinchers are the conventional separate tyre-and-inner-tube.
 
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clefty

clefty

New Member
Location
London
Well that clears that up, I can understand your concern over them now. However I will give it a thorough once over and if all is well go for it. As you said Frustruck I can always upgrade the rims in the future if I get bitten by the fixie bug and want to spend more money on it.

Thanks for everything guys, you've really given this fixie ignoramus a much appreciated helping hand, I will report back tomorrow - hopefully with a new purchase!
 

xroads

New Member
You dont mention rear sprocket teeth count. 42 front, 16 rear should be bearable for a beginner (42/16x27=71"). Any higher than this, and you may wish to replace rear sprocket with a larget 17 or 18 tooth. Try it and see.
 
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clefty

clefty

New Member
Location
London
xroads said:
You dont mention rear sprocket teeth count. 42 front, 16 rear should be bearable for a beginner (42/16x27=71"). Any higher than this, and you may wish to replace rear sprocket with a larget 17 or 18 tooth. Try it and see.

Yeh was just thinking about that looking back at the spec I think its 42/16 - i would have preferred an 18, from what I've read - but I'm going to give it a go anyway, part of this adventure into fixed is to improve fitness, I'm currently doing min 60 miles commuting a week on a flattish route so will see what happens, although I think it will be a while before I try the commute, I have to admit riding fixed on london roads scares me a little, but then I guess I just need to get used to it, and it should teach me better roadcraft as well..well thats the plan anyway.
 

peejay78

Well-Known Member
it says you're in london, i imagine you've ridden before, and in light of this - not trying to be obtuse, i think you could push something slightly bigger, maybe a 72", 48:18 or 17, simply because it's flattish and you might find it too spinny.
 

xroads

New Member
Im fixed on my 48x18 (72") around Heathrow. My geared hybrid now sees very little action, except when it rains, and thats only because its got mudguards and a rack.
I love commuting on my fixed, it's so much fun and a great workout. It will feel odd for about a week, and then grow on you. Be prepared to be fixated!
 

skwerl

New Member
Location
London
peejay78 said:
it says you're in london, i imagine you've ridden before, and in light of this - not trying to be obtuse, i think you could push something slightly bigger, maybe a 72", 48:18 or 17, simply because it's flattish and you might find it too spinny.

I've been riding 48:17 for about 18 months now. It's a good gear but it can be a bit hard on the knees. After riding exclusively fixed for 4 years and recently riding a regluar bike at weekends and increasing weekday commute mileage by 30% I'm starting to feel it in my knees a bit. I'm thinking I might drop to a 46 as I could do with a new ring.
I'd say it's better to spin than end up on a gear that can be hard going when it's windy etc.
 
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