BikingLasVegas.com

[lisa]

I just came across the fixed gear section on Sheldon Brown's website. Thought it made for a great resource if anyone is interested in it.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

Lisa

[dheide]

yeah, sheldon brown is the man, may he rest in peace. his site has taught me so much!

here's a link to a site that sells a pretty awesome sheldon t-shirt. my wife got me one for christmas! http://bikeage.bigcartel.com/product/sheldon-brown-ride

[photogrun]

Okay, I have been thinking about getting a fixed/single for a different ride on occasion. My question is this buy new or rebuild an older frame.

I have seen basic bikes online from $299-499. What should I look for as far as crank quality or gearing ration.

48/16 or 46/16

Just looking for a different workout

and a fun ride

Thx

[kenstein]

If it was me, I'd convert an old, steel frame--with horizontal dropouts so you can adjust chain tension. The cranks on it should be fine as is, but you'd need a new ring. The rear spacing on a 70's or older ride would already be 126 mm, iirc, so the new SS rear should fit in with a minimum of cold setting. Worst case, you need a set of wheels and a cog, some sandpaper and a can of spray paint, some shinier handlebars and new grips, and you're good to go.
One caveat: if the old frame was designed for 27-inch wheels and you choose to update to 700c's, there will be a 4 mm longer reach for the brakes. This could be an issue, depending on what brakes you choose to run. The steering geometry wouldn't change appreciably, especially if you run fatter tires, like 25 or 28 mm. Fat by racer standards, but more comfy and very little difference in rolling resistance.

[dheide]

my first fixed gear was a conversion. i found an old univega road bike at a thrift store for 18 bucks. my bike shop took off the old cassette, added a fixed cog, and needed a few spacers for chain alignment. i kept the two chainrings on as they were one solid piece. they adjusted the chain length. all that for 30 bucks. final product, one rusted out fixed gear conversion for under 50 bucks. i rode that thing for almost two years, no problems. i've heard decent things from bikesdirect.com if you're looking for something inexpensive. or check lvfixed.com, there's always guys on there selling bikes, and they can all be trusted. typical stock ratios on a fixed gear is 42/16. that's not much fun going down alta. i rock 46/16 and i love it for this area.

[Nikki]

mine was also a conversion... it treated me veeery well up until the time it was stolen, but by that time I had gotten a bunch of new parts - wheels, cranks, bottom brack, chainring, etc. It's very possible to get an older used road bike though and convert it and have it ride like a charm, I'm sure.

I also hear that the Mercier Kilo TT bike is a really good and solid bike for the price. I believe you can get it on bikesdirect or one of those similar websites.

My original gear ratio was 42/16, which was pretty easy, and so going down hills was kinda ehhhh.... I eventually went up to 47/16, which I loved. Downhills were great but uphills were slightly more challenging - but I was fine with that, because it wasn't impossible (walked a few hills on RR loop though hahaa). If you get a new bike it will come with whatever ratio. Chainrings aren't overly expensive so it's easy to experiment with different sizes-- maybe somebody has extras lying around that you could borrow to try out. You'd want one somewhere in the middle probably, but it really just depends on each individual

Good luck --- hope you luv it if and when you get one

[photogrun]

Thanks guys ( and ladies) I have been looking at craigslist for a while and also have looked at bikes direct. I am thinking of going the bikes direct route and have in fact thought of the Mercier KIlo TT and a few other. Problem is I am bicycle illiterate. Sort of like Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder. Just looking for a new adventure and a new way of training and enjoying cycling. thx for the input

[soxfan]

I bought my son a $350 steel Motorbecane with the fix/free flip-able(?) rear hub from bikesdirect and it's worked out great. Take it out of the box, put the wheels and saddle on and you're riding. Low end but servicable components, but in his case that doesn't matter because he's removing the rear break, modifying the front break, putting some mail order deep-v's on it, hack-sawing the handle bars down, etc, etc, etc...