How to build a low-buck Fixie

[voodoo curse]

That's all fine and dandy, but you have to really be lucky enough to actually OWN a working 10 speed in decent shape already, or get really lucky at a garage sale.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in the Bay Area, you're more likely to find Bigfoot than a working 10 speed at a garage sale.

Craigslist has plenty of 10 speeds but they're either built for someone over 6 feet tall or under 5 feet tall, or they're falling apart and selling for stupid cash because they're "rare", or they're hundreds of dollars out of a regular Joe's price range.

That's how the cookie bounces.

 

[snfargle]

it dont have to be a ten speed frame

think an oldish 15 speed mtn bike with horizontal dropouts, unscrew the 5 spd on the back, and follow the conversion

it would look a bit odd granted but its still a fixie

 

[Evan]

Heres my langster
I took off the fenders and back brake, put on drops.

 

[WhiteShadow]

i just got an older schwinn traveler (87) and was thinking of doing this to it. it's single speed right now because the guy i got it from dropped the derailleur but left all the other gears on it. i dont know what redishing/spacing is or how i would go about doing it, so this idea scares me. can anyone help me out? pm'd info/ links would be great

 

[stretch]

i built one from an '82 varsity and its AWESOME! all in all cost me about...50-60 some dollars. pretty much dishing is, you move the rim back to center on the hub, because with the big cassette of gears, the hub has to be offset. take it up to your lbs to have them take off the cassette first, then flip the axle so the long spacer is on the "wrong" side, and ask them to re-dish the hub back to center. and then ask for a fixie cog of course. want pics of mine? ours will probably turn out similar because were both utilizilng mainly schwinn parts.

 

[FunkyStickman]

That black Vilano eBay fixie looks tempting... they're selling it for $210 now. Mmmm!!! Put some creme tires on it, and some boardtracker bars, and you've got yourself a cheap, new, righteous rat rod fixie... :wink:

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

i just got an older schwinn traveler (87) and was thinking of doing this to it. it's single speed right now because the guy i got it from dropped the derailleur but left all the other gears on it. i dont know what redishing/spacing is or how i would go about doing it, so this idea scares me. can anyone help me out? pm'd info/ links would be great

you can avoid re-dishing the wheel if you go single speed (thread on a bmx freewheel) instead of going fixed. chances are the chain alignment will be dead on first try. then just run a front brake, or both brakes if you're not opposed to them.

 

[UncleKudzu]

you can avoid re-dishing the wheel if you go single speed (thread on a bmx freewheel) instead of going fixed. chances are the chain alignment will be dead on first try. then just run a front brake, or both brakes if you're not opposed to them.

would you explain this please? i have a BMX freewheel and an old Ross MTB with vertical dropouts. i'd like to make a single-speed (not a fixed, though) out of the old Ross. what does "thread on a bmx freewheel" mean?

 

[Big Fat Whitewalls]

Here's one I threw together. I posted a thread on it. Dean
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18759

 

[FunkyStickman]

Here's one I threw together. I posted a thread on it. Dean
http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18759

Perfect! I'd have put creme tires on it, but you pretty much nailed it!

 

[UncleKudzu]

you can avoid re-dishing the wheel if you go single speed (thread on a bmx freewheel) instead of going fixed. chances are the chain alignment will be dead on first try. then just run a front brake, or both brakes if you're not opposed to them.

would you explain this please? i have a BMX freewheel and an old Ross MTB with vertical dropouts. i'd like to make a single-speed (not a fixed, though) out of the old Ross. what does "thread on a bmx freewheel" mean?

never mind. i see what you mean now, and i hope to try this this afternoon. and if i can get the freewheel and cog off the BMX wheel, trying this won't cost me a cent

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

^^ You may need to have your lbs unthread the bmx freewheel for you unless you already have the four prong tool to do so (some are two prong I think, but not sure).

hope this works for you. but you may have difficulty getting the correct chain tension on a bike with vertical dropouts. a half link might be necessary, or a chain tensioner.

 

[UncleKudzu]

thanks, ifitsfreeitsforme ! i appreciate you bringing this up.

i got the cluster off of the MTB, but no, i haven't tackled the BMX freewheel yet. and i misstated my dropout situation: it is, in fact, a horizontal dropout, so my chances are better of getting a set-up that will easily (and cheaply!) work.

the MTB frame is a pretty good fit for me, so i'm excited about getting something going that would be a little more comfortable over a distance than is my ratty little cruiser.

thanks again.

 

[UncleKudzu]

darn it! i've hit a snag: got the BMX freewheel on the MTB hub, but the BMX cog and the MTB chainring want a different chain. rats!

the chainline from the middle ring to the BMX cog looked good to me, though, so i can see that this is probably doable on this bike.

 

[tartosuc]

darn it! i've hit a snag: got the BMX freewheel on the MTB hub, but the BMX cog and the MTB chainring want a different chain. rats!

the chainline from the middle ring to the BMX cog looked good to me, though, so i can see that this is probably doable on this bike.

a bmx chain will work with the mtb chainring...but the mtb chain will only work with mtb chainring.

 

[UncleKudzu]

a bmx chain will work with the mtb chainring...but the mtb chain will only work with mtb chainring.

thanks, man! i'll give that a try this afternoon.

i spent my bike budget for the week already on special freewill removal tools and was thinking i'd have to wait and order a 3/32 BMX freewheel next week, so you saved me time and money!

 

[UncleKudzu]

thanks for yor help, guys! i successfully went eighteen-to-one on the old Ross mountainbike (rechristened "The Gnash Single"). it is not a fixie, so i guess i'm a little off topic, but this thread helped me make a fun low-buck single-speed (100% thrift store parts at this point).

You may need to have your lbs unthread the bmx freewheel for you unless you already have the four prong tool to do so (some are two prong I think, but not sure)

the four prong tool didn't cost much and i'm sure i'll use it again, so i went ahead and bought one.

a bmx chain will work with the mtb chainring...

yeah, that worked!

 

[FunkyStickman]

I just stumbled upon this today... I was searching for parts to build my own fixie, and I found ISO disk brake mounted cogs:

They're made by VeloSolo.co.uk and cost about $30 shipped to the U.S.

If you were really desperate, and had some 5mm carbide drill bits, you could drill out plain cogs and do the same thing with them. This is ideal if you have any MTB disk front hubs laying around, or you can even pick up a dual-disk hub from Choppersus.com and make your own fixed/fixed flip-flop hub.

 

[bmxerpete]

There are some pretty cool bikes on this thread. Fixies are huge down here now, if you're a 20-something you have to have one it seems.
Another tip for you guys looking to build low-buck fixies...you can take an old bmx freewheel and weld it together. You don't have to take it apart as long as you soak it in degreaser and get all the grease and oil out of it first. If you can take it apart it's easier to clean, but it will work either way.
I don't ride a fixie myself...I rode enough track bikes years ago to know that I prefer my freewheel and brakes, but we used to do this freewheel mod back in the 80's for freestyle shows. I still have a freewheel I welded up back then and I thought about building a low-buck fixie, but I know I would never ride it.
Although after checking out some of the bikes on here now I want one...great.

:mrgreen:

 

[OCD]

Here's a few pics of my fixie conversion now that I've finally completed the paint 'n polish part of the build. The bike has come a long way from the discarded 80's Kuahara 12 speed I was originally given. The frame is triple butted chrome molly so it's super light weight (at least compared to all my other bikes).

To prevent the brake adapter from rotating I welded a threaded coupler to the back of the fork leg plus drilled/tapped through the old fender mount into the adapter.

Even the stainless steel water bottle received a matching mirror polished finish.

The rims were originally powder coated dull silver, as you can see I've spent many hours in front of the polishing wheel. I decided to go with a three leading, three trailing lacing pattern just to make things a bit more interesting.

Although you can't really tell from the pics, the paint is bright white with so much clear it has a nicotine stained effect giving it a warm, antiqued look.

This how the rims looked before stripping the powdercoat and polishing.