Build a fixie

[MrVandal]

Hi All

For my winter project in the shed(my personal hideout!) I am thinking of building a fixie. I plan to scrounge most of the parts from markets and friends bikes that have long since died. What advice can you give me? Anyone know of any books I could read or websites that are particularly good.

This is a long term project and would involve learning new skills which I am excited about.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[swee'pea99]

Hi

By far the easiest way to do it is to keep an eye on ebay for a really incompetent listing and snap yourself up an old 10/12 gear racer at a bargin price. Then all you have to do is take stuff off. The only marginally tricky bit is that you also have to replace the freewheel with a single sprocket (and they can be a bugger to shift...especially on a 30 year old bike that's been in the shed for 30 years) and re-dish the wheel (which is actually a lot easier than it sounds). It's a good day's work, assuming you've been fettling a bit over the years, and very satisfying to do. Good luck.

 

[Grasen]

the best frames for a fixie are old aluminium or carbon frames that have done their bit.
give it a new coat of paint in some weird colour - stick some disused parts on it , and away you go.

that will take a week
so what are you going to do for the rest of the winter in your shed ?

 

[swee'pea99]

No no no no no! Steel is real. Also, alu/carbon bikes will probably have cassettes rather than freewheels, which means you need a replacement wheel or a costly converter. You want a good old steel frame - 531, say - with a freewheel.

 

[jimboalee]

Why would the wheel need re-dishing? The distance between the dropouts isn't changing, nor is the width of the cone locknuts; and the rim wants to be central.
Just whip off the screw-on freewheel block, put spacers ( BB lockrings ) in so the screw-on fixed sprocket is in alignment, and then a lockring or two to secure.

 

[PpPete]

Agree about the steel ..... but not about redishing the wheel. Putting a fixed sprocket on does not change the position of the rim, it should still be centred over the lock-nuts.

You may find chainline is not quite right...sort that by changing the BB to one of a more appropriate spindle length, and use the lockring off the old BB as a lock-ring for the sprocket.

 

[Dan B]

I make no judgment on steel vs alu, but I note that it's going to be easier to get the chain tension correct if the dropouts are horizontal (forward or rear-facing) and this tends to be the case more often on older bikes, which in turn tend to be made from steel not "newer" materials.

I cheated with mine - I bought a cheap "fixed" wheelset that came with a 16T cog and lockring. Well, the bearings in the old axles were graunchy, the rims (which were not exactly immaculate anyway) were for 27" tyres, and the tyres needed replacing - when I added everything up it quickly worked out to be the cheapest option. And happily the brake calipers do have enough reach to work with the slightly smaller 700C wheels

 

[RedBike]

Agree about the steel ..... but not about redishing the wheel. Putting a fixed sprocket on does not change the position of the rim, it should still be centred over the lock-nuts.

You may find chainline is not quite right...sort that by changing the BB to one of a more appropriate spindle length, and use the lockring off the old BB as a lock-ring for the sprocket.

If you put spacer before and after they sprocket these spacers could potentially act like washers allowing the sprocket to move (tighten / untighten). Any such movement, particularly when your lockring hasn't got a left-hand-thread, increases the likely hood of the whole lot coming undone or the hubs thread to stripping.

In most cases if you put a track sprocket followed by a bottom bracket lockring on a standard hub provided you tighten everything up VERY tight it wont come undone. However, this arrangement is known as a suicide hub for a reason, so I wouldn't skid stop the bike too often.

Ideally you want to ditch the old rear hub completely and use a 130 / 126mm track hub.

 

[PpPete]

If you put spacer before and after they sprocket these spacers could potentially act like washers allowing the sprocket to move (tighten / untighten). Any such movement, particularly when your lockring hasn't got a left-hand-thread, increases the likely hood of the whole lot coming undone or the hubs thread to stripping.

In most cases if you put a track sprocket followed by a bottom bracket lockring on a standard hub provided you tighten everything up VERY tight it wont come undone. However, this arrangement is known as a suicide hub for a reason, so I wouldn't skid stop the bike too often.

Ideally you want to ditch the old rear hub completely and use a 130 / 126mm track hub.

Yes.... don't use spacers behind the sprocket to get chainline right, it will cut down on the amount of thread available for the lock ring and as Redbike says, you want that puppy on tighter than a tight thing....
It really isnt funny if the sprocket comes off - I know! Fortunately I'd left both brakes on ! My lockring is one of the notched kind. It has now been tightened using a cold chisel in the notches and a lump hammer. That works.

 

[Grasen]

I always thought that fixies were made from old rubbish frames, and aluminium and carbon frames are more or less past their "use by " dates after about 2 years
Besides that fixies are used for winter riding - and a aluminium or carbon frame would be much better for that as they would not rust.

 

[4F]

I always thought that fixies were made from old rubbish frames, and aluminium and carbon frames are more or less past their "use by " dates after about 2 years
Besides that fixies are used for winter riding - and a aluminium or carbon frame would be much better for that as they would not rust.

So you are just trolling rather than having anything real to add ?

 

[TheDoctor]

As other posters have said, you need a frame with horizontal drop-outs (or track ends) to make a fixie.
Most older steel frames will have these, most alloy and carbon frames won't. That's the reason to find an older steel frame.
There is no safe way to make a fixie with vertical dropouts, short of an eccentric hub.
Alloy and carbon frames are not 'past their use by date after two years'. That's just twaddle.

 

[swee'pea99]

Why would the wheel need re-dishing? The distance between the dropouts isn't changing, nor is the width of the cone locknuts; and the rim wants to be central.
Just whip off the screw-on freewheel block, put spacers ( BB lockrings ) in so the screw-on fixed sprocket is in alignment, and then a lockring or two to secure.

Never heard of doing it that way. The method I followed, as advised, was:

Remove freewheel


Substitute fixed sprocket

Move cones along axle to achieve straight chain line, adding stainless steel washers as necessary to fill out the space

Redish wheel to re-centre between frame horizontals & verticals

Job done!

It worked for me. I never even got round to fitting any kind of fixing ring, but I've never had any unscrewing problems. Admittedly I don't do any fancy reverse/skid hard braking (tho' I do leg-brake...just not hard).

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Lots of good comments above reflecting the variety of options available. In case you don't want your project to finish in a jiffy, you might want to add this, this as well as this to your reading list. You are undoubtedly going to have a great time in your hideout!

 

[Grasen]

I don't have a fixie but if I did then I would use aluminium track frame like a Cinelli Vigorelli. Lots of them on ebay from time to time. Ideal for winter riding.