It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post.
Register to become a member today!
To all asking about cheap fixed gears or converting.
Fuck converting unless the bike is free and in good condition. Here's what happens when you buy an old overpriced road bike.
1. The tires and probably tubes are shot. $50
2. The pedals fucking blow. $25
3. Now you need straps if you're going fixed. $50min
4. If going fixed, you need either a new rear wheel. $60
5. You need a cog and lockring. $30
6. You need a new chain. $10
7. You probably need tools for the cog, lockring, and chain. $50
$275 assuming a free bike. This is going for a fixed gear that will last more than 50miles. If you're going singlespeed you can skip the rear wheel, straps, lockring, and lockring tool.
Or you can buy a bike off bikesdirect.com
Get a Kilo TT ($400), they're the best SS/fixed on there for the price. Know how to size yourself. Their sizing is a bit different than most.
The kilo TT will get to your door. You'll need to buy:
1. Cog and locking. $30. The gearing it comes with is insane. The lockring blows and needs a replacement.
2. Tools for cog, lockring, and chain. $50
Ride the shit out of it and replace parts as you get money and learn what you like. Don't buy other cheap, colorful, customizable fixed gears. They're piece of shit hi-ten bikes with horrible quality. The kiloTT is hands down the best bike for under $600.
Yeah converting old bikes never ends up gloing well or being cheap unless you have access to lots of free parts and have the know how to rebuild everything like bottom brackets and hubs
the top image is how track/fixed/singlespeed dropouts look. the bottom is how a lot of road frames look.
Modern road frames have vertical dropouts. The VAST majority of vintage frames pre-1990 have horizontal dropouts that work super well for fixed and single speeds. I've converted tons of frames, this definitely works. You can also use a chain tensioner for vertical drops too.
so honest question for you guys....do you not have any hills where you ride? i can't imagine these being ideal for anything more than flat riding. no way i could ride one around town as i'd be walking the thing up a damn hill half the time.
no hate intended...just never really understood the whole fixed gear thing.
Barefootin_Fiendso honest question for you guys....do you not have any hills where you ride? i can't imagine these being ideal for anything more than flat riding. no way i could ride one around town as i'd be walking the thing up a damn hill half the time.
no hate intended...just never really understood the whole fixed gear thing.
Thanks. Would you recommend getting a fixie or a multi-gear as a first bike? I kinda want to get a mountain bike, but I don't know how much I will be using it offroad, thinking realistically.
So instead of building one I posted an ad to trade an old iPhone 4s for a Fixed/single speed bike. Someone replied today offering to trade what I think is this bike, http://www.locofixie.com/shop/the-marley/, for my old phone.
How hard would it be to convert the fixed gear to single speed? And is that a quality bike, should I do the trade?
I know the bike is made by Loco Fixie, but not sure which model it is.
theBearJewSo instead of building one I posted an ad to trade an old iPhone 4s for a Fixed/single speed bike. Someone replied today offering to trade what I think is this bike, http://www.locofixie.com/shop/the-marley/, for my old phone.
How hard would it be to convert the fixed gear to single speed? And is that a quality bike, should I do the trade?
I know the bike is made by Loco Fixie, but not sure which model it is.
Nevermind, after reading a bit if it is that model, they have a "flip flop" so I can switch it easily...
theBearJewNevermind, after reading a bit if it is that model, they have a "flip flop" so I can switch it easily...
Still, is it a good trade?
Um, yes, unless the bike is in shit condition. Assuming it's the one you posted, the MSRP is $350, and you'd be pretty hard pressed to get that for an old 4s.
So I ended up finding a good one on CL that I have been riding for a few months now.
I want to start buying and replacing some parts on it now. Does anyone have any recommendation on what to start with? I think I want to start with breaks and grips. I would like some more responsive breaks, any suggestions? How hard is it to remove and put the new ones on? I've never tinkered with a bike before.
I've been riding fixed for a year+ now but still worried to go without brakes. How do you skid stop or hop stop? I don't think its my leg strength really but I can never stop properly. Any tips?
ChunterI've been riding fixed for a year+ now but still worried to go without brakes. How do you skid stop or hop stop? I don't think its my leg strength really but I can never stop properly. Any tips?
Just keep the brakes. They aren't really any harder to work on than chain tension or changing a tire. A bike may look a lot better without brakes, but they are always good to have in emergency situations. An option is to ditch the rear brake, front is like 70% of stopping power anyways. In some places, you can get ticketed for not having brakes on a bike too.
JakeSmithJust keep the brakes. They aren't really any harder to work on than chain tension or changing a tire. A bike may look a lot better without brakes, but they are always good to have in emergency situations. An option is to ditch the rear brake, front is like 70% of stopping power anyways. In some places, you can get ticketed for not having brakes on a bike too.
I wanna get new breaks for my bike. Any suggestions on where to start?
JakeSmithJust keep the brakes. They aren't really any harder to work on than chain tension or changing a tire. A bike may look a lot better without brakes, but they are always good to have in emergency situations. An option is to ditch the rear brake, front is like 70% of stopping power anyways. In some places, you can get ticketed for not having brakes on a bike too.
This, got two tickets for not having any brakes, now I'm riding whit a front one
Banane.This, got two tickets for not having any brakes, now I'm riding whit a front one
I always bullshit and say i have internal hub pedal back brakes. my sister just bought a new bike with internal gears and pedal back brakes so i cant imagine them being illegal?
theBearJewSo I ended up finding a good one on CL that I have been riding for a few months now.
I want to start buying and replacing some parts on it now. Does anyone have any recommendation on what to start with? I think I want to start with breaks and grips. I would like some more responsive breaks, any suggestions? How hard is it to remove and put the new ones on? I've never tinkered with a bike before.
thatll depend on how good the components on your bike are right now. i like to go ground up (start with some good wheels, then bottom bracket, then brakes if ya got em, then headsets and bars and such last) but you can start wherever you want. for the most part, brakes are simple to change and work on, just make sure you get the right kind/size. sucks to buy shit online and have it not be what you need (ask me how i know...) maybe check out a local bike shop. get some questions answered and gain some knowledge before/if you buy online. the online shop i use mostly is citygrounds.com, they ship from so cal. super legit, fast delivery (to tahoe at least) and they have most everything ud ever need.
Just tried out my first track-oriented fixed (and first adult fixed ever), almost died, and loved the feeling. Maybe I'm just missing my road bike at home, but the immediate response and handling were unreal. I think it's time to do a nice single-speed build, but I don't think I'd survive if I actually got a true fixed. Has anybody ridden a Throne before? I'm thinking of doing a test ride when I'm back in Berlin in a month or so.
Also, here's my current ride:
There was mad hype about his bars and them being 3D printed from titanium. That's all well and cool but one thing that I feel like hasn't been talked about at ALL is the hand position he used on the bike. Most pictures of the bars and bike have this ski pole style setup:
Here's the bars he used for the actual hour record though:
They kind of allow for something more punch like than ski pole grip. Like this:
It'll be interesting if we ever find out if that was for comfort, aero, or both. Who knows, maybe it will make a splash on road TT and Tri bikes sometime in the future? I'm sure team Sky has extracted a wealth of information from this.
The actual record is wild, 54.526KM/H. Apparently they had the temp CRANKED in the velodrome so that the air was effectively less dense and easier to move through, otherwise the actual atmospheric conditions there were very high pressure which could have hindered the record. It will be a while before anyone takes a serious crack at it I think, he set the bar high.
Anyone have any experience with Fairdale bikes? I am lookin at getting a new single speed as the one I got off CL is too damn small and is starting to get annoying.
If you've ridden a Fairdale, what do you think of them? Also if you know of any bikes that are similar to this one, drop bars, single speed, tires/wheels that can handle going off the paved path a bit, lemme know.
I just switched over to fixed gear again after riding SS for a while after trying fixed and not liking it. I went out one rainy night and rode around for a few hours learning how to skid stop, had a blast and love it now.
But a day or two after that (first time the bike has been in the rain) a serious creaking started to come from my headset and I noticed a ton of play at the fork in the headtube. I'm thinking that there was probably play around the headset for a while and I'm hoping it's just a headset problem, but there is a chance there could be some damage at the headtube.
I have a Torelli road frame back at home I think I want to do something with this summer, but I can't remember if it has horizontal dropouts or not and it's a little small.
anyone know of any good affordable aluminum frames? Is there a good site like evo or backcountry but for fixed gear stuff?
I've been getting a lot of constant headset squeak and headtube-steerer tube play recently. Time to build up a new frame maybe? I was thinking Aventon Cordoba, but I've heard some mixed reviews on the durability and quality control.
JakeSmithI've been getting a lot of constant headset squeak and headtube-steerer tube play recently. Time to build up a new frame maybe? I was thinking Aventon Cordoba, but I've heard some mixed reviews on the durability and quality control.
New bar tape, ditched the rear brake, got a new lever, and more stickers. And a used 700x30 Ritchey speedmax on the front with a slick on the back for mad winter skidz
I named him "squeakey" but I might change that to "Fat bastard" because this thing is heavy as hell. Fuck hi-ten, I have a nice Torelli with columbus chromoly tubing waiting for me at home for this summer. Gonna do a barebones budget build on that and possibly start building an Unknown Combat.
