Put it together Fool! This is part three of the three part series on converting your classic road bike into a fixed gear bike. It goes without saying that you need to have a minimum amount of mechanical skills and bike tools to complete this conversion. If you really need help understanding the components or assembly then go to the source of all things cycling The late great Sheldon Brown's website The illustrated guides provided by Park bicycle tools. Start with installing your bottom bracket, then your assembled crank and chainring to make sure your chainring is close to the chainstay without running the risk of touching the stay. Now you need to respace your rear wheel hub, then redish the wheel. Respacing the rear wheel means removing the large one sided spacer on the drive side and replacing it with equal length individual spacers that are approximately equal on both the drive and non drive sides of the axle. Redishing requires spoke adjustments on both the left and...
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Fixed Gear Conversion Gear Selection Guide This is the second part of the three part series on how to convert a bike into a fixed gear . Now you have the bike disassembled and separated with parts you intend to reuse and the parts you can then recycle. Now it comes time to go shopping, you need to buy a couple of things. Narrower Bottom Bracket Axle Spacers Single Chainring bolts New Track Cog New Chain that matches the width of Track Cog Gear selection is a personal choice like clothing. Many combinations will work but well fitting clothes work much better than ill fitting clothes. If you are focused on a budget fixed gear you need to reuse the maximum amount of your existing stash o'parts. Let's start with counting the number of teeth on your current large chainring. Why the large ring? Well in my opinion the larger ring looks better, runs quieter, and feels smoother. You can choose either so I have written the guide to cover both situations. So if you are using a, 53T-49T ch...
In celebration of Earth Day, I am writing a 3 part guide on how to save an unused bicycle and convert it into a Fixed Gear that someone will ride. Find a suitable donor bike, dust is good, rust is bad. Make sure the rear of the bike frame will allow you to reposition the rear wheel forward and back, this frame feature is called horizontal dropouts, check the wheels, they should be generally straight and true with no rim dents and have a freewheel(5-8 speed), not a cassette. Clean the bike, not a super clean detailing but enough to get 80% of the grime off. Remove the chain. Cut gear cables, remove derailleurs and shifters. Remove wheels then disconnect brake cables and remove brake calipers. Remove all accessories(seat bags, bar bag, bottle cages, reflectors, kick stands, lights, computers, etc.) Remove pedals by putting a 15mm wrench on them and spinning cranks forward, then remove the cranks. (special instruction: If you want to do this without bike shop help you need to know your me...
Transparent Red is the new white. I love how the ways color trends seem to wander around bikes. Black and getting your bike completely black was fun. Then, it was white and the ghost bike was born. Then bold colors that were opaque hit. Now it seems transparents and candies will again rule the earth. Here is the latest XL frame to come from 1Off . If you are interesting in building a bike with your own vision, hit me up I am only available one bike at a time, but that one bike might be yours.
Uniquely Custom Handbuilt FIXED GEAR wheelsets As a Master Wheelbuilder I have the passion for creating uniquely custom handbuilt fixed gear wheelsets. With 10+ years of wheelbuilding experience the quality and precision of my builds are unmatched. If you are interested in a wheelset that cannot be purchased anywhere, I can help. Custom features include custom colored Spokes, Rims and Hubs. Single color $320 Two color $340 Three color $360 Mixed spoke color combinations $380 Hubs available are Formula sealed bearing hubs spaced to either 120mm, 126mm or 130mm. Rims available are Deep Aero shaped either 25mm with eyelets or 30mm without eyelets. Spokes available are Sapim Race double butted 14/15/14g with brass nipples(black or silver) Custom wheels are started with 50% downpayment, with 2 week build window and balance due on delivery. Individual Components are available Custom Spokes Qty 65- 282mm $80 Custom Hubset Front and Rear $120 Custom Rimsets Front and Rear $140 Colors offered i...
Schwinn Traveler III Sometimes you find a bike you can't bring yourself to paint. Granted I was not sentimental enough to keep this a geared 10 speed. Original features sometimes fit just right and this is my third bike like this one. But nothing comes close to the original paint and graphics on this beauty. Schwinn S stem and seat binder Original Le Tour Crank and Seat post Riser/City bars are not just a recent trend Brand new Brazen Cycleworks custom wheelset
Vermillion Splash Not red and not orange, it's Vermillion, damn it! The two stage powder coat is courtesy of 1 Off Powder Coating . This lively and quite racy ride is a converted Univega Viva Sport it corners with confidence of a race bike but is quite comfortable just out sprinting anything that rolls. I was experimenting with low gearing, usually not my thing, but it looks like a BMX bike that is ready for a rail slide.
Antifreeze Ice Cream It rides as good as it tastes. Candies, Pearls, Translucents, and Dormants are now flowing from 1 Off Powder Coating . The results are amazing in person, photos only capture 50% of the effect. Classic Schwinn with nice flat crown fork. Tange Levin HS Threaded to Threadless Adapter White Ti seat Custom Brazen Cycleworks wheelset with classic Shimano high flanged hubs and black Sapim spokes and nipples. Who is hungry for more?