oh yeah… thanks 
This still makes sense to me …
Buy the Paconi; teleport buckshee to Melb - ask ItP how, he’s into this sort of thing; swap everything over to the giraffe frame and e-Bay the Paconi frame - and you’re out-of-pocket prolly less than $250
hello again,
well I just picked up my starter fixie bike:
some old Apollo IV
Chro-moly Steel frame
Araya rims w/ Sunshine (Japan?) hubs?
a little bit of rust on it but it was a bit dark down in Mitchell Rd Auction house when i put in the bid…
I picked it up for ~ $40 so I guess the idea is to try and get a first fixie happening with this frame and keep as many of the original parts as possible.
I"ve read a bunch of stuff about it but i don’t really know where to start…
how much should one pull apart, clean and then put back together? when dealing with an older bike such as this?
Looks like a good candidate. Drilled chainrings too.
First up, take everything off the frame. take the derailleurs, shifters, levers and cables off. If you have a crank puller, takethe cranks off too.
Clean everything and inspect for cracks, bends and other damage. Clean and wax the frame.
Take the big chainring off (assuming the smaller one is still useable) and either get short chainring bolts or put washers on and use the originals.
Then you can sort out the rear wheel, put a chain and a brake on and you’re pretty much done.
I just noticed what’s left of the rear derailleur - check out the rear of the frame and make sure it’s straight. That derailleur was probably ‘removed’ by crashing it so you want to be sure the frame is ok.
Well done. Keep posting pics and asking questions.
there seems to be a stiffness in the cranks that shouldn’t be there.
to me it feels kind tight and doesn’t turn smoothly. what would be the cause of that?
to me the tightness feels like when you overtighten something.
- well that stiff chunky feeling when you turn a skateboard wheel that has been overtightened and the bearing case is pressing too hard on the bearings.
can that happen with a Bottom Bracket?
a/ rust;
b/ heavily pitted bearings;
c/ bent spindle;
d/ one of a dozen other possibilities.
you’ll need to pull that sucker apart.
yes.
Yes. Refer b_rad.
Pull the BB out and clean it up, inspect the cups and bearings for wear. SO long as the cups are ok you might as well replace the bearings and use it. Loose BB bearings cost 3/5 of bugger all and can be had at pretty much any bike shop.
Shagged bottom bracket bearing. You should be able to pick up an new Shimano BB for not-too-much. Getting the old one out might be a bit of fun however…
ha. yeha thanks for the tips. I guess i’ll have to pull that sucker out.
so i need some particular tools for the job don’t i?
- a crank puller for starters?
- one of those weird wrenches?
?
hey i just saw that you can get a CAMPAGNOLO MIRAGE BB for about $20.00? is that how cheap BB are?
http://www.phantomcycles.com.au/product.php?productid=2176
or are these rubbish?
You’ll probably need a pin spanner and a lockring spanner to get the BB out. You’ll have to decide whether you want to invest in tools or get a shop to do it. You can get Sugino spanners for aboput $30 a set - well worth it I think especially since you’ll need a lockring spanner to deal with track cogs anyway.
If the BB is stuffed, replace it with a Shimano UN?2 cartridge BB for about $40.
That’s how much a cheap BB costs. I wouldn’t bother with that one. Bearing quality is ok but you need a special spanner which is no good for anything else and it’s a bastard to use. You’ll also need Campag cranks to fit that BB (well not necessarily, but in general that’s true).
Besides, you don’t know if your BB is ok yet. It might just need a clean, new grease and maybe ball bearings.
Hey, can anyone recommend a Bike ToolKit or somethign similar that includes all the tools you need to fiddle with a bike?
I imagine that would be cheaper than buying things individually?
Check www.torpedo7.com.au They often have deals on toolkits. Their normal prices are pretty OK, but their weekly sale prices are better!
This one looks good. But it would be pricey.
The only problem with the cheapy toolkits is that you get a lot of cheap quality generic tools and not enough good quality specialist ones. I’d just buy what you need as you need it. OR borrow off someone here, OR pop over to my beer garden and diy with my limited tookit 
I know someone who bought this toolkit from Torpedo7.
The quality is fine and value for money is excellent.
Hi,
The Super B set that Snowflake linked to does look ok.
although they do seem to come with a lot of stuff that are more household tools than special bike tools.
…OR pop over to my beer garden and diy with my limited tookit
well a beer garden is always appealing - tools or not.
The minimum you’ll want is:
[ul]
[li]BB tool (the actual one you want depends on the type of BB you’ll use)[/ul][/li][ul]
[li]crank puller[/li][li]chain whip[/li][li]lockring spanner[/li][li]chainbreaker[/li][li]6mm, 5mm & 4mm allen keys[/li][li]spoke key[/li][/ul]
If you have all those, there’s not much left that you’ll need a bike shop to do.
To buy all those separately you’re dangerously close to spending what that toolkit costs so if you don’t have any bike tools now, I reckon that toolkit is a really good start. Plus, a minor advantage is having all your bike tools in one case.
Also handy are:
[ul]
[li]cone spanners (for hub locknuts & cones) [/li][li]T-handle allen keys[/li][/ul]