surfed the web alittle and found this http://www.fixedgearfreak.com/
are there any shops around melb like this, that sells conversions for a fairly cheap price?
please let me know, becasue i really want to get a cheap single speed/fixie, because i dont know hold to convert one
You could just learn to make one?
Even a ghetto single speed can be fun for starters.
i would love to build one as a holiday project, but i dont know where to get my parts from (because i need it for fairly cheap prices). i dont really trust ebay, and i need a tutorial that clearly explains each and every step.
<a href=“http://www.abbotsfordcycles.com.au/public/index.php”>a)</a>
<a href=“http://www.sheldonbrown.com/”>b)</a>
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pryor”>c)</a>
Lock in C thanks eddie.
Even if you find this, you’ll still make mistakes. Mistakes are an essential part of learning. Convert a bike, not to make a fixie, but to build your knowledge. You can only love what you truly understand.
Start here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
You could always pay someone here in beer for the use of their tools, guidance & access to parts bin when half the bits you have acquired don’t fit / work together.
Or, volunteer your time at Born Again Cycles (South Melb), fix up a few bikes for them, in the process learning how to wrench on bikes, and then build yours there at the end.
If you want cheap nonebay parts, try Human Powered Cycles (Bruns) or Born Again, or post your requests here if you know what you need.
It’s not about the destination (built bike), it’s all about the journey (learn a new skill, make a few mistakes, lose the tip of your finger in the drivetrain). Just like riding, the destination is largely irrelevant.
You could always earn the money for a new bike as a ‘rent boy’.
ok then, this is my plan. to get a SE Draft, which is pretty cheap, but ive heard some pretty bad things about it. eg, its crap components. so i was thinking about getting this set of stuff from ebay.
http://www.sebikes.com/Singlespeed/700c-Draft.aspx
and
how does that look to everyone. and then ill change all the parts myself by looking up tutorials and instructons online
get the bike. dont get the groupset, unless you get it reeeeaallllly cheap. the parts will only be a bit better than the standard SE stuff, youd be better off abusing the SE and replace the stock bits as they break/fall off.
you’d be better off getting the SE and only changing the bits that brake (besides no matter how crap it is it should hang together for long enough for you to figure out if you like riding SS, or fixed if you rotafix a cog to the rear hubs freewheel threads and leave the brakes on)
that e-bay group looks pretty dubious and might not offer much of an upgrade over the stock SE bits. You’d also have to rebuild the rear wheel with the fixed hub (might need new spokes as well) to run fixed properly with a lock ring.
alright, that sounds good, now the decision is between the draft and the lager
there is only about a $100 difference between the two, so whihc one should i go for, snice in the end only the frame is probably the only thing thats gonna last, as i want to change the handel bars to drop bars
spot on. few things in life more enjoying than accumulating the parts you want to build/upgrade a sweet ride. I’m at the stage where I can’t really think of how to make my 700c bikes better short of a higher end groupset for my road bike which I considered and then baulked at the cost of getting a new campy groupset and then having to replace the BB, cranks and a long cage derailleur before I even install them so I can keep running a triple chainring.
I think this summer will be all about mountain biking. I can see a big hole about the same size as my current bike that I can throw giant wads of cash at. That said, I should really thrash the fuck out of my current one so I actually appreciate the upgrade.
Hey leesk. I would suggest buying the se lager, I brought the 2008 se draft and as much as i love it, its way to heavy and dont be fooled by the draft light, theres not much of a difrence.
Also if you head down to goldcross bikes in richmond they have one more 2008 premium brew for half price which has some pretty good parts on it that you wont have to change.
ok so the SE lager sounds like the one im gonna need to go for. now im gonna have to fork out a little more money to repaint it. cause i know it comes in a brown, which im not very fond of at all