Im currently building my first fixie and am needing some help please…
I have purchased and old early 80’s repco racer and at the moment it has
27 x 1 1/4 wheels and I have heard that these are the old style of wheels?
I am wondering as to whether I should change my wheels to 700c size as it is now a more standard size and availability is far more easier.
Also with ratio for cogs what works easiest for a newcomer and can any one recommend me any quality cranks and parts that are available and what stores around sydney offer the best service.
thanks
Hey bud,
Welcome to the site… I have been in the same situation as you not that long ago and I found the site really helpful and good for picking peoples brains. First off I would recommend checking out this site. Have a good read through… then once you have read it, read it again.
Fixied Conversions - http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
Wheels - http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
Gear ratio - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
what he said.
what sheldon won’t tell you is that you’ll probably want a ratio of gear inches in the high 60’s. roughly. maybe lower for skidding around town, and higher for longer flat roads.
sooner rather that later you’re going to have to spend some money on a chainring or sprocket or both, so to avoid getting a bad combination, read up about ratios and skid spots and all that.
also, is that repco frame an old high-tensile steel one? (with a “hi-ten” label?). they’re usually built like tanks, and ride like tanks.
even if you don’t want to spend much, you could probably find a much lighter cro-mo frame, say a late 80’s tange frame etc, if you want something lighter.
re: sydney stores, there’s a whole thread on that. probably depends most on where you live. if you like there’s the Bicycle Recycle/Nunnery nights on mondays in redfern: http://bikeclub.wordpress.com/
good luck.
I cant seem to see a hi-ten label on the bike its an old 10 speed and is quite light. thanks for the help i’ll be sure to check out everything you have recommended.
Hi Podie
Read heaps, start mucking around with your bike to build up some knowledge.
When you run into specific issues (and you will) then post them up. You will be able to give better descriptions of the problem, and more importantly, understand the answers.
You can run 700c wheels on your 27" frame - the only issue will be if you want to use brakes, you will need long reach calipers. You can get these at your local bike shop.
There is more enjoyment in building your own - even if it looks like shit once your done.
Yup. I’ve got one of them bikes! I’m running 700c and need long reach calipers. Emphasis on need as I’m currently running calipers that are just about to rub the tyre when the brake pad wears down a bit. But it works… and looks shit. But dammit am I proud of it!
Point of the story… build it up yourself, who cares how it looks, and be proud of it! Oh, and fitting 700c wheels does work.
I run a 27" conversion with 700c, Tektro R556 brake callipers work great on mine.
A hint on your first build… make it quick and cheap!
Make your first build a functional rather than fancy bike. There will be plenty of time later to build the piece of art bike and at least you’ll still have a bike to ride into the ground while your contemplating that premier build. IMHO spending lots of money at this stage is silly, as you probably won’t notice the difference between cheap and expensive kit. If you are going to spend some coin it will probably be on a wheelset. But that said you can probably get a lot of value out of a $100-200 set off the forums (or from your LBS). Then once you start riding you’ll notice what you want to keep and what you want to change.
With a fully functional bike it is much easier to wait until a bargain comes up, rather than running around with wads of cash screaming I want/need it now!!
Keep in mind that a lot of the beautiful bikes floating around on forums like this are peoples second, third… nth builds so don’t expect to emulate that just yet.
Long story short… get creative with minimal cash and focus on base functionality.
check out some other members builds in the threads 
it might help answer questions before you even ask them 