Project Budget Fixie + Wife's SS

General Post your ride
1

After reading everyones builds i got inspired to document my own - Project Budget Fixie. The aim was to have a crack at building and learn as much as i can along the way.

So, started off with a pair of old school road bikes for $10 :slight_smile:

Repco Traveller (i think), and a ‘BlueBird’, made in Perth Australia (on the frame)

The repco fit me better, so started with that, and used the other for spares.

First step, wire brushed back to bare metal, chopped the bars (which in hindsight was a dumb idea)

Cleaned up and chopped off the chain rings



Picked up a felt seat from a local racer, $20

Stumbled across an old orange exercise bike with a funky looking seat, springs and all, so ripped it off and tried it on


Tried it on with the drop bars from the Bluebird, albeit it was in pretty bad shape

Time for paint, gave it a coat of primer i have left over, then a $7 rattle can of gloss white

Built a stand out of a left over chair frame, scaffold arm and scaffold links

Did some dumpster raiding, found some wheels, tyres, handle bars which i cut down. I split some wheels, rims and hubs, so i could have a crack at building wheels later on. Some of my findings

Pic of the bars, and some 700c wheels and tyres i found, on my home made stand :smiley:

Installed the cranks, i went with cotter pin cranks, i liked the way they looked, also cos i didnt have to chop it or anything :lol:. Pics are only mock ups with the old chain, thus why it looks saggy.


Rear hub, i went suicide, obviously the cheapest option, but i’ll be running front brakes later :wink: I think the chain line isnt too bad, but ill have to find some spacers for the hub.

So, still need to: install chain, pedals, adjust rear hub properly with spacers, brakes.

cheers jase

2

Awesome. Anyone who wants to know ‘wot fixtie to get’ should read this post and see how its done!

3

That is ghetto as… I fkn love it.

4

:-o that’s awesome

5

looks great. I’m not sure about running suicide though!
What sort of dumpsters did you find all those wheels in? Impressive finds, at any rate!

6

cheers fellas, appreicate the comments, i just hope she rides half decent :-o

Rigorr, i’m running suicides cos

  1. dont have a track hub
  2. will loctite cog and lock ring
  3. not agressive rider
  4. ill be setting up front brakes shortly, got some dragonfly levers and tektro brakes from my mongoose i raided :sunglasses:

As for the wheels, on the public holiday ( past monday ) shops dont open (here in perth), so i drove to basically every bike shop within 20kms that i knew of looking through their dumpsters. Some were better than others, wheels include

  1. a set of Alex Rims DA22, front has missing spoke, rear had a shimano hub, so i took the hub out, and will relace later on
  2. found couple of Araya 27x1 1/4, decent condition,
  3. most were cheapo mtb rims, 700s etc, will probably use the spokes or whatever to practise wheel building
  4. Rims, i found a ProLite Como, and a shimano front wheel.

At the moment im running some 27x1 1/4 rims, need to find some cheapo tyres. The ones i got are from the original bikes, a little too crispy for my liking :-o

cheers jase

7

I’m doing much the same sort of project and am interested in your rear sprocket setup.

[ul]
[li]What brand sprocket are you using?[/li][li]Where did you get it from?[/li][li]How wide is it (overall width, not just the toothed bit)?[/li][li]After screwing it on, how many mm of thread was left exposed for the lockring?[/li][/ul]

Thanks for any info you can give…

8

Great project, excellent photographic record too! How long did it take you? Any plans for the Bluebird?

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  1. it’s a DICTA rear track cog 16T 1/8" inch
  2. $15 off ebay, or your local LBS
  3. ill have to measure when i get home
  4. after screwing it on, there was just enough room for a BB lockring, id say about 2-3mmm fit just perfect luckily.

Cheers mate, yeh i like taking pics, more for references, but its always good to see how far your project has come along, my only gripe is getting dirt/oil/crap on the camera!. Total length of time, hmm…id say about month so far, just a few hours a day after work, and maybe an odd weekend.

As for the bluebird, the frame size is a little on the smaller side for me, so i was planning on building it for the wife, will probably be a single speed instead of a fixed for her. Will need more parts though!

cheers jase

10

nice work, that’s quality DIY action.

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cheers mate :slight_smile:

Hakucho, i measured the DICTA track cog, it’s about 7mm at its thickest point ( thread and flange) using my good ole ruler, 2-3mm for the lock ring. My freewheel had about 10mm of thread, so just about perfect.

12

Well, update for the weekend.

Came across another repco traveller, $5. It was missing a front wheel and the rear was buckled fairly good. But i figured for $5 it was good for parts, ie drop bars, rear hub, seat post, cranks, chain ring, brakes and of course the frame was in pretty good nick. The condition was definitely better than the first one i got, but it seems to be a smaller size, smaller than the bluebird, top tube, etc. Looks like ill be using this frame for the missus.

Pic of the buy

So i went to get some tyres, rim tape and a few other bits and pieces, installed the chain, loctite on the thread for the 16T track cog and lockring.

Here she is all done

Cotter pin cranks from the bluebird, 52T. Pedals from recent repco i picked up.

Chainline

And the obligatory before and after shots

A quick budget overview for those interested.
Repco Traveller Complete $5
Bluebird GrandPrix $5
Repco Traveller Near Complete $5
Felt Carbon Seat $20
Gloss White Paint $7
Tubes $15
BikeCorp Tyres $30
Ritchey Rimtape $10
SRAM PC1 Chain $20
Flat Bar $Free
Total $117

There’s also the other stuff i found from the dumpsters, wheels, hubs, tyres etc. As well as a few special tools ive had to buy, ie freewheel remover, crank remover, spoke tool, chain breaker. Being my first bike build and a total noob, i didnt have many of these tools.

Keep an eye out for the wifey build! Ill probably be using the 700c wheels and tyres ive found. And will probably have a crack at building a wheel, should be interesting.

13

Well after going for a quick test ride, i think a noob like myself definitely needs some brakes up front :oops:

So heres the bits and peices i’d have to make my brakes out of

Set of Avids and Dragonfly levers from my mongoose

Pic of the brakes, pre and post assembley

And all installed


Ready to ride :lol:

14

that is too good, im jealous, but inspired to do the same. yep no im definitely giving it a crack. wish i had the luck of finding such gold. hard rubbish around brunswick at the moment so might have a peek tomoro. no doubt its all been pundered though.

great job

15

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread, thanks.

This is what fixies are all about- cheap builds using bits and pieces you find around the place; not gold-plated components and crap.

Keepin it Real

+1

16

Cheers for the comments fellas, appreciate it :slight_smile:

Bloody just realised my front tyres on backwards when i looked at the pic, such a noob :smiley:

17

No mate, you did that on purpose because you’re going to be riding it backwards a lot, yes?

18

hunted round for hard rubbish in Brunswick as well, got 2 front wheels, mums wailing at me to through them away but im gonna hide em under my bed, only bike i found was a full suspension dh racer :frowning:

19

i did also… only found to vintage bmx’s… oh well gotta build up some bike in your spare time.

20

yeh saw that, and a few bent wheels lying around