Fixie/Single speed frame information for beginner

Question

I don't want to buy a ready made bike because singlespeed or fixed gear bikes are way expensive due to their popularity.

I want to make my own bike, I haven't build a bike from scratch before. I want a light, simple bike, a fixie or a single speed, maybe a flip-flop. I am going to use it in city which practically doesn't have a single hill.

It seems that first step is to find a frame. What kind of frame should I get? How do I understand that a frame is compatible and good? When buying a second hand frame, what should I look for? (most common stress points to check, or similar...)

Answer 1

Starting with a second hand frame and scrounging second hand parts for it is definitely the way to go if youŕe trying to save money. Many cities have some kind of bicycle recycling group in them, but it can be hard to track them down. They will be able to help you a lot and will save you both money and time. Asking around bike shops and checking their notice boards or any posters they have up is the most likely way in my experience. If you have to start by collecting bikes from the rubbish dump itś going to be a long, hard process.

If you want to buy a new frame and put new parts on it that will cost more than a similar bike bought ready-made. You're buying parts one at a time retail, the assembly plant buys them by the containerload, or from a nearby factory. In Australia you can get a new fixie from a bike shop from about $400, and one that's ridable from about $600. A cheap frame by itself will cost at least $250, and a pair of wheels another $150. This is partly because people wanting to build their own are rarely after cheap stuff, and partly because no retailer sells enough parts to get the volume discounts that assemblers do. I have a friend who manufactures custom bikes, and he gets shipments of 200 wheels for less than half the wholesale price of a single wheel sourced locally (so less than 1/4 of the retail price).

I suggest sitting down and doing a rough budget based on buying parts from a single online retailer. It doesn't matter that you will miss a few of the small parts, since the total cost is likely to be alarming. And you haven't even added in the cost of reselling parts that don't fit and buying replacements.

At the very least I suggest you will need to visit a bike shop for fitting the bottom bracket (the thread-chasing tool is expensive, and you may need to try several bottom brackets to get your chain alignment correct). You may also need them to fit the headset, because again doing it properly requires a few expensive tools. The rest you can do with basic workshop tools.

Answer 2

Building a frugal dumpster/secondhand singlespeed or fixed gear is definitely one of those tasks that has become much more difficult with their growth in popularity.

So, let's say you've found a frame that's in your relative size range. You've figured this out already by riding other bicycles and visiting bike shops and figuring out a rough range of acceptable seat tube and top tube lengths. And you obsessively carry around a metric tape measure (probably not that hard in Europe).

The first thing to check when selecting a frame is its suitability for conversion. For a fixed gear or singlespeed without chain tensioner that means it needs to have horizontal dropouts or track ends. (Expensive options like an eccentric bottom bracket or sliding dropouts would work here as well, but those are rare to find on inexpensive frames.)

The next thing to consider is completeness relative to your parts supply. A frame with fork is almost always better than a bare frame - finding compatible road forks, particularly threaded, can be annoying as there are a number of odd old sizes out there. If you've got no parts to start with, a complete bike makes a good base point. Singlespeeding a complete bike is relatively trivial - remove the chain, remove the shifters and derailleurs, and then shorten the chain and reinstall it over your preferred gear combination. As you find additional parts you like you can replace them piecemeal.

As far as damage goes, the main stress points to look at are going to be where the rear dropouts meet the chainstay and seatstay and where the seatstays meet the seat tube. But give it a quick gander at all the joints to look for any obvious cracks. You'll also want to check just behind the headtube for any sign that the bike has been in a front end collision or roof rack crash. In general, any kind of bunched-up paint is usually a sign of a bent tube and a compromised frame.

Answer 3

Here's the thing. It's going to be difficult to beat the price of a pre-manufactured bike, depending on where you live. Here in NYC, you can scrounge a complete bike worth having for maybe $100-150, then get a rear fixed wheel + cog + lockring for $50-100ish. If the cables and brake pads are trashed, you'll have to replace them, and possibly service the BB and headset.

Or you can get one of the bikesdirect bikes for $280 shipped, with cartridge everything. If you want to build a bike for the experience (I highly recommend this, btw) it's worth it, but the odds of you saving more than $100 are low.

Answer 4

If you are sure that you do not want gears ever, you can get a dedicated single speed frame for pretty cheap, like this one:

Nashbar SS Frame

This type of frame is nice because you won't need to run a chain tensioner, making it simpler to maintain. From there, just search for deals on the rest of the parts. If you can, you might want to look for either a carbon or steel fork, they tend to dampen vibrations better than aluminium.

You can also surf ebay and craigslist for used stuff, or join a local biking club where someone always seems to be selling something on the cheap.

Answer 5

I've heard different countries have different systems so if you buy italian frame all the other parts also have to be italian. Is it true?

The Sheldon Brown web site is often recommended as a reference: it says something about Italian sizes here (which is already concise and which I therefore don't want to summarise).

Answer 6

Lots of answers already here, but a quick one to remind you of the tools you'll need to build your own fixed gear.

It may be cheaper to source the parts but you have to have specific tools to properly assemble it. You may have them already, in which case I defer the the above answers, but if not a lockring removal tool and chain whip from a reputable maker like Park Tool will set you back $30ish each and you'll want things like a pedal spanner and a good 15mm to adjust your rear wheel to keep chain tension.

This can get pricey so while you may want these later down the line anyway for maintenance I'd go pre-made, or even better, go to your LBS and ask what they can do.

As an aside, I'm pretty biased as I own one, but I'm a big fan of the Surly Steamroller for a no-nonsense fixed gear for regular riding.

Answer 7

I will give you the short and best answer. Find a frame. Road or mountain. whatever you can get. Buy a White Industries Eno eccentric flip/flop hub. Start with a medium gear try 45 chainring and 18 cog. Ride that for a year with a front brake to learn. When you are confident remove the brake or keep it. Change gearing if necessary. If you don't like riding fixed keep the brakes and put on a free wheel.