Have you ever set this up to be anything other than a coaster? I'm bored and was looking through this thread, started wondering how it would do set up fixed. I looked it up and the BB drop is 68mm, which is pretty close to road specs, so cornering might be sketchy (but not more so than your average fixed conversion). Just measured my Smart bike up out of curiosity, and the BB drop seems to be right about 50mm. Its a pretty twitchy, sprinty bike.
I don't have a photo but I have a blue bike from walmart. about $150 bucks 29 inch tires it is a beast. Oh and it is a mountain bike.
can't believe i haven't seen this post and was even tagged in it haha heres my first bike which is some no name chinese brand covered in brand name kendama stickers, front bar/rack combo a big ol 30 in the back and running 46/17 with some straps aka Don the Bruiser my second bike which took me awhile to get all the parts i wanted, is a 17Teeth T1 track frame 57cm, cinelli bullhorns, sugino pros cages 48/17 ratio she's built for tucking it hard and going fast aka Molly
Highly considering getting a bike. Got a new job that is definitely bike distance. Wanted to try fixed for awhile. Any recommendations on a good place to start that won't break the bank?
Whats your budget? The good news is fixed / single speed bikes are much simpler than a geared bike, so for the same price you'll generally get a better quality bike if you go fixed/SS. Craigslist can be a gamble, but also a good place to find sweets deals sometimes. Obviously heading into your local bike shop is a good way to see whats available. There are a number of brands that make decent quality stuff in the $4-500 range for a fixed/SS bike. The fuji feather is a well-known 'first fixed' kinda bike that you'll probably see a lot of if you search online. Something similar to that is a good goal to start out imo. Another option is to find an old steel road-bike frame in decent condition, and convert it into a fixed gear. You might save a bit of money this way, but it can also be tricky finding parts that fit properly onto a conversion like that (getting a nice chainline can be very tough). The geometry of a road bike is also quite different (especially older road bikes), once I switched to an actual track frame it was like... wow! This bike is actually made to do this, it just works better and is more fun. Conversions can still be a good spot to start though, just don't clip a pedal goin around corners! Also, if you ever need bike info of any sort, just search out Sheldon Brown's website. Its an epic trove of bike knowledge!
Thanks man! Great info, thanks! yeah I'm thinking under $500 would be good. I can probably get close to it but I don't really want to spend more than I need to for my first one. I think I'll probably head over to Sheldon Brown's website now. While building a bike sounds fun, I will probably wait till I have quite a bit more knowledge and some experience, heh. Sounds like a deep dark rabbit hole though....that's the kind I like.
Sounds about right! Honestly, I think that trying to do maintenance and troubleshooting on a fixed/SS bike is a really good way to learn how to build / maintain a bicycle. With less stuff to break, its usually easier to figure out what is busted and how to fix it. At least, thats been my method of learning over the last few years! It also helps having a a community-run bike shop with all of the tools available for use, down the street from my workshop
The cruiser. I usually ride a single gear around town and a road bike to commute to work but I wanted to post something different.
Got this in Tokyo for "truck" duty hence the added baskets. Japanese sized "mamachari" bikes are a bit small for me. IIRC this was based on a 1934 Schwinn beach cruiser and has the "back-peddle brake" for the rear tire.
@goenKendama Japan loves the mamachari! We rented some from the hostel during KWC. Mine was the pink beauty up front And here is a shot of one of Kristin's bikes, I finished building the wheelset earlier this summer. Campy high flange track hubs laced to archetypes
@htimSxelA Although it's illegal for 2 adults to be on the same bike you can often see 2-3 kids plus Mom on a mamachari often with groceries or other paraphernalia hanging off the bike. Usually in this configuration. But occasionally like this. . .