Fixie Conversion : Stage 3

So over the last week iv continued to chip away at my bike, the Easter long weekend has also come in handy.

Iv managed to completely strip the frame of all the paint work and decals. I started doing this using paint stripper and steel wool, that was ridiculous, the steel wool was no way near abrasive enough and although it did the trick it required a lot of hard work. I picked up a steel brush fitting for my drill and that did the trick no worries at all.

Once it was stripped I went over it with mineral turpentine, suspended the frame from the ceiling of my garage and began to prime it. Here are some progress pictures.

On a side note, Mark Webber has put his Rb6 on pole for todays Malaysian GP, all the best to him for todays race!

Fixie Conversion : Stage 2

So now the bike is completely stripped. I took it to the LBS the other day and they got the bottom bracket off for me.

Iv just started to strip the paint off the bike, im doing this using a paint stripper and steel wool. Its pretty hard going and time consuming. I started to get a bit annoyed yesterday as it became apparent how long it will take to do a good job of stripping the paint. But i’ll just take my time with it. One concern I have is that once the paint is stripped the exposed steel can begin to oxidise really quick. Just the atmosphere can start to deteriorate the finish of the steel, to counter this I have covered the exposed steel with olive oil. Not sure if it will do the trick but here’s hoping.

I also have started to restore and polish the components that I want to use, ie the handle bars and bolts etc… dont get me wrong I may replace some of these bits and pieces but i’d rather have the option of using the originals or replacing them, as opposed to having to replace them.

I put the quill stem and bolts in a tub of Coke a Cola and let them soak for 2 days. They went in pretty rusty and average, when i took them out they still had rust on them but it came off with a simple light scrub! I then went over them with Brasso and they came up a treat. The handle bars are still a work in progress as they were really discolored and rusted, but they are getting there. Well here are some progress pictures.

Im pretty sure my mate Luke is going to do his own conversion!!

Fixie Conversion: Stage 1

So over the last few nights iv started to strip my new bike down. Pretty simple so far, just removing all the components to get it to a frame.

Through this process I’v started to get an idea of what I can salvage/use, and also how things work on a bike. I need a specialised tool to remove the Bottom Bracket and the quill stem too. So ill have a crack at that over the weekend.

Once iv got it stripped back it will be a matter of stripping the paint work etc.. and going down the painting path.

Iv been researching what parts ill need to buy and so far have come up with a few options;

Wheelset, iv come across some nice looking cheap wheelsets, and i mean real cheap, $99 for one set and $120 for the other! They have Quando hubs (apparently pretty rubbish) but for what im looking at these could be a good option. I mainly want this bike to look good and hold up for the occasional coffee ride/commute to friends & 50km training ride when i feel like a hard work out. So it wont be high volume use.

The crank will be the other part that ill likely have to replace, and possibly the bottom bracket. But ill know more about this when i pull it off and investigate if its serviceable or not.

Here are some pics of the progress so far.

I Purchased a Bike.

Well that did not take long, a matter of hours actually.

I jumped on eBay yesterday afternoon to see what bikes/frames were available and begin my journey of finding something for my project. I saw a bike that was available in my area, then when I looked who was selling it, it turned out to be one of my really good mates, Ovi! I gave him a buzz, we sorted it all and now i own an old school road bike ready for an overhaul. The other really great thing is that Ovi had a second old road frame in his Shed that is every bit as suitable for a Fixie conversion. So ill have someone to cruise around with.

Here are some pics of her.

I have already started to strip her back but ill leave those details for another post.

As far as I can tell the bike is mid to late 80′s, I really like the frame geometry (although would not have minded a bit more aggressive front end) and its an ideal size. The frame seems pretty true and in good structural order. The wheel set is buckled like crazy, but thats fine as thats the main thing I always expected to replace. I was hoping to be able to use the chainring and cranks, but i expect them to have to be replaced at some stage. The main issue with them, amongst others, is the cranks are 185mm, this is too long when you consider as a fixed gear bike you have to pedal around corners (ie they will strike the ground) so ill get shorter ones (165mm or 170mm) also the chainring seems in good order but i am not sure if i will be able to get it to line up with the single rear cog (time will tell here).

But all in all I’m really happy with it. The only annoying thing is the first purchase ill need to make for it will be the most expensive (wheelset) but thats all good. Ill endeavour to post regular updates on here as to how the conversion is going.

I think ill do a Fixie Conversion.

After much deliberation over the weekend I’v decided that ill look into/do a fixie conversion.

My school of thought is basically as follows;

-I expect to be able to do it rather cost effectively. I expect one or two components to be a bit expensive (mainly new wheel set/fixed gear, single speed flip flop hub), but overall hoping to do it ‘on the cheap’.

- It would be good to have another bike to ride.

- I think it will be a creative out let. I have a pretty grand idea of what it will look like, but weather my execution will live up to this I highly doubt. Fortunately my wife is pretty awesome at heaps of things,being arty one of them, so she will hopefully help me with the really delicate painting and so forth.

- Will be good to learn more about something I have little to no idea about. Bike mechanics and internals.

I’v done some research on what to look for in a frame for a conversion. Iv learnt a stack already, eg you need horizontal drop outs. I also have some personal preferances in a frame. I much prefer frames where the top tube and down tube dont have a large gap where they meet the head tube.

As opposed to this type where the gap is quiet large.

But anyhow it will just depend on what is available and at what type of money. Ill keep my eyes peeled and hopefully will come across something.

Over the last few days I’v come across some other interesting blogs that have some cool cycling info on them so if this type of thing interests you check out http://ridewithgarrett.wordpress.com/ & http://pedalmikester.wordpress.com/

Lance Armstrong with Mash.

This video of Lance Armstrong riding his Fixie with the guys from MASH is great. Would be pretty unreal to ride with this guy, he goes hard on that descent.

RSS Issues

Well after adding feedburner yesterday I have had a few issues with my RSS feeds. They are working on some platforms and then not on others.

This post is basically to let me see what is working and what is not working. Once i get it sorted ill likely erase this.

When it comes to standard web stuff i’m fine with it but when something goes a miss I call on the mids of several intelligent friends, lets call the first one Luke (mainly because that is his name) and ill refer to the second guy as Nathan (that also happens to be his name).

Anyway im hoping this post will pop up into my Bloglines but lets just see.

Thanks for your help guys.