How to build a Single Speed?
Discussion
Right i'm just not getting through enough gears on my daily commute, have no use for disc brakes on the road and am tired of the admiring looks the local scum give my bike every time i leave it locked up for them to practice on. So i've decided i'm going to build a simple not too snazzy single speed for zipping around town and keep the nice bike for the weekend. Plus the fact I figured it'd be quite fun in these winter months!
I am keen to try to build as don't mind it looking old (less nickable) and have no desire to sell a kidney to buy a trendy branded new single speed.
So how do i do it? I figured getting a steel Reynolds 531 frame or similar, with bull horn bars and pistol style tektro brakes or similar.So it looks a little some thing like this but without the silly price and a steel frame instead.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mm/bullhorn-fi...
Has anyone got any advice on which frame, brakes, bottom bracket, cassette, dropout etc to get?
And is it ebay all the way for buying?
Many thanks for any help.
I am keen to try to build as don't mind it looking old (less nickable) and have no desire to sell a kidney to buy a trendy branded new single speed.
So how do i do it? I figured getting a steel Reynolds 531 frame or similar, with bull horn bars and pistol style tektro brakes or similar.So it looks a little some thing like this but without the silly price and a steel frame instead.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mm/bullhorn-fi...
Has anyone got any advice on which frame, brakes, bottom bracket, cassette, dropout etc to get?
And is it ebay all the way for buying?
Many thanks for any help.
you can usually pick up old peugeot and raleigh road frames with good old school geometry for peanuts, some of these are 531 tubing and i have even seen 753 frames at car boot sales so you never know. get the free ads paper and go look at some of the ads that say "Gents Raleigh Racer £25", people have been known to pick up 753 frames with campag record groupsets from the most unlikely sources....
alternatively you could look for an old kona frame, they had such good geometry and somewhat bizarrely, they really suit singlespeed and they are bombrpoof.
you can pick up fire mountains for not too much cash with project two forks and then as you say, ebay, singletrackworld and bikeradar are all good places to hunt for parts. use road parts, you are looking to save weight and get teh speed up so the lighter the better.
you will need one of these http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dmr/single-spe...
if you cant find a kona, have a look for a gt or something similar.
for £300 though, i have always liked the look of these guys bikes http://singlespeed.angelfire.com/ though they fall in the "wannabe messenger" bracket. personally i would stick with flat bars, bullhorn bars have that messenger look and before long you will be hanging around coffee shops,wearing neon and be sticking flyers in your wheels and i will have an urge to drive you into the gutter
alternatively you could look for an old kona frame, they had such good geometry and somewhat bizarrely, they really suit singlespeed and they are bombrpoof.
you can pick up fire mountains for not too much cash with project two forks and then as you say, ebay, singletrackworld and bikeradar are all good places to hunt for parts. use road parts, you are looking to save weight and get teh speed up so the lighter the better.
you will need one of these http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dmr/single-spe...
if you cant find a kona, have a look for a gt or something similar.
for £300 though, i have always liked the look of these guys bikes http://singlespeed.angelfire.com/ though they fall in the "wannabe messenger" bracket. personally i would stick with flat bars, bullhorn bars have that messenger look and before long you will be hanging around coffee shops,wearing neon and be sticking flyers in your wheels and i will have an urge to drive you into the gutter
Unless you are going to buy a track specific frame (more expensive) or add a chain tensioner you need a frame with near horizontal dropouts with sufficient length for adjusting the wheel fore & aft - to ensure your chain is tensioned correctly.
A lot of old school steel road frames feature this type of drop out but many newer road & mtb frames have vertical drop outs which are not suitable without adding a chain tensioner. As
Pablo says Raleigh & Peugeot with 1" headsets and steel forks are suitable
I use Ribble, Parker, Chain Reaction, Merlin, All Terrain & ebay for parts.
I would try and find a complete decent old roadbike as a starting point and change the parts as required. If everything is in good order you may only need to buy new bars, brake levers, single speed conversion kit and a set of single chainring bolts to convert the chainset to a single. Much cheaper than building from scratch.
A lot of old school steel road frames feature this type of drop out but many newer road & mtb frames have vertical drop outs which are not suitable without adding a chain tensioner. As
Pablo says Raleigh & Peugeot with 1" headsets and steel forks are suitable
I use Ribble, Parker, Chain Reaction, Merlin, All Terrain & ebay for parts.
I would try and find a complete decent old roadbike as a starting point and change the parts as required. If everything is in good order you may only need to buy new bars, brake levers, single speed conversion kit and a set of single chainring bolts to convert the chainset to a single. Much cheaper than building from scratch.
Edited by Roman on Wednesday 18th November 09:53
Thanks great advice. I also found this, though he seems very preoccupied with beer for a bicycle mechanic. Or is this where i'm going wrong?
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/page38.htm
Any advice on cog sizes... Guy at work has a 52 16T though is ex-rower/triathelete etc looks like hard work!
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/page38.htm
Any advice on cog sizes... Guy at work has a 52 16T though is ex-rower/triathelete etc looks like hard work!
If you buy a complete old roadbike it is likely to have a 52 outer & 42 inner chainring. See how the 42 feels. 52 is a bit big for most people - unless you are fast and your route is flat. If you need a new chainset or chainring anyway, somewhere between 42-48 is most common with a 16 on the back.
I rebuilt an old Peugeot 12 speed roadbike as a commuter for a mate recently - just reversed & cut down the drop bars to make upright cowhorns (like an old school low profile), put a single chainring on the front to make it 6 speed & finally some 32c tyres for city potholes - a cheaper alternative to a single speed.
I rebuilt an old Peugeot 12 speed roadbike as a commuter for a mate recently - just reversed & cut down the drop bars to make upright cowhorns (like an old school low profile), put a single chainring on the front to make it 6 speed & finally some 32c tyres for city potholes - a cheaper alternative to a single speed.
Gnarlybluesurf said:
Thanks great advice. I also found this, though he seems very preoccupied with beer for a bicycle mechanic. Or is this where i'm going wrong?
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/page38.htm
Any advice on cog sizes... Guy at work has a 52 16T though is ex-rower/triathelete etc looks like hard work!
Great resource, as well as Sheldon Brown. For the bars, I have Profile Airwings on my fixed and they're great, no complaints, for the frame i'd recommend going for something like 501, 531 is better but it tends to go for much more than it's worth, bit of a 531 fad at the moment which pushes prices up, i've got a 501 fully geared 80's Raliegh road bike that weighs 9.5 kilos and I got that for £140 of ebay which is a bargain imo, just keep an eye out on ebay and you'll spot a few bargains, any questions feel free to send me a message.http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/page38.htm
Any advice on cog sizes... Guy at work has a 52 16T though is ex-rower/triathelete etc looks like hard work!
More great advice thanks.
I think I'm going to go for an racer thanks snotrag as Roman's suggestion seems a great way of keeping the cost down. Charlie the bikemonger seems to have a pretty decent converter kit for £42 if I ended up going fully single.
Just need to find a suitable bike!
I think I'm going to go for an racer thanks snotrag as Roman's suggestion seems a great way of keeping the cost down. Charlie the bikemonger seems to have a pretty decent converter kit for £42 if I ended up going fully single.
Just need to find a suitable bike!
pablo said:
for £300 though, i have always liked the look of these guys bikes http://singlespeed.angelfire.com/ though they fall in the "wannabe messenger" bracket. personally i would stick with flat bars, bullhorn bars have that messenger look and before long you will be hanging around coffee shops,wearing neon and be sticking flyers in your wheels and i will have an urge to drive you into the gutter
I really like mine - needs a better quality paint job, [and flat bars!] but a great platform to build on.
I must admit i've not heard very good things about BLB too. The kit they have in there is amazing every cog and chain colour you could want but the prices are crazy. Far too many people around there wearing their uncle alberts clothes 3 sizes too small for them and walking round with a single speed as the ultimate fashion accessory for my liking. It's great for them but this isn't about fashion for me. Just think it'd be good fun to get a cheap old racer and rebuild it / turn it into a single speed for every day bombing around.
It is very weird though that as soon as someone puts Reynolds 531 in the listing title the prices for battered old racers goes into the hundreds and for new SS (withouth the expensive gearing, shifters, disc brakes etc) are more expensive than the equivalent road/hybrid/mountain bike.... it's all fashion b
ks surely!
It is very weird though that as soon as someone puts Reynolds 531 in the listing title the prices for battered old racers goes into the hundreds and for new SS (withouth the expensive gearing, shifters, disc brakes etc) are more expensive than the equivalent road/hybrid/mountain bike.... it's all fashion b
ks surely!maddernj said:
I don't know if you realise or are trying to make a point but clicking on that link sends you to some Porn Forum... Are single speeds so sexy that they are now a form of porn?
maddernj said:
your kidding right ? I click the link and I takes me to the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed website ?
No, if I copy and paste it then it goes to the site, which is fantastic thanks (although it really makes you realise how many people are watching ebay for that elusive bike!!)However if I just click on it it goes to xnxx.com which as andy says is down for maintenance!!
I've been on that site a long time, great resource, to explain the porn site thing, some arse registered with the name "pistonheads" and started trolling and it got to the point where he was doing it on threads about people who had just died in HGV accidents, so the moderator then set the porn site re-directing thing up.
However, it is a great resource, but if you want to find something out, search for it, if you've searched extensively and still can't find anything, then ask a question.
However, it is a great resource, but if you want to find something out, search for it, if you've searched extensively and still can't find anything, then ask a question.
Gnarlybluesurf said:
maddernj said:
your kidding right ? I click the link and I takes me to the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed website ?
No, if I copy and paste it then it goes to the site, which is fantastic thanks (although it really makes you realise how many people are watching ebay for that elusive bike!!)Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff