fixed gear bicycles
 

has anyone here converted a bike to a fixed gear bike? i looked online and didn't find that much information on converting a bike to a fixed gear bike. i'm just wondering if anyone has done it and how long it took them to convert the bike.

fixed gear? why? you're getting out of florida in a matter of months. other places in the world aren't flat like a pool table. keep your gears.

Mine's an accidental fixed gear bike, because the gear is totally fucked and I'm too cheap to buy a new one.

buy a used one from the shop. i did that w/ my brake levers.

citrus oil chain cleaners are even better and are less toxic (of course they will burn the fuck out of your guts if ingested)

I have a single-speed conversion, but it's a freewheel. I only really see the advantage of a fixed gear in winter (kind of like having antilock brakes), and I like my knees. I also like to coast fast down steep hills and I like brakes. If you know what you're doing it won't take that long, but you'll need to get spacers to make up for the room taken up by the gear cassette that won't be there anymore. There is really no call for gears where I live, and my bike is fast. I have a 53 in front and a 16 in the back.

Shut up, Diesel! I was just about to drink some Citrus Lube.
Symbol guy just saved my life!

what did you just say? can you explain?

you presume that i presume. presumer!

When you presume, you make a pres out of you and me.

Excellent! Now we're both in charge!

tried but no. movies tho.

had to choose bet. sound or movies cos of $$ for gear. movies are doing ok!

but as we expand maybe-- we have some noise soundtrack somewhere we made.

ha! i dont know myself-- gotta get goin tho

post us some new music when you have--

it's beyond repair at this point, but the bicycle itself is no longer worth buying another gear either. it has served me for about 14 years or so without ever getting stolen, so i'm looking for a whole different second-hand bicycle now.

Another thing to take into consideration:

You can only properly convert your bike to a single-speed or fixed gear if you have horizontal dropouts on the frame. If they're vertical, you won't be able to pull the wheel back to adjust chain tension (something that the derailleur normally does.)

Sure, you can get a derailleur-like chain tensioner installed in the event that you want a single-speed on a bike that has vertical dropouts, but that's just more money on top of the spacers, new cogs, and the new chain.

If you've got horizontal dropouts and just want to make it single-speed, keep the freewheel/cassette that you have, as well as the chainrings (if present.) Just remove the derailleur and shorten the chain, putting it over the chainring and cog in the rear that you like riding in most.

Why do you want to make it fixed?