As my bike repair skills are improving, I've been thinking more and more about building a bike up from scratch. Since my mountain bike is very slow, and since I'd need very expensive derailleurs to deal with shifting at my weight, and since I've been wanting one anyway, I thought it was high time I started thinking about building up a fixie.
So, when I was at the Bikerowave the other day, and saw a large road bike frame for $20, I picked it up. It's a 26 yr old steel Schwinn Traveler frame, with a little more rust and a few more scratches than I'd like, but for $20, I couldn't complain too loudly.
To start, I disassembled the bottom bracket and the headset and cleaned and regreased everything, found a cool stem for it, and one of the patrons there gave me his old handlebars to cut down.
Things were going well.
Then math reared its ugly head.
Since I'd bought just the frame, and I wanted to do things right, I'd have to buy just about everything else for the bike, which started adding up fast as I put together the list.
Initial frame / stem / etc. -$27
Decent fixed gear wheelset - $155 from some guy on craigslist.
Crankset - $45
Chain - $10
Bottom Bracket $20 (optional, the old one could be rebuilt, but a new one would be better).
Headset - $10-15 (also optional).
Brakes/Brake Levers /Cables - $20-45
Chain - $10
Pedals - $15-20
Seat / Seatpost - $15.
Stripping and Painting or Sandblasting and Powdercoating - $25-75.
Various bolts - hardware - $5-10
Yikes!
To the internet!
Or, more specifically, to www.bikesdirect.com, which has a pretty decent selection of fixed gear bikes.
So, for the same money I would have spent turning a rusty 26 year old high-ten steel 10 speed frame into a decent fixed gear bike, I ordered a brand new chromoly steel framed fixie, equipped with decent if not top-notch parts, in a tasteful shade of bright orange, as shown below.
Should be here this week. This will let me know how much I like the fixie experience, and whether I should take the time to build up the Schwinn.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
1 comments:
Piecing together a fixie can be a bit tough/pricey the first time around. The best bet for a newbie is to buy a decent used one from craigslist at a good price... then once overcome by the intense madness we call the love of fixed gear riding - just upgrade.
Here's a good article about finding the right fixie:
http://fixiecafe.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/finding-your-fix/
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