Originally Posted by rustystrings61

Senrab61 mentioned St. Sheldon. His works on fixed-gear bikes are likely THE most influential on the resurgence of fixed-gear cycling in this century.[/url] When I first read him and assembled my first fixed-gear in 1998, there were very few dedicated fixed-gear bikes available to purchase. Unfortunately, the bulk of what came along pre-built was very much influenced by track designs with narrow tire clearances, deep dish aero rims and aggressive frame geometry that might be great for a sprint on a board track but is a drag on city streets and quiet back roads. The Kilo WT is kind of an anomaly, being a production fixed-gear with clearance for something larger than a 23-25mm tire.

You used the words "light" and "strong" in the same sentence and mentioned a desire to run 32 mm tires and ride the streets of your town. My experience has been that a light, comfortable-but-nimble frame capable of taking that size tire generally points towards two options. The first is full custom. I have done that, and 20 years later I realize that I honestly would have done better, saved myself a lot of money and had a more flexible, adaptable bike had I simply converted a quality vintage road bike to fixed operation. Over the last decade I have returned to that method, so much so that I have been seriously considering parting with my full custom Mercian.

St. Sheldon explains all of this in detail, but the basic idea is that lots of bikes ranging from pretty good to amazing were sold in the past that can be converted to fixed with relative ease. They'll have clearance for 32 mm tires. They'll have nimble handling - for the road - vs the lightning-quick but possibly twitchy and certainly jarring handling of something inspired by racing on a smooth track. And while you mentioned brakeless riding, I would strongly urge you to run a front brake - that in conjunction with a fixed cog and lockring is the minimum braking standard of the U.K., which is probably the ONLY country with laws about that. The fact that in the U.S. we have crap laws about bike brakes is a reflection of the toy status assigned to bicycling in America.

A lot depends on the mindset you bring to riding. Most of the "ready-to-ride" bikes out there are very track-inspired, built for short fast rides with aggressive geometry. Philosophically, lots of them reflect a hipster pose with styling meant to imply fast, aero dynamic, no-nonsense, hard guy looks by appropriating the style of bike messengers who were themselves appropriating folks who rode brakeless fixed-gears between the world wars. Sheldon's writings are a middle ground, pointing the way to the OTHER fixed-gear cycling tradition, which is primarily British, often revolving around cycling clubs, and demanding a balance of nimble and light combined with the ability to travel long distances in all weather with the capacity to carry light luggage (we would say credit card touring today).

The choice of 32 mm tires is a good one - you can ride city streets, they'll work well on poorly maintained rural roads, and with a bit of skill you can manage gravel and hard packed dirt roads. My best cycling buddy and I rode all of this county's dirt roads on fixed-gears running 28 mm tires, and 32 would be better still. But if you're going for the ride quality of 32s, you might as well look at frames with the right geometry, and the affordable way to that would be converting an old road bike. There are lots of those out there with minimal braze-ons - people will hate you if you have perfectly good fixtures shaved off, so avoid doing that! - and the sort of geometry that was once all out racing that is now considered sport touring. If you're patient and find a good deal, you can then spend your money on some good wheels (NO deep dish stuff!) and a good crankset - and seriously, at least a front brake that works.