hottamalebaby

Hey Guys, this is the first Fixie project I have decided to do. Built a mountain bike from ground up a few years ago. Heres the deal: I live in the middle of Montucky, and old bikes are hard to find apart from driving to denver. I found an old Sears-Robuck bike in the trash and figured I could start with that. A square type Bottom bracket should fit right in right? Everything else is kosher: Frame is straight, (and stripped at the moment) 700c wheels, gonna replace the cassette with a single cog. Any and all advice would be appreciated. Figured Id start cheap before investing money in quality frames and parts.

seau grateau

Bottom bracket size and threading should be standard, considering it's an American bike, unless it came with a one-piece crank. I believe those were a different size shell. Can you post some pics?

Broctoon

Spending extra for a decent crank is worthwhile. This is because with a fixed drivetrain, even a little eccentricity in the chainring can be quite annoying. Sheldon Brown describes a procedure for centering a chainring on its spider, but I've not had much success with this. Currently, I have good cranks on all my bikes, and they're all a joy to ride. Whenever I've tried cheap, crappy cranks, I got quite frustrated with them. Sometimes you get lucky and your old/cheap crank turns out perfectly concentric. Sometimes you're a guy who's not bothered by stuff like this. If neither of those applies to you, a good crank is one of the first things to upgrade.

Good wheels and tires are also worth spending money on, if you're looking to upgrade anything. You don't need super light wheels, and for most bikes, a hub is a hub--they don't matter a lot. But well-built wheels with decent rims can make quite a difference.

Besides those items, the next things I recommend paying close attention to are the seat and the pedals (three of the five points at which your body and bike interface). Seats are so subjective and personal, you just have to experiment to find what you like. Pedals are kind of the same way, except that with fixed gears, it's a good idea to have foot retention of some kind.

When choosing your gears, error on the side of a too-low ratio. (A bit smaller chainring and/or larger cog than you think you'll want.)

79pmooney

Minor point - it sounds like you are building a single speed. (One cog on a cassette body, unless you plan to lock the cassette body to the hub.) Single speed - you can coast. Fix gear - you cannot. Another drawback if you are usng one of the cogs off your cassette. They have cutouts and ramps to encourage easy shifting, ie easy deraillment.

Another matter, that Sears BB probably has the JIS taper, ie what Shimano and virtually all other Japanese BB/crank makers use except the very high end track stuff. The high end European standard is ISO as used by Campagnolo and others. (Sugino and I believe Shimano use ISO for their top track models, Sugino 79 and Dura-Ace to make them fully compatible in the field with Campagnolo at track events.) The JIS units and ISO units are not interchangeable. Even if everything is JIS, different manufacturers and model sit different distances off the bike and have sometimes quite different chainlines.

Ben

fixedweasel

Too many variables here. I have had several Sears Robuck bikes pass through my paws and I've had all three different types of chainsets on them.* In any event, it can be worked out. Nothing wrong with using the original crank and BB with exception to Cottered as it can be a be nightmare to try and remove and save. The biggest issue for you is going to be the rear wheel. You can loc-tite and Rotafix a fixed cog on there but even if you use a SS freewheel, you are going to have to learn how to re-space and re-dish your rear wheel. Unfortunately you will need 2 sets of cone wrenches and a set of spoke wrenches** to do this. A fantastic resource for this is Sheldon Brown. His website will be invaluable for you. Good luck. Have fun.





*Ashtabula......Cottered......English looseball
**not sure of your size nipples***
***mind, mot a personal question

Jax Rhapsody

Cotterpin square taper. Came as single and 5speeds. Those who know the movie Breaking Away know the main character road a single speed version.

I rescued one from my granny and it was in real good shape for sitting outside for years. Mine was a 5speed I had it done up at a bike shop ro get in riding order, and after I destroyed the back wheel, I stripped it down. I eventually made it in to a fixie by throwing a wheelset, and bars at it, tossed on a classic mattress saddle.

hottamalebaby

Thanks for the advice guys. Turns out Im a little out of my league here, found out that i have a one piece Bottom bracket but was able to convert it over with some amateur welding. Laugh all you want; the bikes almost done.
BTW Breaking away is a great movie every noob or "Pro" should see.

steve-in-kville 

Remember what forum you're in: we all absolutely worship the movie Premium Rush. You're not a real rider unless you've watched it like five times.

veganbikes

You said it! It is our favorite documentary and one that everyone should watch.

seau grateau

Let's not forget the Citizen Kane of fixie movies.

fixedweasel

I always like to watch this one before track racing season starts.....................

hairnet

Do you have photos? I'm having trouble picturing what you might have done to accomplish this.