danmerk23

In another post I am figuring out if I am going to convert my World Sport to a fixie. I have some technical questions for this forum.

1. I need some tires that will be suited best for the city roads. 27" rims currently, can anyone suggest which tires are a good starting point?

2. Can someone point me to a thread or a link on how to convert parts to fixed gears?

3. Anyone suggest a good rim and hub?

Thanks in advance.

adebrunner

Go to sheldonbrown.com there is a link for SS/Fixed info. You will probably find everything you need there.

Sturmcrow

The Panaracer Pasela TourGuard and Continental Gatorskins are good choices for 27" tires. Formula/IRO/Harris fixed hubs are a great value. If you've got the dough and want the bling, then Phil Wood hubs, of course. I used the cheapie Nashbar 27" rims and they seem to work just fine.

due ruote 

I can't tell whether you're talking about using road or track hubs. A road rear will work fine using a BB lockring to secure the cog (I've been riding one like this for almost 30 years) but if you go this route YOU MUST NOT RIDE BRAKELESS as it's possible to spin the cog off the hub*. You will need to re-space and dish the wheel to center it correctly and obtain proper chainline, but it's by far the lowest cost way to go fixed.

Personally I wouldn't ride brakeless even on a track rear unless of course I was on a track.

*A track hub, on the other hand, has reverse threads for the lockring so back pressure actually tightens the lockring.

danmerk23

Ok. Yeah I was not planning on riding brakeless. I am just curious how I can use new wheels that are fixed eitehr flip flop or fixed on this bike.

cs1

Personally, I always thought it was dangerous to use non-track hubs with a lockring. It seems easier and safer to use them as a SS hub. Freewheeling isn't as bad as you think. On over 50 riders it's saves a lot of crashes.

Retro Grouch 

My fixed gear is mostly parts that I had around the house but I did buy a new pair of Surley hubs which I laced up to some Mavic rims that I already owned.

The crankset is Ultegra. The inner chainring position happened to line up with the track cog on the Surley hub perfectly. I bought a new 105 front brake caliper and a new Salsa cross brake lever. No rear brake.

I'm using Armadillo tires because I already had them and didn't want to use them on one of my other bikes. The Armadillos are actually cool because now I don't feel that it's necessary to carry a pump or a spare tube when I ride the fixie.

tellyho

I have crappy Hutchinson Flash's on my fixie - main selling point: $10 apiece. Don't pay too much for hubs - I don't think there's much of a difference. The Formula ones are fine. If your bike currently has wheels, you only need to replace the rear (stating the obvious, I know).

due ruote 

Actually I don't think freewheeling is bad, but there are some compelling reasons to ride fixed. As far as using a freewheel hub, I can really only comment on my own experience, and in all those years I've never once spun the cog off. I suppose if money weren't an object I'd use a track hub, but I converted my bike back in college when my friends were all racers and did this for the off season. We were all poor and nobody even thought about using a track hub. We all ran brakes and I don't remember any problems at all.