DONE IT! Scored meself a Fixie!!!

Having just recieved a whopping freelance cheque i impishly decided to
treat myself to a new toy, er, bike!

Its a track bike, chromoly-something, metallic blue (hmmm. shall i
paint it green?) Sugino 165mm cranks, high flange hubs, sodding huge
gearing (its gonna be the commuter... ) with a 52T and a double-sided
rear hub with what looks approx 14 and 16-18 on either side. is this
double-sided fixed common (only heard of the flip-flop fix/freewheel).

May need to swap out the forks (those luverly chrome numbers pre roady
carbon might ake a comeback) altho the only reason Im contemplating
that is cos there's no brake drilling. OMG!!! No brakes! That means
putting brakes on it. it has drops so Im thinking of reprising the
veloce ergo/s and said brake. Hmmmm, one or two?

I think the tyres may be singles. bette rcheck that out.

Did i mention its blue?

Gee, a nice white transfer of "FlyingDutchman" would look good along
that top tube.

Its got a little transfer on one of the chainstays saying "By
Kuwahara"
It wa slisted in the trading post as some other name. will look that up
to confirm.

You may be thinking that Im a bit vague on all this but I just got home
and he beauty is resting in the shed and Im trying to think of some way
to break it to 'her-indoors' that I have bought yet another bike.
On a good note (her perspective, not mine :-( ) I have offloaded 4
bikes (or parts thereof) to good homes. So 'Bluey' is just balancing
the ledger, right?

Hippy, et al. I may need advice on gearing, changeing cogs/rings,
drilling forks? (and maybe back brake bridge too?)

oh, BTW, its blue. maybe it will grow on me?

VERY excoited


--
flyingdutch

flyingdutch wrote:
[...]

Hippy, et al. I may need advice on gearing, changeing cogs/rings,
drilling forks? (and maybe back brake bridge too?)

I have been hanging out in a fixed gear lists for some time and while
gearing always starts great debates the consensus seems to be that
around 70 gear inches is a good compromise between being able to climb
hills and not spinning out going down. So, with a 52T up front you
would be aiming for 19 (~73 inches) or 20 (~69 inches) at the back.
Personally I don't like big rear cogs (no real reason I guess) so I'd be
looking for a 42T ring.

My fixies are both converted road bikes so I have no advice on drilling
for brakes...

Have fun!

Brian

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/watson.htm

Brian Watson wrote:

flyingdutch wrote:
[...]

Hippy, et al. I may need advice on gearing, changeing cogs/rings,
drilling forks? (and maybe back brake bridge too?)


I have been hanging out in a fixed gear lists for some time and while
gearing always starts great debates the consensus seems to be that
around 70 gear inches is a good compromise between being able to climb
hills and not spinning out going down. So, with a 52T up front you
would be aiming for 19 (~73 inches) or 20 (~69 inches) at the back.
Personally I don't like big rear cogs (no real reason I guess) so I'd be
looking for a 42T ring.

My fixies are both converted road bikes so I have no advice on drilling
for brakes...

Have fun!

Brian

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/watson.htm

love that bike of yours Brian. I remember seeing it when it was posted.

Must be a head turner.

--
Nick

Welcome to the asylum flyingdutch and congrats on your purchase )
I ride a track bike with a double sided rear hub and a ultegra front
brake.
42 front ring and a 16 rear. This works OK for me in Sydney but if I
can manage to improve on the power to weight ratio I'll change it to
42/15.
A front brake is a must for riding in traffic. Without it I had to slow
up to much in case I had to do a panic stop. With the front brake it's
no longer a worry but track bikes are short, so any sudden stops are
done balancing on the front wheel. I have manged to hit 60kms/h a few
times but its hard work.

Good luck and tailwinds


--
geoffs

"flyingdutch"

Its a track bike,

This is gonna be fun... ;-)

gearing (its gonna be the commuter... ) with a 52T and a double-sided
rear hub with what looks approx 14 and 16-18 on either side. is this
double-sided fixed common (only heard of the flip-flop fix/freewheel).

Yeah, you will need to find a smaller chainring unless
you don't like your knees much.. high 60's/low 70's
gear inch range is the accepted starting point for fix.

May need to swap out the forks (those luverly chrome numbers pre roady
carbon might ake a comeback) altho the only reason Im contemplating
that is cos there's no brake drilling. OMG!!! No brakes!

Well, to make it legal you need a brake. I think you'd be
somewhat insane to ride brakeless. This is where the 'fun'
begins.. ;-)

putting brakes on it. it has drops so Im thinking of reprising the
veloce ergo/s and said brake. Hmmmm, one or two?

Two if you've got them for symmetry - at least that's what I
was going to do, but it didn't happen that way.

I think the tyres may be singles. bette rcheck that out.

More 'fun' :-P

Did i mention its blue?

Fine by me :-)

Gee, a nice white transfer of "FlyingDutchman" would look good along
that top tube.

I need "Vegemite"

Its got a little transfer on one of the chainstays saying "By
Kuwahara"
It wa slisted in the trading post as some other name. will look that up
to confirm.

Kuwahara is a reasonably well known brand.

VERY excoited

Sounds painful.. ;-)

Nice one.. now you need to find out about the tyres, fork,
what sort of cranks it has (for a smaller ring), etc..
You will of course keep us posted..

hippy

"geoffs"

A front brake is a must for riding in traffic. Without it I had to slow
up to much in case I had to do a panic stop. With the front brake it's
no longer a worry but track bikes are short, so any sudden stops are
done balancing on the front wheel. I have manged to hit 60kms/h a few
times but its hard work.

Yeah.. that track geometry is gonna be fun
road riding on.. track bikes turn SHARP!

Read this:
http://www.63xc.com/gregg/101_1.htm

There will be a test.

hippy

good job flyingdutch

welcome to the club ... maybe all the fixers in melb should start
meeting up at the park or something like the NY messengers do at
central park.

hanging out and watching bike porn. way cool

cheers
koon


--
Koon Yong

hippy Wrote:
"flyingdutch"

Its a track bike,

This is gonna be fun... ;-)

gearing (its gonna be the commuter... ) with a 52T and a double-sided
rear hub with what looks approx 14 and 16-18 on either side. is this
double-sided fixed common (only heard of the flip-flop
fix/freewheel).

Yeah, you will need to find a smaller chainring unless
you don't like your knees much.. high 60's/low 70's
gear inch range is the accepted starting point for fix.

May need to swap out the forks (those luverly chrome numbers pre
roady
carbon might ake a comeback) altho the only reason Im contemplating
that is cos there's no brake drilling. OMG!!! No brakes!

Well, to make it legal you need a brake. I think you'd be
somewhat insane to ride brakeless. This is where the 'fun'
begins.. ;-)

putting brakes on it. it has drops so Im thinking of reprising the
veloce ergo/s and said brake. Hmmmm, one or two?

Two if you've got them for symmetry - at least that's what I
was going to do, but it didn't happen that way.

I think the tyres may be singles. bette rcheck that out.

More 'fun' :-P

Did i mention its blue?

Fine by me :-)

Gee, a nice white transfer of "FlyingDutchman" would look good along
that top tube.

I need "Vegemite"

Its got a little transfer on one of the chainstays saying "By
Kuwahara"
It wa slisted in the trading post as some other name. will look that
up
to confirm.

Kuwahara is a reasonably well known brand.

VERY excoited

Sounds painful.. ;-)

Nice one.. now you need to find out about the tyres, fork,
what sort of cranks it has (for a smaller ring), etc..
You will of course keep us posted..

hippy
excoited

does that mean you pulled it out of your, err, 'coit'?

way to go

MH


--
mfhor

NickZX6R wrote:

Brian Watson wrote:

flyingdutch wrote:

[...]

Brian

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/watson.htm


love that bike of yours Brian. I remember seeing it when it was posted.

Must be a head turner.

It might be if it got out a bit more. When I first built it I did quite
a bit (for me :-) on it. But after a while I found myself wanting
something lighter, more agile etc. So I took the gears of my brothers
old unknown lugged steel "traditional" road frame with old Shimano 105
components, threaded on a 15T cog, added a few bits from eBay and that
is now getting most of my time.

I did the Sydney to the 'Gong on this bike (my brother's) last year with
gears. I am seriously considering doing it fixed this year. I know
it's nothing compared to some of the epics you read about but it will be
a challenge for me!

Brian

flyingdutch wrote in message ...

Having just recieved a whopping freelance cheque i impishly decided to
treat myself to a new toy, er, bike!

Congrats. Welcome to the dark side.

Its a track bike, chromoly-something, metallic blue (hmmm. shall i
paint it green?) Sugino 165mm cranks, high flange hubs, sodding huge
gearing (its gonna be the commuter... ) with a 52T and a double-sided
rear hub with what looks approx 14 and 16-18 on either side. is this
double-sided fixed common (only heard of the flip-flop fix/freewheel).

My rear hub is double sided. They're reasonably common. Back in
ye-olde-days riders would have a flatland gear on one side and a
climbing gear on the other (and pull the feet off the pedals to coast
down-hill - ouch!).

May need to swap out the forks (those luverly chrome numbers pre roady
carbon might ake a comeback) altho the only reason Im contemplating
that is cos there's no brake drilling.

Be careful. Most dedicated track frames have fairly steep head tubes,
so will need a fork with thirty something millimetres rake, rather
than the 43-45 that's common on roadies. If you put a 43mm rake fork
on a track bike, it'll make it _very_ unstable. I compromised on my
road/track fixed gear, with a 40mm rake Look HSC3 fork, and 74 degree
head tube.

OMG!!! No brakes! That means
putting brakes on it. it has drops so Im thinking of reprising the
veloce ergo/s and said brake. Hmmmm, one or two?

If you like the drop bars, you'll probably want a pair of brake
levers, to give you something to hold onto. I never use a rear brake
(even on my road bike) so just put the front on, but found it was a
PITA climbing with only one brake lever. The solution to that was to
spend more dough and buy bullhorns.

Hippy, et al. I may need advice on gearing, changeing cogs/rings,
drilling forks? (and maybe back brake bridge too?)

Ya wanna go around 70-72 inches. Any higher is cheating. Drilling
the fork crown is generally okay, unless it's a twin-plate design or
something weird. Most track forks have round blades, which flex
impressively when you brake.

Cheers,

Suzy