Restore and Transform an Old Bike into a Sleek Fixie

Step 5: Step 4: Bike, Assemble!

Now is the fun part; you get to assemble your bike. You may run into some problems, but do not fret--channel your inner- Instructable chi to overcome those challenges. 

I only ran into one problem:
My seat-post was too small for my frame, so I had to shim it with a piece of a soda can.


The wheelset I bought was a "flip flop", which means that one side has a fixed gear, and the other side has a single speed gear, which can free spin. You can switch from fixed to single speed by flipping the wheel around and attaching it to the rear axle. I switch from fixed to single speed periodically, because I like to go down hills fast, which is very very difficult with a fixed gear bike, because the pedals have to keep moving at the speed the bike is moving. 

Good tips for :

wrapping the handlebars: http://sheldonbrown.com/handlebar-tape.html

saddle adjustments: http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html#adjustment

bottom bracket right or left threaded: http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-bottombrackets.html

 

 

Comments

[Sammers]

This is the most complicated and difficult portion of the work. It would have been nice to see a walkthrough, or at least some tips. Guidance would definitely be helpful for selecting and installing an appropriate hub, spacing the cogs properly (if you're going from 2 or 3 down to 1), getting the chain tension right, etc. Could you add a little more here for those of us who aren't super-well-versed in the details of assembly?

[slylee]

Sorry about that, yes I will try to add more details. Alot of the info I got from Sheldon's site, and I'll try to find the links. thanks for the feedback

[bwelkin]

Hey, man

Toward the end of the video you seemed to have lost the legs of your pants!!

(Great 'ible!)

[slylee]

Ah nice, I was wondering if anyone would catch that....yes it got a little warm as time went on. haha