I still have a brake, and I don't intend on removing it anytime soon. I like to ride fast as fuck and not worry about having to skid to a stop (especially when it's rainy, and on sf's many hills).

i actually have 2 brakes indue to the police..it´z got to expensive without in germany..atleast, if you do it professional, they will allways see again the next day..it´z stoopid since now i have 3 brakes...very safe bike, imo!

thread of the year..hehe

Fixies are a huge market now in Cali. Up until recently I worked at a Specialized dealer here in Chico and these are the craziest trend up here right now. Two summers ago: zero fixies. Last summer: a couple fixies. This summer every man woman and child has a fixie. Not my thing, I ride a 20" MacNeil and a 26" BlkMrkt w/a rigid fork. I can see the appeal, you can build a solid bike for cheap from random parts with everything bolted on(thieves around here grab anything not welded down) and we're pretty much flat ground all around so gears aren't really necessary. Companies are on the trend now as well, Specialized, Volume, Subrosa, etc. all have completes out there, although it seem like the demand dictates a high price tag for what you get really. DIY and you could build up a decent whip for $50.

$50? Please do elaborate, because i do not believe this is possible. I have made several DIY fixed gear bikes now, out of old 10 speed bikes. And there is no way in hell you are doing it yourself for that price. First of all you need a new rear cog, and hub. Then you need to thread that hub to a wheel (and unless you are a master bike builder it is much smarter to ask someone else to do this). Unless you were suggesting using Lok-Tight, which is absolute madness, and a great way to get yourself killed. You could probably reuse the chain, and one of the front chain rings, but you'll have a really weird gear ratio. So you probably need to buy a new front chain ring, something like a 45 tooth one, which itself would cost about $50 alone.

And this doesn't even mention the cost of the 10 speed.

Yeah I think $300 is more ballpark for putting together a beater conversion.

I'm not saying it would be something you could take out to the velodrome and race but it would get you from A>>B. And it wouldn't be a very pretty bike either, more in the rat bike vein. In this town you can still get a functioning bike at a thrift store for $10, and when the students leave in the summer a lot bikes are sold cheap or even left out on the corner with a sign that says "FREE". The most creative thing I ever saw someone do to get around buying a fixed track hub and cog was drilling holes and running bolts through a freewheel. Ghetto as hell but it worked. Again I live in a small, flat town without the kind of traffic to dodge like you see in a city like SF, these bikes I see some kids riding are cheap and adequate. So maybe instead of saying "decent" I should have said "cheap and adequate with messed up gear ratios and zero sex appeal" for $50

hahahaha bolts, that is fucking genius.

by the way, take some of those $10 10 speeds up to Vancouver, you could sell em for like $100-$150 a pop.

ah nice! I love riding and have worked in a few shops as a youngster, building a fixed gear this summer for transport, probably sell it for to a student in the winter for way too much money...

Fit Edwin .. brakeless doesnt even have brake mounts.. with tons of mods

Kona Stinky almost straight stock

i want a bike now

You don't own a bike? how do you get around the city???!?
i don't know if we can be friends anymore....

dewey U should forgive him; he´s from LA

let the android post his new bike & let him join the club again...

it should be a fixie, though!




cheerZ

Not a fixie, it's a single speed. I already got permission to post in this thread earlier though, hehe

I've learned SO much building up this bike, it's been a lot of fun. I had to pay a shop to do most of the installation though (bottom bracket, wheel building), because it was too technical for me and my friends lacked the tools.

With normal drop bars:




Just fixed it up with bullhorn bars since I prefer a more relaxed, upright riding position most of the time:




On an unrelated note, I'm proud of my garden... it's growing up quite nicely as you can see between the first and second sets of photos

saw this article and made me think of this thread (i've never heard of "fixed gear" before)
https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

Muaahaahaa!