The R3V Bicycle Thread

[Farbin Kaiber]

Rough measurement, but yeah, aprox. 64mm.

FredK You found an exact same bike quick as hell.

[Jand3rson]

Here's a good place for some fixie inspiration, there are SHITLOADS of badass bikes here:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

[Turf1600]

mainly a bmx online supplier but may be of some help on some parts to swap that over to a fixie...


www.danscomp.com

Holy hell. I used to get dan's comp sales mags like 12 years ago.

[FredK]

Is the measurement from tree to seat post?

Actually I thought that might be the distance from the center of the cranks to the middle of the top tube (aka cross bar). I like bike projects--sooo much easier to get them done quickly.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Yeah, I may be stripping this one in the garage soon and putting something together.

[scabzzzz]

Measure from the top tube down.

Also, that bike is a GREAT starting point for a fixed bike. DO NOT SAND THE FRAME DOWN OR PAINT OVER IT.
People really dig that beat up old look, especially once it gets new components slapped on top of it.

To be in business with that bike, it needs new wheels and tires, rear brake removed, all gears and derailers removed, new riser bar with grips, new pedals. May also want to take the bottom bracket apart and regrease it. Actually, definitely do that.
All of my bikes received the same treatment as this ^

Done.


Edit: Those are not horizontal dropouts, they are semi horizontal. And they are fine with chain adjustment but not ideal. The older the bike, the better.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Measure from the top tube down.

Also, that bike is a GREAT starting point for a fixed bike. DO NOT SAND THE FRAME DOWN OR PAINT OVER IT.
People really dig that beat up old look, especially once it gets new components slapped on top of it.

To be in business with that bike, it needs new wheels and tires, rear brake removed, all gears and derailers removed, new riser bar with grips, new pedals. May also want to take the bottom bracket apart and regrease it. Actually, definitely do that.
All of my bikes received the same treatment as this ^

Done.


Edit: Those are not horizontal dropouts, they are semi horizontal. And they are fine with chain adjustment but not ideal. The older the bike, the better.

So, my shopping, parts-huntin' list is;

Wheels/Tires
Riser/Bars
Front Brake
Seat/Post
Pedals

[Eric]

sorry for the super shitty pictures, but here are my two bikes, nothing fancy, but i have too many expensive hobbies now, i'm doing good with just these two!

I just got the specialized in from the states, it's been sitting in storage for a good 3 years now! I'm thinking turning it into a fixie... is this frame a good canidate?

[Yeee30]

BTW, what gearing are all you fixies running? Mine is a 48/16. I was thinking about going to something like a 42/16 after riding a couple of my friend's bikes, because they were so much easier. But then I realized that once I start to get more in shape and my legs get stronger, that will be WAY to easy, and mine will probably feel like theirs does now. I've been riding for at least 2 hours every day, and I was riding pretty much all day on Friday/Saturday.

just to let you know 48/16 has only one skid patch so u'll be going threw tires like no other only if you skid though...

a bunch of my friends here and in sf run either 46/17 and that has 17 skid patches, 48/17 or 48/19

42/16 is way too fast... you'll be spinning really really fast on downhills but uphills should be good.

whenever you look into gear ratios ... keep in mind the skid patch unless you don't skid, and the faster you spin the faster your knees will give out.

[T3rd Ferguson]

just to let you know 48/16 has only one skid patch so u'll be going threw tires like no other only if you skid though...

a bunch of my friends here and in sf run either 46/17 and that has 17 skid patches, 48/17 or 48/19

42/16 is way too fast... you'll be spinning really really fast on downhills but uphills should be good.

whenever you look into gear ratios ... keep in mind the skid patch unless you don't skid, and the faster you spin the faster your knees will give out.

This is very good advice, and I can add further to this to help you understand.

If you guys who are just getting into it (josh, etc) plan on doing a lot of skid stops, you really need to take your gearing into account. To determine skid patches is really quite simple: Simplify the gear ratio to the smallest equivalent whole number ratio, and then the denominator of the resulting fraction is the number of skid patches you will have on your rear tire.

44/16 simplifies to 11/4, so there would be 4 skid patches.

45/15 simplifies to 3/1 so there would only be 1 skid patch.

42/15 simplifies to 14/5, so there would be 5 skid patches.

43/15 can't be further simplified, so there would be 15 skid patches.

The assumption would be made that you would always skid with the same foot forward, cause i do. If you are an ambidextrous skidder, and the simplified ratio has an even numerator or denominator, your number of skid patches will be the same.

thanks to a few sites to help me remember all the ratio's.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I measured again, correctly this time. 63mm from tubetop to crank centerline. So this is the correct sizing for someone supertall? Or can I find something even better suited for a 6'9" rider?

[Erik]

Ok it took me a couple minutes but I finally figured it out! That is really good advice! I ride a road bike so it's obviously a different story, but this is really cool information to know. I'm now considering a third bike... Ughh. I'm going to become addicted to bikes, like I'm not already.

[Erik]

I measured again, correctly this time. 63mm from tubetop to crank centerline. So this is the correct sizing for someone supertall? Or can I find something even better suited for a 6'9" rider?

WOW! That's crazy man! I would head down to a local shop and have them measure you up. I was sized up for a 54cm or 55cm, but ended up going with a 56cm since my chest length is longer than if should be and I just ride with the seat a little lower than normal.

[Yeee30]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html

check out that site!.. lots of good fixie info or bicycle info in general.
say whats up to him too (sheldon brown) cause he passed away earlier this year.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I was just at his site before I refreshed back over here.