Turning an old MTB into a commuting fixie

Hans Gillhaus

Hello All,

I may be looking in the wrong place, but i'm after a bit of advice about whether its worth converting an oldish Mountain bike into a commuter fixie.

I'm starting at Imperial College in London in September and am massively constricted with finances and will be commuting about 7 miles or so from Richmond. I have an old Kona MTB, frame wise its a traditional spec, but its extremely light which attracts me to the idea of converting it into a SS fixie.

Have any of you guys had experience of taking something pretty ancient and turning it into something fit for purpose? I have a budget of about £130 now and have already started sourcing bits and pieces from ebay, new rims, SS set, tyres etc are my main priorities and I can add to it when more funds become available, my main concern is that its a bit of a waste of time, guess i'm looking for advice really.

MTIA

HANS

snig

not sure what fork they came with? but I would look to getting a rigid fork for the road,and when you say fixie do you mean single speed? as I wouldnt be riding a fixed gear bike in London but am sure loads of people do!

Hans Gillhaus

It has Rock Shock forks, I could live with them for a while, if I come in under budget I can maybe splash out on some forks. Yes I mean a single speed, I still want to freewheel!!

snig

I'm sure for your £130 you could get a good SS out of your MTB,I'm taking the soft way out and buying mine so cant help with the build but it seems not a hard thing to do,by the sounds of your post you will be doing the build,if your totally happy to do that then all well and good but maybe you could think about getting a shop to do it for you as your £130 wont stand many mistakes and the last thing you want is a bad conversion,being in London the home of fixie/ss am sure a great shop could be found.

jinnan_tonnix

I had an old Kona converted to SS.

I got one of these:
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Converter_Kit_559.html
and a BMX chain. I left the three speed front alone, as I had some hills to content with.

It worked really well. I bought a new bike for commuting, it came with a 3-speed Nexus hub gear which basically disintegrated. I bought another SS adapter and stuck it on an old wheel. I now ride a Saracen Pylon 2 with 42-16 SS. Perfect for my commute.

The Rookie

My entire bike cost me just £85 starting from nothing, as your starting with a frame and forks (csot me £20) you should do it easily! Geared will likley be cheaper than SS as the parts don't come up that often cheap, especially the chain tensioner you'll need (assuming normal dropouts?)

Simon

Oddjob62

Converting to a FG will involve a bit of luck to get good chain tension, vertical dropouts are hit and miss as to whether you can get a nice tight chain, as you'll have no horizontal adjustment. For SS you can just add a tensioner (tensioners don't work for FG), or bodge your existing rear dérailleur.

jedster

Hans,

I ride an old stumpjumper converted to SS around London. You should be able to convert it for way less than 130 quid if you keep the forks.

All you really need is a tensioning device and a sprocket/spacer kit (try wiggle or charliethebikemonger) - perhaps 30 quid. You can actually manage with your old cassette and bodge the rear mech but I spend the 30 quid.

If you are running nobbly MTB tyres then you should definitely budget for some slicks (I'd suggest conti gators or specialized nibus armadillo but there are loads of alternatives).

Next, you could buy a single speed chain ring (SJS cycles or charliethebikemonger) which is "unramped" because it does not need to allow shifting and a new chain - perhaps another 30-35 quid.

Otherwise just strip off the mechs, shifters, smaller chain rings. Actually to remove the middle chainring you will need shorter chainring bolts, again charliethebikemonger is your friend.

I could try to sell you on the ebenfit of guards and racks but I wont for now.

Cheers,

J

bulletprooffool

My rockhopper expert disc has 27 'single speeds' - If I want the single speed experience, I simply select the speed before I leave and stay with it?

Why does everyone want a 'fixie' Is it just to be trendy?

roger_merriman

bulletprooffool wrote:

My rockhopper expert disc has 27 'single speeds' - If I want the single speed experience, I simply select the speed before I leave and stay with it?

Why does everyone want a 'fixie' Is it just to be trendy?

while there is bucket loads of hype and bull around SS/FG the bikes that i've had a go on have been fun, which is the aim of the game, might not be the wise choice for every ride.

Aidy

I singlespeeded an old mountain bike years back, it's still running.

You should be able to do it pretty cheaply - after all, you're taking bits off, not putting them on.

If you've got a cassette hub, you're pretty sorted. If it's a screw on one, you'll be wanting a new one.

I've heard tales of spacers (for the cassette) being cut from bits of plastic piping from hardware stores, for ultra-cheapness - but a lot of bike places sell nicer ones for not too much.

Should be able to keep the chainset, and ditch a couple of rings - just need shorter chainring bolts (my horrific bodge is just to reverse a set).

Then all you'll want is a chain tensioner, as pointed out above, you can just use a real mech, but a proper one is nicer

Having said all that, unless the gears are quite knackered, I'm not sure I'd bother singlespeeding a bike just for commuting duties.

sharm1969ca

Another thing Hans is i dont know whether you can put a rack on the back but i wouldnt bother as i think the chain stays may be too short and your heels would be knocking on the panniers, unless you got bike bins that are tappered for heel clearence, other wise stick with a ruck sack, just something else to think about mate.