Fireblade's Fixie

As promised !
A few weeks ago I bought myself this, with the aim of it being a project bike.

Shortly afterwards I bent my commuter bike, so this has been pressed into town-and-back service since. I now have the parts required to fix the commuter, so it's time to start thinking about what to do with the blue racer.
The cranks are somewhat knackered (left-hand crank arm is currently shimmed out with insulting tape so it doesn't wobble *quite* as much), and the chainwheels are a bit out-of-true.
It rides OK, I serviced the hubs which made a huge difference, but I wouldn't want to go far on it in case some of the suspect parts failed.
So....what shall I do with it ?
If I want to SS it, what do I need - BB, crankset, single-speed rear cog (it's old 5-speed screw-on) ? Anything else I need to think about ?
Or is it worth fixing and retaining the 10 gears ? I'm not overly getting on with the downtube shifters so tend to leave it in one gear most of the time anyway !
A few weeks ago I bought myself this, with the aim of it being a project bike.

Shortly afterwards I bent my commuter bike, so this has been pressed into town-and-back service since. I now have the parts required to fix the commuter, so it's time to start thinking about what to do with the blue racer.
The cranks are somewhat knackered (left-hand crank arm is currently shimmed out with insulting tape so it doesn't wobble *quite* as much), and the chainwheels are a bit out-of-true.
It rides OK, I serviced the hubs which made a huge difference, but I wouldn't want to go far on it in case some of the suspect parts failed.
So....what shall I do with it ?
If I want to SS it, what do I need - BB, crankset, single-speed rear cog (it's old 5-speed screw-on) ? Anything else I need to think about ?
Or is it worth fixing and retaining the 10 gears ? I'm not overly getting on with the downtube shifters so tend to leave it in one gear most of the time anyway !
Misguided Idealist
0
Posts
Ah that takes me back!
What would Thora Hurd do?
They actually seem to do some good ! With our present monsoon summer, I've been using this quite a bit in the wet and haven't got a totally soggy @rse (yet....)
Once I'd taken a look at bottom bracket sizings, chain line calcualtions and reviewed my own patience level and amount if time I had....
I just bought one second hand......
Don't let that put you off though - it would be great to do - if you can be arsed
What would Thora Hurd do?
I've rebuilt a couple of other commuter bikes but they were MTB-based and I just replaced the broken/knackered parts with similar. This whole SS-thing is new to me, but I quite enjoy riding the Blue Racer as it is, and reckon with less weight and some decent transmission parts it could be really fun.
Plus, I feel left out of the Fixie Fashion Victim Clique
Joelle (Focus Expert SRAM)