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single speed / fixed gear frame recommendations?

rich164hrich164h Posts: 433
edited March 2011 in Road beginners
Hi,
I was thinking about building up a single speed or fixed gear bike for local errands etc but I'm not having a huge amount of luck in finding out about what frames exist out there or what's any good. I can find quite a few fully built bikes which look OK but aren't what I'm after in terms of wheels etc hence why I'm looking to build something up myself.

Any recommendations?

Rich

Posts

  • amaferangaamaferanga Posts: 6,789
    On One Pompino.
    More problems but still living....
  • owenlarsowenlars Posts: 719
    For good workaday type bikes Surly steamroller, Pearson Touche or Pearson Hanzo.
  • dbmnkdbmnk Posts: 217
    You're probably looking at a small builder, who allow you for custom options, or might have something desirable off the peg. But you're also looking to spend a minimum of 500 quid on the frame, if new.

    Or you can just fit a White Industries ENO hub to a traditional frame.

    If you go the custom frame way - let me give you an advice:
    Get something with split seat stays so you can fit a carbon-belt the day you'd want that. I sure wish I'd done that now looking at my rusty noisy chain.
  • owenlarsowenlars Posts: 719
    sorry forgot to put this in as well, £320 frame and fork

    http://www.brothercycles.com/gallery#
  • Monty DogMonty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Pompino is a well-sorted frame - I use one as my commuter - mine is called 'Sherman' cos it's green and weighs a ton! Clearances are big enough that you can use it as a SS cross bike too if you wanted.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Mark AlexanderMark Alexander Posts: 2,277
    amaferanga wrote:
    On One Pompino.

    +1
    End of thread
    http://twitter.com/mgalex
    www.ogmorevalleywheelers.co.uk

    10TT 24:36 25TT: 57:59 50TT: 2:08:11, 100TT: 4:30:05 12hr 204.... unfinished business
  • Mark AlexanderMark Alexander Posts: 2,277
    Monty Dog wrote:
    Pompino is a well-sorted frame - I use one as my commuter - mine is called 'Sherman' cos it's green and weighs a ton! Clearances are big enough that you can use it as a SS cross bike too if you wanted.

    I did this. 1st race naively raced with 48 x 19 lol I was famous! had loads of followers and thighs ripped to shreads. good times!

    steel all the way and the Pomp is a bit different.
    http://twitter.com/mgalex
    www.ogmorevalleywheelers.co.uk

    10TT 24:36 25TT: 57:59 50TT: 2:08:11, 100TT: 4:30:05 12hr 204.... unfinished business
  • Mark AlexanderMark Alexander Posts: 2,277
    oh yes, these guys really know their stuff http://www.lfgss.com/
    http://twitter.com/mgalex
    www.ogmorevalleywheelers.co.uk

    10TT 24:36 25TT: 57:59 50TT: 2:08:11, 100TT: 4:30:05 12hr 204.... unfinished business
  • edhornbyedhornby Posts: 1,780
    if you're feeling brave

    you can get a dolan precursa frameset for £300 (this is the bike that manchester velodrome use as a hire bike)

    however because it's an aluminium track frame it has a high BB and is a pretty stiff frame which may not be the best solution for a commuter if your journey involves potholes and stop start
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • saintdraculasaintdracula Posts: 232
    felt tk3, although it's very stiff and has a horrible ride (on gravel that is - on tarmac it's fine): it's really responsive and very stiff, and very fun to ride - but it's a pure fixie; no flip flop hub, and not the ideal commuter....and very nickable too....
  • smokeysmoo2smokeysmoo2 Posts: 31
    Specialized Langster Steel. I've recently bought a 2010 Langster Steel from Evans as they were knocking them out £399.00, and I prefer the colour scheme of the 2010 over the 2011 model, plus I prefer traditional geometry over the sloping top tube of the alu Langster models.
    I've also built a 1988 Peugeot frame up as a fixed gear, although it has horizontal droputs it doesn't cause any problems, but as I built the Peugeot with a no expense spared attitude, it ended up costing more than a 2011 Langster :shock:
  • richhrichh Posts: 187
    Excellent replies guys. thank you very much. :D

    I think I'd prefer to try and get a steel frame if possible but I'd like it to be as light as possible. Things like the Pompino and the steamroller look a bit too bulky to me (takes up to 38mm tyres for example), but then I've never seen them in real life so perhaps they're not. The Pearson Hanzo looks nice though.

    I had thought about track frames, would they be suitable for road use? Plant X and Ribble don't seem to do fixed speed specific road bikes but they do have a selection of track frames.

    The langster I'm sure would be good but I'm after something a bit more exclusive. It's the same reason why I've ruled out the Boardman SC.

    I quite like the look of the lightblue (www.lightblue.co.uk) bike that was in C+ a while ago. Their website isn't working at the moment though.

    As a sort of follow up question, can I use any wheelset I like? I won't need it to take a complete cassette of course and I guess I'd need to alter something i the hub, or do I need to find a FG/SS specific wheelset?
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