converting cross bike to fixed gear

chris3010

I have a Kinesis Crosslight Evo 3 Cyclocross Frameset which I was thinking of converting to a fixed gear bike - what can I do about the vertical dropout?
options - eccentric hub such as from White ENO- does anybody have any experience of this?
- get horizontal dropouts made for the frame - anybody in the uk who does this?
- get a new frame... :?:

stickman

Any good frame builder should fit proper dropouts, Bob Jackson is an obvious famous name.

My first choice in bikes with derailleurs would always be one with futureproof traditional dropouts, how many countless thousands in lost sales have manufactorers missed out on through people buying second hand frames for their fixed gear build due to dropouts? Idiots!

pete.whelan

Eno hub or new frame, whichever works out cheapest, though remember you can never have too many bikes

chris3010

Thanks for the help -I'll get in touch with jacksons

mz__jo

You may find Bob Jackson unwilling to get involved. The Kinesis frame that you are thinking of converting is in alloy with a carbon rear triangle. Apart from the complication of finding the right forkends to do what you want (although track ends for carbon stays may be easier to find than ends for alloy stays) you need a specialist in carbon frames who does not mind working on a Taiwanese industrial product. In France this would be probably impossible, in UK you may be lucky.

There are two possibilities for using this frame for a fixedwheel machine. One is the White ENO hub, which is a very nice piece of work with a price tag to match. The current ENO hub uses dedicated sprockets for the fixed gear which have a price tag to go with the hub. I can't comment on this solution, the figures are outside my budget (but then alloy/carbon cross frames are also too pricy for me) but it is easy and will work (and you have to buy a hub for your new wheel sooner or later). Check that the White hub is available in 130mm width for your frame.

The second possibility is an eccentric bottom bracket conversion. A couple of years ago there were a couple on the european market. They use an Octolink chainset with outboard bearings and an eccentric bearing holder that screws into the frame in place of the original concentric one. They were cheaper than the White hub but you still need a wheel. Using the Velosolo hub (converted from a mtb front disc hub) would solve most of the width problems. I will try to search out the links for the eccentric conversions if they still exist.

It may be cheaper to find a suitable frame (depending on what you want it for).

mz__jo

The Trickstuff Exzentriker conversion is here (this is the On-line shop for Trickstuff)

http://www.trickstuff.de/shop/index.php ... riker.html

This is the more expensive of the conversions. There was a cheaper one available on a site in Holland. Needless to say I haven't kept the link.

mz__jo

Here is another one although it appears to be out of stock (I hope not discontinued)

http://www.forwardcycle.com/products.html

I think with post and taxes the price will be very close to the Trickstuff one, possibly more expensive, possibly cheaper.

stickman

I didn't realise it had the dreaded carbon rear! I'd just look for a second hand 531 with proper dropouts.

Monty Dog

I have both an ENO hub and an Eccentric BB (Forward Components) and can speak from experience of both. The Eno hub is well made and very durable, the difficulty is whether your brakes have enough adjustment to compensate for the movement in the back wheel. Wheel swaps are tricky too. The eccentric BB is fiddlier to set up but once set up stays put - you do need some Loctite on the set screws though.