New budget build project

Asgath

'Ey up

I'm currently in the early progress of building up a part commuter part winter chuck-about single speeder.
My idea for the most part is to take my Dads old 2006 Gary Fischer Piranha frame, paint it up and build something around that. I'm going to attempt to cannibalise as many old but serviceable parts as possible. Putting old Elixir disc brakes on (shiny new SLX brakes on my Anthem) and already have an old set of (albeit weighty) wheels knocking about.

Big question is…I'm about to go out and buy some rigid forks, most likely the eXotic ones. However I've been thinking that a single speed rigid bike might be a tad more comfortable as a 29er, especially if its going to see a fair amount of time on the commute. I'm not a big fan big ol' wheels but I think I could adjust.
That means a new frame, and new wheels. The whole thing becomes more expensive (I'm sure ebay will be helping me out).

What are your thoughts? Will the big rollers be worth it for what I want to do?
Again I want this to be a project that I can slowly build up through the year rather than go out and buy a full bike. Hopefully it can be something special for me

The Rookie

Why not build a 69er, 29 up front and 26 out back, that way you can use the GF frame, with the right A2C fork it will work just fine, toy need an A2C about 25-30mm shorter than the suspension fork it had to allow for the larger wheel diameter, you can also use your existing rear wheel and tyre, unless you go mad on tyre you will probably find later you can upgrade the rear to 650b, or maybe just go with that at both ends, you have a range of options for first build and upgrade there.

rockmonkeysc

A few friends have 26" rigid winter bikes and just big volume tyres, something like an On One Chunky Monkey is cheap and does the job.

Asgath

Cheers for the replies gentlemen.
Can anyone weigh in on the 69er idea. I've done a little research and it seems like it could be fun. It could also be spending more money on a dodgy bike idea. Still I like that it'd be something more unique.

I'm guessing http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=2&c=43&p=959 would work? It'd be a slightly longer than the 44.5cm one, but would it ferk with the geometry all that badly?

The Rookie

A friend has a couple of 69ers, one is off the shelf, the other is home made using a 100mm travel XC frame, he says he can't tle the difference between them, the front wheel gives the faster roll of the bigger wheel and copes with bumps better than a 26" wheel does while the rear wheel, well, fits in the frame (shorter stays than a 29er, so more nimble). I've only had a quick lap off a car park on it, so can't really say how it compares.
As mentioned, you need an a2c about 30mm less than your suspension forks to correct for the bigger wheel. Most suspension corrected forks have ample room for the bigger wheel as they will have circa 70mm (100mm travel less the 30mm correction) of unused height in the legs.