without a ton of luck finding a decent late 80s frame in a yard sale? I know there's a seller on ebay who sells them for $125, but I would like to build on up myself. Any other frame sources out there? The cheapest wheels I've seen are around $140. Is that as good as I can do?

Thanks and sorry if y'all get this question once a week.

Are there any thrift stores near you?

I bought my Centurion Iron Man for $60 and a nice Tange lugged Nishiki for $75 that I later sold. Road bikes don't sell very well at thrift stores because everyone wants a mtn bike, or a bike that looks like a mtn bike. So nice 80's-90's road bikes get passed off as "10-speeds", and who wants one of those!

I know some may feel this is blasphemous, but you can always build one out of a mountain bike frame and run 26" wheels/tires if you just want a city fix and not one to race on the track. There is an eBay seller who is selling new hardtail frames for just $9.99. Mtn bike parts are cheaper in price compared to road parts. The frame has vertical dropouts, so you would need a White Eno hub. Could be a cool project. You could build a fixie version of the beloved 26" wheel'd Bridgestone XO-1 and run moustache bars.

Or, if you are not to picky about frame geo, you can always run 700c wheels on a mountain frame. You'll just be brakeless, since the bosses no longer longer line up with the rim diameter. I did this once with a beach cruiser frame.

If you have lots of bike junk in your basement, damned near anything is possible.

I picked up an 80s Trek at a nice bike shop. It was on consignment, trying to get rid of it for a customer and asking $100. Luckily my size. Sold! With a rear wheel redish, cog, new tires, bars, tape, etc. I was into my *new* fixie for under $200.

might try craigslist.org too.

you can do it easily.
I built my conversion for sub-$400 Canadian.

It'll just be a matter of finding an appropriate frame with a good number of reuseable components on it. Check out your local consignment stores/goodwill/salvation army.
Try garage/yard sales too. You should be able to find a donor bike for under $100.
Pick up a fixed wheelset on ebay for around $150.
cog + lockring will run you another $30 or so.
strip the unneccessary parts off the frame.
add new tires/tubes/chain/brake pads etc. for another $50 or so.
and you're under budget.

without a ton of luck finding a decent late 80s frame in a yard sale? I know there's a seller on ebay who sells them for $125, but I would like to build on up myself. Any other frame sources out there? The cheapest wheels I've seen are around $140. Is that as good as I can do?

Thanks and sorry if y'all get this question once a week.

Most of those ebay "deals" from "fixie dealers" look like crap- chrome 27" wheels, cottered cranks, etc...

If you live in a city, there should be a bicycle boneyard that you can scrounge for parts or a frame. Trouble with most budget setups is that on ebay, shipping ends up as a huge percentage of the cost.

BTW- if you don't mind running a suicide hub, you can modify an nice old thread-on hub (like Campy) for next to nothing.

I easily have mine clocking in at under $350- including pedals. Funny thing was, friends started donating parts... too many parts... then I found an old Raleigh reynolds steel frame on an overpass that I'll build up this winter.

Well, my frame was free (hillbillies threw it out when they were evicted-nice Panasonic frame), but cost me $50 for straightening. Suzue hub was what, $40? $20 for spokes, $10 for a KHS chain, $25 for a cog and $20 for a BMX freewheel, $40 for tires, all the rest was old parts laying around. Oh, bought a Profile bullhorn bar and stem, too.

The dump/landfill is a surprisingly good source for old bike frames (and tetanus).

...finding an appropriate frame. After that, a good junk box or some scrounging. All the suggestions above are good ones; plus asking around. A fixie-friendly shop may be helpful - mine sure was! I got a good price on the rear wheel, they mounted the cog and freewheel (flip flop hub) gratis (I was going to do it myself but free is free) and I picked up a decent front wheel out of their boneyard. A friend helped me clean out his garage a little with some old parts. :) Cranks and chainwheel used via Ebay. Tires from my road bike (wanted new tires for it anyway). Chain and bar tape were new from LBS. Hacksaw turned the drops into pseudo bullhorns. Treat it like a scavenger hunt and it'll be fun.

I bought a nice old lugged frame geared bike, stripped some parts, added a few here and there and Boom! A nice fixie for next to nothing. It not only is possible, but most desireable!

without a ton of luck finding a decent late 80s frame in a yard sale? I know there's a seller on ebay who sells them for $125, but I would like to build on up myself. Any other frame sources out there? The cheapest wheels I've seen are around $140. Is that as good as I can do?

Thanks and sorry if y'all get this question once a week.

Tater -

E-mail or PM me. I have a couple old road frames around that you are welcome to if they fit you. I actually repainted one red w/ white panels and it looks alright, and rides pretty nice. I rode it fixie for a while before getting a frame that fit me better. I may have a wheelset that you can redish and work some magic on that would be suitable for fixie also.

Are you going to Columbia on the 9th for that cross race?

LP
lpope@midsouth.rr.com

i've got some parts layin' around too. also don't forget to check chucksbikes.com for various stuff...on the cheap.

i've got some parts layin' around too. also don't forget to check chucksbikes.com for various stuff...on the cheap.

I'm gonna try to hook up with Lanpope this week and check out the Peugot frame. I'll let you know what I need. I'll email you later to see if some things I already have will "work". I'll probably get those levers from chucks. As I see it, I need everything else (my old 105 cranks and bb may work).

Just to throw this into the mix...

I came across this $347 Mercier track bike on eBay.
New with a Buy It Now price I mentioned.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=7124936407&rd=1

http://i15.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/1f/f4/e8_3.JPG

Just to throw this into the mix...

I came across this $347 Mercier track bike on eBay.
New with a Buy It Now price I mentioned.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=7124936407&rd=1

http://i15.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/1f/f4/e8_3.JPG

That bike sure looks an awful lot like the KHS with a different crank? Anybody seen one?

That bike sure looks an awful lot like the KHS with a different crank? Anybody seen one?

I haven't seen one of these Merciers. It's not even on their company website.

Here is a pic of the KHS for comparison. The Mercier has a nicer looking lugged fork and appears to have rack eyelets up on the seat stays. The KHS frame has something that kinda looks like eyelets too, but it's hard to tell.

http://khsbicycles.com/04-flite-100-web.jpg

Easily. I built my 1st fixie for <$250. Old (80's) Bianchi bike from co-worker-$75. Flip-flop hub/wheel from e-bay ($50?), new front wheeel from LBS (had old steel rims,27"), $75, I think. That was it. $200 or less. Check out yard sales, thrift shops, "junk" day in the neighborhood.

saw this on ebay yesterday, emailed the seller, they are drilled f/b for brakes. might get one m'sef.