I need a break from searching the archives here, Craigslist, ebay, etc while I try to decide what route to take in order to get back on a fixed gear bike, so am posting my stream of consciousness here...

Several years ago I was on a Soma Rush, but got tired of always having to pedal down this one long hill on my commute, so wimped out and got myself a road SS instead. It's a fine bike (On-One Il Pompino, currently for sale in the MTBR classifieds) for my purpose, which is mainly commuting. Lately though, I've been getting the urge to get back on a fixed gear, so that got the wheels turning in my head, so to speak, about what route to take.

I consider my options to be:

-Sell the On-One and get a purpose-built fixie like a Bianchi or Surly with flip/flop hub in case I ever want to switch back to SS again. Cost = I am aiming for close to zero out-of-pocket with this swap, but am not having any luck in selling the Pompino.

-Get a flip/flop rear wheel for the On-One and ride it on the fixie side. Problem with this is the cranks are 175 so I'd probably need to swap the cranks. Cost = wheel + cranks/BB. Kind of pricey.

-Take the gears off my old (beautiful) Della Santa, which I NEVER ride, because I'm soley a MTB guy now, aside from my work commute. I can get a new rear flip/flop Surly wheel built easy for about $150. My cranks are 172.5 so that's manageable on a fixie, but not ideal. I kind of like this idea the best, since it seems like such a waste to never ride this bike. It's a pretty cheap way too. At least this way it would get ridden. I tried it SS for a while before getting the On-One by spacerizing the rear hub, and it worked fine (forward-facing horizontals). I imagine it would be fine as a fixie too.

I've always had a thing for the Steamroller, but at 5'10" have always felt "between" sizes...the 53 being too small, and the 56 being too big. I love the looks of the fully-built one that's coming, but at nearly $700, that's not chump change. Plus if I'm buying new I could probably get a Pista for a lot less, but it has no option for a rear brake (see wimp comment above), and less flexibility for fendering. (I commute year-round rain or shine.)

So I keep going in mental circles with this decision. Anyway, sorry for the long post, but thanks if you've made it this far and for letting me take a break from my work ;-).

-Get a flip/flop rear wheel for the On-One and ride it on the fixie side. Problem with this is the cranks are 175 so I'd probably need to swap the cranks. Cost = wheel + cranks/BB. Kind of pricey.


1. How does swapping out the rear wheel for one with a flip/flop hub relate to needing different cranks?

2. New cranks do not necessarily mean new BB. Can't you get the same cranks in a shorter length? If not the same crank, there's bound to be another brand that has the same interface, e.g. square taper, Octalink, Isis, etc.

1. How does swapping out the rear wheel for one with a flip/flop hub relate to needing different cranks?

Always figured 175mm was pushing it for riding fixed, between pedal strikes and spinning smoothly down hills. Was on 170mm on my Soma and they were good. Do people actually ride 175mm cranks on a fixie?

2. New cranks do not necessarily mean new BB. Can't you get the same cranks in a shorter length? If not the same crank, there's bound to be another brand that has the same interface, e.g. square taper, Octalink, Isis, etc.

Agreed, but right now the On-One has Bonty Race cranks on it which are ISIS, and if I were spending for new cranks, I'm very partial to the ENO w/44t, which would require a square taper BB. I guess you're right though, maybe there are some lower budget ISIS 170 cranks around. I honestly haven't looked to see if there are any.

Always figured 175mm was pushing it for riding fixed, between pedal strikes and spinning smoothly down hills. Was on 170mm on my Soma and they were good. Do people actually ride 175mm cranks on a fixie?
.

Try it. People ride all kinds of parts on fixies. Does your SS have a thread-on SS freewheel? If so, you can try the swap for the price of a cog. Might be all you need.

Try it. People ride all kinds of parts on fixies. Does your SS have a thread-on SS freewheel? If so, you can try the swap for the price of a cog. Might be all you need.

Yes, that thought did cross my mind, but the 175mm thing was holding me back. Seeing as how I already have a 17t track cog in the parts bin, looks like I'll give this a try this weekend. Would you suggest blue Loctite, or something stronger, to help keep the cog from spinning off?

Yes, that thought did cross my mind, but the 175mm thing was holding me back. Seeing as how I already have a 17t track cog in the parts bin, looks like I'll give this a try this weekend. Would you suggest blue Loctite, or something stronger, to help keep the cog from spinning off?

though some people swear it's suicide. Clean both sets of threads well, use plenty of loctite, thread it on tight and give the loctite a few hours to cure. Then when you ride, use your brakes and don't do any heavy-duty backpedaling. It should work well enough for you to know if the cranks are a problem.

The 175's will probably not be as big of a deal on the Pompino. Since it is built more for cross it has a higher bottom brack than most road and track frames to start with. According to the web sites the surly steamroller has a bb drop of 70 mm compaired to the 66 of the pompino. Most road bikes are lower still.

Just do the flip-flop wheel for the Pompino and don't sweat the 175s, you'll be fine. The high bb will keep you clear.

though some people swear it's suicide. Clean both sets of threads well, use plenty of loctite, thread it on tight and give the loctite a few hours to cure. Then when you ride, use your brakes and don't do any heavy-duty backpedaling. It should work well enough for you to know if the cranks are a problem.

Easy peasy. Freewheel off, wipe threads clean w/rubbing alcohol, thread on 17t cog & BB lockring (I decided to grease the cog & use green threadlocker on the BB lockring, which I read about that in another thread), slid the wheel back into the drops, and....I find my cog is a 1/8 while my chain is 3/32. Doh! Oh well, off to the LBS which specializes in BMX for a 1/8 tomorrow morning. Should have this ready by my Monday commute!

Thanks for the tips y'all!

I have 175 cranks on my Schwinn. It's an old XT 44t crank. Only had one pedal strike, that was today as I was cutting across some uneven areas. Wasn't that big of a deal though. Just a light tap.

When it was on my old MTB frame that I had converted, I never had any problems on it at all.

First ride on it was yesterday in a torrential wind & rain storm here in SF. Everything went well. Psyched to be back on a fixie. Muscle memory came right back after a ~2 year hiatus. 175mm cranks didn't cause any trouble in the turns or spinning downhill. All is good!

Here's a pic of it before swapping out the freewheel for a track cog:

all-road on mille miglias? heh...couldn't help but notice.

vag head here.

dig the orange hub.

If you're riding a fixie in SF I assume you live out in the fog belt? Taking a fixie to the hilly side of the City seems a stretch.

all-road on mille miglias? heh...couldn't help but notice.

vag head here.

dig the orange hub.

Hartmann F1 actually. One of the few after-market rims available with the allroad-specific offset.

If you're riding a fixie in SF I assume you live out in the fog belt? Taking a fixie to the hilly side of the City seems a stretch.

Work in the Financial District, commute home to Marin. Mostly flat, aside from one short climb and that long descent into Sausalito from the GG Bridge. That's the extend of my road riding these days, so perfect for fixie.