Choose your Frame
By MrFixie
Advice on choosing a bike frame
The first thing you need obviously is a frame. You can choose to spend more and buy a new frame, but for your first fixie it would be both wise and economical to find a used ten speed (or similarly styled road frame) to convert. Why buy a $700 track bike if you’re unsure if you’ll like the geometry? or riding fixed at all for that matter? Pre-owned road bikes can readily be found online, at garage sales or flea markets. Perhaps you’ve a friend who has a bike laying around somewhere that isn’t being used.
When looking for a frame, we advise you to consider the following:
New road bikes tend to have vertical dropouts, these are not ideal for fixed gear applications. Try to find an old road bike/10speed that has horizontal dropouts. Most bikes from the late 80’s or earlier will have these dropouts. Semi horizontals (they look diagonal) will work too. You can convert a bike with vertical dropouts by buying/building a wheel that has the Eccentric Eno hub. This hub was specially designed to allow varying chain tension on a bike with vertical dropouts. It costs more that most track hubs however since it is specially designed technology. There is also a product made by Surly called “The Fixer” that will convert a conventional rear cluster into a fixed gear wheel.
Look for a bike frame that will fit the 68mm English threaded square tapered bottom bracket. This is the industry standard common size, and will leave you with the most options for crank set choices. Older French and Italian frames may have their own proprietary bottom bracket shell, so be careful in choosing your frame.
