Conversions - "Fixing" An Old Bicycle Frame

Euro City Frame Turned into Fixie Bar Bike

Being a fixed gear bicycle shop, we get a lot of people calling, or stopping by the shop, to ask about turning old bicycle frames into fixed gear. We just recently had a guy stop by with a really cool 80's frame with the Miami Vice inspired paint splatter color scheme, and we have probably turned about 3 or 4 dozen 60's to 80's SCHWINN frames into fixies over the past few years. Call it one of our specialties.

But not all frames can - or should - be "fixed". Here is a quickie guide to save you some time on whether or not to "fix" that old bicycle that's living in your garage or storage unit.

Track Dropouts - Best for Fixed Gear

Check out the dropouts - the section where the rear wheel fits in. The gold standard is going to be the "track" dropouts.. The wheel will slide in from the rear, allowing you to adjust the tension of the chain as you ride and it wears down. It's not just track bicycles that have horizontals. Plenty of older 3 speed internal hubs have this type of drop.

Some of the modern frames, particularly time trial bicycle frames, also have this type of drop. They make excellent "street" fixed gear bicycles, although not for the track, as the bottom bracket is going to be too low for any velodrome with a banked track. They could be OK for flat track racing, depending on crank length and the kind of pedal used.

This semi-horizontal will work for fixie conversion

Next up for conversion is the semi-horizontal or "horizontal", depending on what side of the "Pond" you are on. Prior to the 1990's, most of the road bicycles were manufactured with this type of drop. They make good to decent fixies, depending on the length of the drop.

Euro horizontal - Excellent for fixed gear conversion

 
Older bicycle frames made for racing - pre 1990's especially - will tend to have a longer drop. Particularly older ones, as once upon a time, before derailleurs, if you raced both track and road, you would use the same bicycle. After derailleurs came along, roadie frames still tended to be manufactured with a longer dropout, and these will work great as a fixie. There are some of these frames that can actually accept tugnuts, which is a plus for chain tensioning. Some of these even have frame set screws built in.

Modern Vertical Drop - this needs a special hub to "fix"

Last of all is the modern "vertical" drop, and this is going to be pretty much a "No", unless you want to go the route of eccentric hubs. The problem with using verticals is that it's  impossible to get the proper chain tension over time using regualr wheel hubs as you can't slide the hub as in horizontal or semi-horizontals.

But - there is a solution - at a price - which is to use the White Industries Eric's Eccentric ENO hub.

The Solution for Vertical Drops - the ENO Hub

 It's got an  elliptical axle that you rotate up and back in the dropouts. As the hub rotates back, the chain is pulled into tension. You'll have to use their proprietary splined cogs for this build. the ENO hub comes in 135, 130, and 126 spacing, so you can use these with mountain and road frames.  At about $200 US it's pricey, but if you have a high end road or mountain bike  that you want to "fix", then this might be the answer for you.

You'll need this special cog for the ENO - note the splines

  Be aware that you probably will want to change out your crankset and install a track model to get a proper chainline. Sugino 75, Sugino RD-2, or SRAM Omniums will work just fine. We used this once - no shit - on a TREK Madone conversion to fixed, and it worked just fine.

\And no, it wasn't for a certain roadie in Austin.