Monday, December 22, 2008

My First Fixie®

With plenty of help, I recently built my My First Fixie®. El Prez hooked me up with an old Raleigh Pursuit frame (eighties vintage?), complete with fork, headset, stem, two choices of handlebars, front brake calipers, a bottom bracket with a really long spindle, a black water bottle cage, and a glass of rum.

I built the first incarnation of My First Fixie® at Recycle Bicycle in New Britain, side-by-side with the incredibly patient duo of Peter Barr, who is the omniscient boss at Recycle Bicycle, and my sizzlin' girlfriend Kristen. Peter hooked me up with used parts and expertise, and I wowed Recycle Bicyle with a fistful of Hamiltons, baby.

My First Fixie® is now in its second incarnation, with a better fitting bottom bracket, a Sugino track crank, and a 1/8" 48t chainring, all purchased used from a former Philly bike messenger who never wrecked in Philly but recently had a serious accident on a training ride in suburbia. His advice: "Wear your *&^%$#@ helmet!" My First Fixie® now has a 48-17 gear ratio instead of the 53-20 of the first incarnation. I love it! If I get my hands on a camera I'll try to post some pictures. Just keep clicking refresh on your browser and waiting for the pictures.
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8 comments:

  1. MarkDecember 23, 2008 at 2:02 PM

    Any pix?

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  2. Billy HoyleDecember 23, 2008 at 2:21 PM

    Waiting to see if Santa brings be a camera...

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  3. El Presidente de ChinaDecember 23, 2008 at 4:33 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. El Presidente de ChinaDecember 23, 2008 at 4:35 PM

    Here's what the frame looked like in its former incarnation as a fixed-gear bike.

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  5. MarkDecember 23, 2008 at 9:06 PM

    That bike looks pretty schweet, why change it?

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  6. El Presidente de ChinaDecember 24, 2008 at 2:24 PM

    Mark: Since that photo was taken, I acquired a really nice Motobecane frame, to which I moved the wheels and sundry other bits. Then the rear hub crapped out after many years of faithful service, and in the interim I moved on to other bikes, leaving the frame lonely and wanting a new life, hanging in my garage. Since I wasn't getting around to getting a new rear wheel and Joel was rearin' to build the fixie, I figured it was just and right that the frame find new vigor is his loving embrace.

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  7. chillwillDecember 25, 2008 at 4:12 PM

    nice job joel, glad it all worked out! are we getting a ride (or three) in before i leave for key west!?!?

    sean and i went out tue night well after PHH, from 2am-4am and have a brilliant time skidding around the slippery streets and down ramps and along the river and pretty much all over downtown and frog hollow!

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  8. chillwillDecember 25, 2008 at 4:12 PM

    ps. did santa bring you a camera?

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