Building My Fixie Pt.2 ~ Stripping

In my previous fixie build post, I introduced the idea of this simple, stripped-down incarnation of the bicycle, and my attraction to it. I’ve got hold of my ‘donor bike’ and I’m ready for some stripping action in order to get down to the basics and begin the rebuild.

The Raleigh 'Ace' fresh after purchase. Doesn't look too bad in this shot, but it's a dog, trust me.

Without much experience in bike maintenance, but armed with a keen interest in finding out how things tick, I set about the strip-down process in my back garden:

Having lost the bars, gears, brakes, cables and mech, it's starting to show its cleaner lines

This part went pretty well, and it gave me a curious, fetishistic pleasure to rid what is basically a good frame of all the oily, rusty and dirty bits. Despite all the grease and grime, it looked like the bike had been stored in a dry garage, as there was almost zero rust on any of the parts. Some slight pitting on the chain set and cranks, but nothing that couldn’t be worked off with a little steel wool and some 3-in-1.

Next came the bars, and I did a bit of searching on Flickr to find what might look best (still focussing on form over function at this point!). I settled for bullhorn bars, a decision partly made on aesthetic grounds, and mostly because I discovered I could use the existing bars, flip them over and cut the tops off, known as a ‘chop n flop’:

Using one chopped end piece to measure the length on the other side. Child's swing acts as makeshift workbench!

Somewhere else I read that it’s a good idea to use a plumbers pipe-cutter to score a consistent line around the bars for cutting – DON’T DO IT! I nearly knackered my pipe cutter and instead resorted to the good old junior hacksaw and a steady hand.

At about this point I came across a rear wheel bargain on the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed forum (a great community with lots of help available and plenty of bits for sale), which just happened to be red – double bargain! It was off a Create fixie, which aren’t known for their build quality, but as this was just to get me started, I swallowed my pride, paid my £25 and stuck it on the bike to see how it’d look:

The new rear wheel in place. I think I'd already polished up the crank and chainset by this point.

Here you can see the two sprokets either side of the hub - one fixed and one freewheel - but which to choose...?

With the bars chopped and the new rear wheel, I decided to loosely put it back together to get an idea of how it will look:

Just don't sit on it yet!

Well that’s all for now. Coming soon – Building My Fixie Pt.3 – Stripping (cont.)