Just started on the long and winding road towards a hot fixie!
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Dura-Aace Octalink crank!! Hiihaa!!
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The build-up...
Nå har jeg såvidt startet på den lange veien mot en hot "fasti"!
Just started on the long and winding road towards a hot fixie!
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Dura-Aace Octalink crank!! Hiihaa!!
.JPG)
Just started on the long and winding road towards a hot fixie!
Dura-Aace Octalink crank!! Hiihaa!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Stripped and ready to be "fixed"...
Da er ALTA ramma stort sett rein...
Then the ALTA is pretty much stripped...
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Then the ALTA is pretty much stripped...
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Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Can you fix it?
Half the fun of fixies is building your very own and making it yours by choosing components, colour schemes and accessories. But a question I get frequently is whether you need a specific kind of bike to start with or can you just turn pretty much any bike into a fixed-gear wonder?
My answer would be: if you want to have a single-speed, virtually any bike can be made into one of these, whereas if you want the real deal - i.e truly a fixed-gear, you have somewhat less of a choice of starting points. Here’s what you need to know:
Track frames
Probably the most ideal starting point, these frames were designed for fixie riding to start with and are thus great for a build. Things to bear in mind however, is the fact that true track frames don’t have drilled forks, which means you’ll either have to risk it and drill them yourself (not advisable unless you really know what you are doing), get a pair of special Dia Compe brakes that mount onto the fork legs with a clamp rather than rely on the drilled hole in the fork, or you replace the track forks with road going ones and fit a road brake as normal. It’s important you figure this out, because riding without a front brake is really not a good idea. Also track frames don’t have bottle cage mounts so if you are planning to train on one - you’d better get one of them Camelback hydration backpacks too.
Modern road frames
These you can easily turn into single-speeds by using spacers to cover most of the free-wheel hub and only leaving one sprocket to use permanently. If you have a compact or triple crankset you also have some more choice when it comes to chainring spacing for your chainline. Use the one which gives you the straightest chainline (often the inner ring on a compact, which means if you want you can fit a bash quard in place of the outer ring to protect your trouser legs).
In general, particularly new roadbike frames tend to be wider to accomodate said freewheel hub so if you go for a fixed rear wheel here you’ll need one with a longer axle than normal and a bunch of axle spacers. (London Fixie Bike will sort you out). It’s important you use a longer axle and spacers rather than try to flex the chainstays around a narrower than normal wheel, as you risk wrecking the frame. You will still need a chain tensioner sprocket (on a mount off the axle) too as the vertical drop-outs don’t allow you to adjust the chain tension by moving the wheel backwards and forwards.
Vintage road frames with horisontal or diagonal drop outs
These are much better conversion candidates than modern road bikes as the chainstays tend to be a bit narrower (as they had fewer gears in the 60s, 70s and the 80s you know ) and the diagonal drop outs mean you are likely to get away with not having to use a separate chain tensioner sprocket. Due to narrower bottom brackets you should be able to just fit a normal track crankset too, without too much chainline hassle.
Mountain bike frames
Again depending on the age of the frame you either have narrower or wider chainstays, and either vertical or diagonal drop-outs, so the same rules apply as for modern vs. vintage road bike frames.
Cruiser frames etc.
These are a little trickier, not because of any other reason than the sometimes odd wheel sizes used on cruisers limit the choice of wheels you have and thus the kinds of components you can use for doing the conversion. If you can get hold of cruiser frames able to accept 650cc or BMX wheels you are already making life a lot easier for yourself.
My answer would be: if you want to have a single-speed, virtually any bike can be made into one of these, whereas if you want the real deal - i.e truly a fixed-gear, you have somewhat less of a choice of starting points. Here’s what you need to know:
Track frames
Probably the most ideal starting point, these frames were designed for fixie riding to start with and are thus great for a build. Things to bear in mind however, is the fact that true track frames don’t have drilled forks, which means you’ll either have to risk it and drill them yourself (not advisable unless you really know what you are doing), get a pair of special Dia Compe brakes that mount onto the fork legs with a clamp rather than rely on the drilled hole in the fork, or you replace the track forks with road going ones and fit a road brake as normal. It’s important you figure this out, because riding without a front brake is really not a good idea. Also track frames don’t have bottle cage mounts so if you are planning to train on one - you’d better get one of them Camelback hydration backpacks too.
Modern road frames
These you can easily turn into single-speeds by using spacers to cover most of the free-wheel hub and only leaving one sprocket to use permanently. If you have a compact or triple crankset you also have some more choice when it comes to chainring spacing for your chainline. Use the one which gives you the straightest chainline (often the inner ring on a compact, which means if you want you can fit a bash quard in place of the outer ring to protect your trouser legs).
In general, particularly new roadbike frames tend to be wider to accomodate said freewheel hub so if you go for a fixed rear wheel here you’ll need one with a longer axle than normal and a bunch of axle spacers. (London Fixie Bike will sort you out). It’s important you use a longer axle and spacers rather than try to flex the chainstays around a narrower than normal wheel, as you risk wrecking the frame. You will still need a chain tensioner sprocket (on a mount off the axle) too as the vertical drop-outs don’t allow you to adjust the chain tension by moving the wheel backwards and forwards.
Vintage road frames with horisontal or diagonal drop outs
These are much better conversion candidates than modern road bikes as the chainstays tend to be a bit narrower (as they had fewer gears in the 60s, 70s and the 80s you know ) and the diagonal drop outs mean you are likely to get away with not having to use a separate chain tensioner sprocket. Due to narrower bottom brackets you should be able to just fit a normal track crankset too, without too much chainline hassle.
Mountain bike frames
Again depending on the age of the frame you either have narrower or wider chainstays, and either vertical or diagonal drop-outs, so the same rules apply as for modern vs. vintage road bike frames.
Cruiser frames etc.
These are a little trickier, not because of any other reason than the sometimes odd wheel sizes used on cruisers limit the choice of wheels you have and thus the kinds of components you can use for doing the conversion. If you can get hold of cruiser frames able to accept 650cc or BMX wheels you are already making life a lot easier for yourself.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
New ride in tha' house...
Her er noen flere bilder av mitt nye fixed prosjekt.
Here's a few more pics of my new fixed project.
Gleder meg til å "fixe" denne! Kanskje en av verdens første fixed gear ombygde ALTA..?
I can not wait to "fix" this ride! Maybe one of the worlds first fixed gear customized ALTA..?
Noen nærbilder av ramme detaljer...
A few close-ups of some frame details...
Følg med! Stay tuned!
Here's a few more pics of my new fixed project.
Gleder meg til å "fixe" denne! Kanskje en av verdens første fixed gear ombygde ALTA..?
I can not wait to "fix" this ride! Maybe one of the worlds first fixed gear customized ALTA..?
Noen nærbilder av ramme detaljer...
A few close-ups of some frame details...
Følg med! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Nytt leketøy! New Toy!!
Da er det nye leketøyet i hus...
Then the new toy is in tha' house...
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ALTA ble introdusert av Hard Rocx våren 2005, prototypen var grønn. Dette eksemplaret er trolig en av de første ALTA Bikes som ble levert i hvit. Karen som solgte den til meg er kamerat av en som jobber hos Norway Says. Han fikk den i gave en gang i 2005 og han har ikke syklet på den siden. Hvis jeg har skjønt det riktig så ble det produsert 70 hvite og gule sykler i 2006.
Sjekk dette fra Norway Says' websider:
Dette er skrevet om ALTA sykkelen:
Words on the ALTA Bike:
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www.altabikes.no
Then the new toy is in tha' house...
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ALTA ble introdusert av Hard Rocx våren 2005, prototypen var grønn. Dette eksemplaret er trolig en av de første ALTA Bikes som ble levert i hvit. Karen som solgte den til meg er kamerat av en som jobber hos Norway Says. Han fikk den i gave en gang i 2005 og han har ikke syklet på den siden. Hvis jeg har skjønt det riktig så ble det produsert 70 hvite og gule sykler i 2006.
Sjekk dette fra Norway Says' websider:
Dette er skrevet om ALTA sykkelen:
Denne unike designsykkelen er utviklet av de tre anerkjente, norske designfirmaene; Bleed (grafisk design), Frost Produkt (produktdesign) og ikke minst Norway Says (møbel- og produktdesign) og blir produsert av Hard Rocx.
Det var felles kjærlighet til sykkelsporten, blant kamerater i de tre selskapene, som var motivasjonen, da de begynte å kreere sykkelen, men det endelige designet er tydelig inspirert av single-speed-/fixed-wheelkulten blant sykkelbud i verdensbyene San Francisco, New York og Tokyo.
En annen viktig designfaktor var å holde vekten nede på et minimum - kun 9.4 kg. Dermed blir sykkelen bl.a. enkel å ta med opp trapper, slik at eieren stolt kan henge den som "dekorasjon" på veggen i leiligheten sin. Lav vekt er jo, som kjent, heller ingen direkte ulempe når en tråkker avgårde i bygatene eller på landeveien.
Alta Bike blir kun produsert i begrenset opplag og det kommer nye farger hvert år.
Alta Bike er kort sagt en drøm å sykle på og for dem som verdsetter leveregelen "Less is more.", så er dette SYKKELEN!
Words on the ALTA Bike:
Norwegian Alta Bikes are the result of a three-way collaboration between product designers Frost Produkt, furniture designers Norway Says & graphic designers Bleed. Frustrated by the sight of people ‘struggling’ down the streets of Oslo, they came together to create a machine of uncompromising 2-wheel purity - ‘one bike to rule them all’. The super-chaste, Alta One is stripped of all unnecessary equipment giving it unparalleled lightness, ease of maintenance and portability. The ultimate in single-speed chic, this special edition in stealthy submarine grey is created exclusively for 20ltd.com and is limited to only 10 editions
The super-chaste, Alta One is stripped of all unnecessary equipment giving it unparalleled lightness, ease of maintenance and portability. The ultimate in single-speed chic, this special edition in stealthy submarine grey is created exclusively for 20ltd.com and is limited to only 10 editions.
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The Alta Single Speed City Racer.. One bike to rule them all..
People tend to think i have some kao (kamba tribe in Kenya stereotyped for their love of all thing brightly coloured) blood for loving all things coloured brightly/brightly coloured. But surely, if the cycling bug has bitten you, you’ve got to love this single speed racer by Alta. Yellow is a favourite colour of mine and to see the racer done in that colour just makes me want to hang it up on the wall instead of one of my art pieces. The craftsmen are an eclectic mix of people; Bleed (graphic designers), Norway Says (furniture designers), Frost Produkt (product designers) and Shnel&Melnychuck (advertising agency) and i must say, bravo!! bravo!!!! I love it..
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...this thing looks like its from ikea!
Bikes arent fucking furniture...
www.altabikes.no
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