Fixie/Single speed pushie rebuild

[Al_86]

After seeing a few of the push bike rebuilds that are on here I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and try this myself.

I wasnt in too much of a rush but as a recent knee injury has stopped me from riding my motorised cycle, I figured now is as good a time as any. I will also probably require a bicycle as part of the rehab process and a fixie/single gear bike rebuilt from an old racer is a fairly cost efficient way to do it.

As such, I have purchased this:



Its a 1986 Indi 500 road bike. I bought it on Ebay for $40 from some guy in Perth.

This bloke has a heap of old road frames and vintage crap for sale on Ebay, if anyone is looking to start a similar project, he would be a good bloke to see, his user name on Ebay is junkottoya IIRC.

I had originally considered doing this - BuildIts: Building a Bamboo Bike Frame - but as I know nothing about bamboo or carbon fibre, I decided against it. Its something cool to think about doing in the future though.

The frame itself isn't in too bad nick, it just has a bit of minor surface rust, nothing that shouldn't sand out. I don't really plan to use much except the frame, brakes, bars and seat post.



The plan is to invest in a new crankset (the one on there is the old square kind), new rims, Ill probably go for a flip-flop hub as I don't really want a dedicated fixie and the tyres are probably shagged too.

Ive decided to go with a black/white paint scheme as its easy to do and looks quite classy.

Something like this: (big pics so used spoiler tags for ease of reading)

Spoiler: show

or this:

Spoiler: show

I almost went with red after seeing a bike on this site - christcycles.com - like the one in the photo with the ranga.

Also "the family" section of that Christ Cycles page is good for a bit a laugh. 100% Vegan

So anyway, after a whole lot of disassembling, paint stripping and sanding, the forks are ready to be painted and the frame isn't too far behind.

The forks cleaned up quite nicely, they almost look too good to paint.



Hopefully Ill be able to get the frame stripped, sanded and primed before I have to go back to work tomorrow.

[Flyer67]

How's the bike coming along? Building custom single speeds is a hobby of mine so I'm keen to see what you've come up with.

[Al_86]

If all goes well, I should have it finished today. Ill post pics once its done.

[Al_86]

Done! Finally.

Took it for a ride today to the city and back. I forgot how convenient and fun a pushie can be.

The brakes cleaned up nicely so put them back on. They dont work too well yet, they need adjusting but thats not such a huge problem.




The finished product! Im quite pleased with it. Rattlecan paintjob isnt too flash though, I can see it wearing off with a bit of use. Ill probably just ride it until its shagged and eventually get it powdercoated.



And yes, for anyone sharp enough to notice, I did attach the brakes the wrong way around. Ill fix that when I can be bothered re-wrapping the bars.

[jaseyjase]

nice job mate.

[Murley]

That looks 2000 times better than what you started with, nicely done. It's time you went and did some skids.

[chee]

do you want to trade for a white tyre so you can chuck it on the rear?

[Al_86]

do you want to trade for a white tyre so you can chuck it on the rear?

Cheers for the offer but no thanks. I had thought about getting white tyres for it but I think it would be too much white.

[chee]

yeh fair enough. i was originally going to go with that exact theme. except with a white rear. looks great though.