I have always low key wanted a fixed gear, but for one reason or another it never came to be. A few months ago I road my friends Kilo TT, and got urge to get a fixed gear. But I didn’t know if I would like to actually ride one around for extended periods. Would it work for my needs? I don’t live in a perfectly flat area. Will it destroy my knees? I am old elder millennial. So I didn’t want to drop new bike prices for something that simply doesn’t work. Which meant going cheap. I pursued Craigslist and FB Marketplace (the only thing about FB I like) for weeks trying to find something sub $300 that would be in my size, but wasn’t just junk. After searching I found this for $50, and it needed work.
I ended up spending much more than $300 to get this thing rideable. Other then the bars, grips, and front brake which I got from State, everything else was found on Amazon. It has all new drivetrain. When I tried to take off the pedals, I discovered that one of the pedals was crossed threaded, which meant some new no name cranks. And when I took the crank off, the chain ring felt as this as a PBR tallboy so I replaced that with an Origin8 crank. I also went to 1/8 instead of 3/32 since there seemed to be more options. The rear wheel just had a free wheel cog, so I got a State fixed gear cog and origin8 lock ring to make it an actual fixed gear. Its 46×16 ratio which is the same as what it was when I got it. Since I dont know what ratio works for me, I kept it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The 25mm Thick Slicks and cheap pedals came from a local bike shop.
Like I said, I could have found a bike that didn’t need any work to be ready to ride. But I enjoyed working on this project and learned a lot and learning as I go. (Like probably needing to remove a link in the chain.). And I do like riding it, so I can use what I learned for future projects. It might not be as light as other fixed gears out there, but my other bike is a Surly Long Haul Trucker with a full front rack, so this Motobecane is much lighter than that.
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An 08(?) Motobecane Messenger.
I have always low key wanted a fixed gear, but for one reason or another it never came to be. A few months ago I road my friends Kilo TT, and got urge to get a fixed gear. But I didn’t know if I would like to actually ride one around for extended periods. Would it work for my needs? I don’t live in a perfectly flat area. Will it destroy my knees? I am old elder millennial. So I didn’t want to drop new bike prices for something that simply doesn’t work. Which meant going cheap. I pursued Craigslist and FB Marketplace (the only thing about FB I like) for weeks trying to find something sub $300 that would be in my size, but wasn’t just junk. After searching I found this for $50, and it needed work.
I ended up spending much more than $300 to get this thing rideable. Other then the bars, grips, and front brake which I got from State, everything else was found on Amazon. It has all new drivetrain. When I tried to take off the pedals, I discovered that one of the pedals was crossed threaded, which meant some new no name cranks. And when I took the crank off, the chain ring felt as this as a PBR tallboy so I replaced that with an Origin8 crank. I also went to 1/8 instead of 3/32 since there seemed to be more options. The rear wheel just had a free wheel cog, so I got a State fixed gear cog and origin8 lock ring to make it an actual fixed gear. Its 46×16 ratio which is the same as what it was when I got it. Since I dont know what ratio works for me, I kept it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The 25mm Thick Slicks and cheap pedals came from a local bike shop.
Like I said, I could have found a bike that didn’t need any work to be ready to ride. But I enjoyed working on this project and learned a lot and learning as I go. (Like probably needing to remove a link in the chain.). And I do like riding it, so I can use what I learned for future projects. It might not be as light as other fixed gears out there, but my other bike is a Surly Long Haul Trucker with a full front rack, so this Motobecane is much lighter than that.
Roast away.