My New Bike...

Ok, I just bought pedals, drop bars, and a stem for $16. Tires and tubes are also on their way. This only leaves me with the chain and seat. The chain is easy, but the seat is another story. This bike has no clamp on the tube, instead it uses a weird expanding thing, like what stems are held in with. Where do I find one of these?

i'm sure you could pick up a cheap standard micro adjust seatpost for very little coin that would make finding a saddles you like MUCH easier.

You can also check to see if you can find a normal collar to put on the seat tube, then you can use a standard seat post. You may have to put a notch in the seat tube in order for it to clamp properly.

The seat post you need is an ATAX quill post. It's not made any longer so hit up craigslist and eBay. A few different companies made quill seat posts but no one has for at least a decade.

The frame will not allow you to simply use a seat clamp. I'm unsure of the diameter you need.

I can't find an ATAX quill post, so I'm going to a local bike shop on a friends recommendation. I need to ask for Dusty, who apparently has a warehouse full of old bikes he likes to fix up. It sounds like the right kind of place.

Ex road and track racer, ex messenger, guy who's always had a fixed bike since the late 70's says:

52-17 is pretty stout unless it's totally flat where you ride and/or you're a gorilla. Most of the urban fixtards run more like 46-17/16. I commuted with 45-17 on a rails-to-trails for 4 miles followed by a mile of downtown DC traffic - downhill in the morning, uphill in the evening - for a while and it was about right.

I advise riding your regular bike using just one gear to figure out how many gear-inches work for you. Usually it's high 70s or low 80s.

Yeah, I ended up with 46/16. My friend and I also talked my dad into taking us to the velodrome sometime.

Good gearing, that's what I run.

Tommy, I have some good news concerning your search for a seatpost. I'll PM you.

If you end up with a post and no seat, I think I have an avenir seat laying around. Nothing fancy, but it's in good shape and it's free.

E36 M3, I wish I had seen this thread a few months ago. I had a Kabuki with the post. The frame ended up being junk (BB cups seized to BB shell), and I tossed the post into the recycle heap along with the frame. Ended up rebuilding an old Trek instead.

I just got back from a 26 mile ride. It reminded me why I'm building a road bike- 2" tires suck.

The bottom bracket and crankset just arrived. How do I tighten it? It has weird rounded grooves all the way around every 1/4" or so.

Also, Carson, did you find out anything else about that seatpost?

Nope, I'll call tomorrow. He has been traveling all week so me might just be busy.

I'll send you the appropriate external bb tool when I send the seat post. I seriously have about 80 of them so you're more than welcome to one.

Thanks a lot! Are you sure about the tool though? How did you end up with so many?

When the external bottom brackets came out about 5ish years ago, the tool came with the cranks because it was so different than the older style tool. I was/am a very busy mechanic so I installed a lot and the customers never wanted the tools.

Now the external bb is so common none of the wrenches come with the cranks or bb.

Hey, did you ever hear from him?

I spent about 4 hours today putting it together, including machining a seatpost (sorry Carson) on the lathe, and rebuilding the headset. Here it is: (bars, stem, pedals will be installed tomorrow).

That is sweet

Starting to look good! I like the tires that you found for it, what kind are they?

I finished the bike at around noon, and went for a ride. It is sweet! Here is a finished pic:

And those are Hutchinson tires.

Ok, the bike is great. I've put about 50 miles on it, and can keep up with my friends on their "real" bikes easily. Everybody should have a fixie!

that stem is so uncool, come on man, sacrifice comfort for the negative rise stem and bullhorns.

i'm just playing, ride whatever you want, however you want, with whatever uncool stem you want.