West 5 Cycles
Cycling, fixed-gear bike building and life on two wheels onlyArchive for Fixie building
The flatbar flyer
A while ago I got hold of a beautiful Merlin frame, made in Leeds, Yorkshire out of 631 Columbus steel and as recently as in 2005, proving that the trade in steel frames is still going strong. I built it up as a racy fixie, with track bars and all – a joy to ride yet, after my better half decided to get intimate with the tarmac while trying to learn to ride fixed, the bike has been a little neglected.
The Merlin with track bars
As the nights got longer and my winter coat heavier – suddenly the triumph of retro nostalgia, the Jeeves, felt a little too ponderous to pedal to the station every morning, so I began looking for a nippier solution. Constrained by space and funds, I decided to do fixie building on the cheap, i.e rather than get a new frame and all the components, why not mod a bike I already have to better suit my winter needs. The Merlin seemed an ideal candidate.
The trouble with low drops in the winter is that you seldom use the drops unless you are wearing bike specific clothing that stops that nasty windchill from working its way into your jacket from an exposed throat and neck. Sitting a little more upright means you avoid this nuisance, yet many of the sit up and beg bikes are slow if not outright onerous in their handling. The Merlin was quite the opposite and a pleasant surprise. The racing geometry made for a very fast-handling, adrenalin junkie of a flat-bar flyer with rapid acceleration – so my journeys to the station are far more fun at this pace.
The Merlin as a flatbar flyer
The steel frame still lends a significant amount of comfort to the ride, despite the race tyres and wheels so why not consider taking a neglected hard-core racer and turning it into one of these stealthy racers-in-disguise. You might just be surprised how much fun commuting can be!
My very own superbike: Stealth Pro Carbon Aerospoke
Ok so I have been very silent of late and I have two excuses: one bad one – too much work and travel and a pretty good one: when not doing the above I have actually been out cycling, desperately trying to avoid the weather getting me down and sofa and TV-bound with a hot cup of tea. It can be very tempting, yet I have mostly managed to resist this temptation by forcing myself out for a ride and only then allowing myself to enjoy the comfort of a hot cuppa and the couch.
Also – what’s been keeping me out on two wheels only has been the sheer joy of realising my dream of the ultimate superbike – a while ago you will remember I got the Planet X Stealth Pro carbon frame and built it up to a nice speed-machine and enjoyed riding it a lot. Something was still missing, and that was the lush, glossy carbon Aerospoke wheels to complete the picture – my very own Samurai sword of cycle, the ultimate fixxer. Now Aerospoke wheels are hard to come by for a start, so I started combing Ebay with a fine tooth-brush and finally managed to get hold of a pair – from the guys at Drif in LA.
What is interesting is that the Aerospokes are actually not that light – they weigh in about 1,5kg per wheel and considerably heavier than the On-One track wheels I was using before, which made the complete bike come in at sub 7kgs – so good enough for Tour de France if anyone ever decided to ride that fixed again, as it was done in the good ol’ days when men were men and lycra, power-meters and energy food hadn’t even been invented, let alone gears.
The change from the On-one track wheels to the Aerospokes was like the maturing of a warrior. Skittish and nervous in its super lithe incarnation, the Stealth Pro Carbon became my weapon of choice through the superior smooth handling with the Aerospokes – it really feels like a train when it gets going and no thinking of British railways here, I mean high-speed maglev style! The slightly increased weight of the Aerospokes acts like a stabilising force on the otherwise nervous handling, the bike is lightning-fast and responsive, no longer skittish and nervous. It is a joy to ride and I have begun going out for long 70-80km spins to Surrey, Virginia Water and the Windsor Great Park. For sure, people look at me thinking – my G*D she is riding fixed, (out here?? she must be mad) but cruising past folks on expensive road machines, you get nothing but respect.
Have a look over at Flickr for the latest pics I’ve uploaded on the new guise of the superbike.
Fixie check one two: pedalmafia
Scouring the net looking for some serious fixie inspiration? Been up and down fixedgeargallery already? Want some more? Good news is that fixie riders everywhere are one media savvy bunch – not only do we pedal without stopping, we manage to take pictures of our rides too and share them with friends all over the world.
Today the price for the wickedest, most amazing fixie has to go to this most stunning creation I found on Pedalmafia’s most excellent site – their bike check one two is a great collection of fixies from near and far, slightly biased towards carbon aero wheels, either by Zipp, Hed or Aerospoke – but hey if that’s your thing – go looky here.
Zipp/Tune 'NZL' Kudo from Pedalmafia
