This is far enough along that I’m confident that I’ll end up a Guy Who Built A Bike and not a Guy Who Blogged About Building A Bike And Then Never Did It.

I’m building a bike! It is both easier and more complicated than I thought. Slightly more expensive than I thought, but not wildly. It is definitely more expensive than buying a bike.

I’m roughly following this guide. It’ll be a fixed gear, 10% for cred and 90% because that seemed easiest. (although I got a cool wheel that has a fixed cog on one side and a freewheel on the other, so I could switch it if I wanted. the difference is that you can’t coast on a fixed gear, and if you push the pedals backwards, it brakes; if you have a freewheel, it’s just like any bike that you’re used to, but only one speed.)

I’ve been getting a bunch of help from the guys at Kraynick’s (Jerry Kraynick himself, and other folks who just happen to be in there fixing up bikes at the same time). Couldn’t do it without them; like I said, it’s kind of complicated. It’s exciting, though! I’ll post more when it’s done.

Comments:

yincrash - Aug 1, 2013

+1 for freewheel.

also make sure you have at least a front brake if you’re going fixie. it’s definitely the law in nyc, but it’s also just safe.

looks fun!

Dan - Aug 1, 2013

Yeah, definitely getting a brake. I don’t know how it’ll go; I’ve never really ridden a fixie so I might just hate it and switch to the freewheel. But some people love it, so I figure worth a try.