Ultimate Fixie
Our next fun build is a Merlin XLM hardtail mountain bike. First step, the wheels. Since we are going for uberlite we have decided on Edge Composite 24 spoke clincher rims paired with the royal family of Tune hubs (the Princess and Prince) and held together with Sapim's deliciously light CX-Rays. Without disc rotors and skewers the front wheel weighs a staggering 550 grams. Toss in a KCNC skewer (23 grams) and a seriously light Scrub rotor and titanium bolts (49 grams) and you have a fully functioning ~625 gram wheel...just waiting for the rear wheel to be built up to give you the full wheelset weight....oh yeah baby!!
Wondering what the next bicycle you could build is? A new road bike? a new MTB bike? or even a new cross bike? Nah! That is all to realistic! Instead maybe you could build the ultimate fixie. Yes, that's it, the ultimate fixie! Now how do I go about doing that?! Where to start.......
How about a very rare 55cM Eriksen Titanium track frame. Good start! Now add some Edge Composite 42cM carbon clincher rims...20 hole front rim and a 24 hole rear. You might ask, what hubs are you going to pair with such cool rims? Zipp, Dura Ace, or maybe some DT Swiss. These choices in the "real world" would be a good idea. But if you're building the "ultimate fixie", why make things real? That is why it was decided to go with some Phil Wood custom drilled Hi Flange track hubs. With some Sapim X-ray spokes on the way, the wheels should be up and running soon. As you can see from the photo there is a very nice Mango Chris King headset already in place. Not shown in the pic is the Eriksen seatpost, that just so happens to have an orange head...I sense a theme here. Next on the wish list is deciding what fork to use. The frame came with a Reynolds UL carbon fork (new uncut), but we decided that was not what we were looking for (you can buy it on Ebay if you want)
Feb 5, 2010 update:
With the arrival of the fork from Blacksheep the bike has taken shape. Note the orange Blacksheep decal they made for us to match the theme. When we put on the fork there was some wrangling with the brakes to get them to sit right, after all we would not want to scar those nice Edge Composite rims. But all is on track after some repairs that involved some parts from an ancient donor.
On goes the Surly flask and Ahearn Flask holder to keep you warm on those cool spring (hopefully very soon spring) evenings and we are almost set...We had someone ask "how much is that bike?” Good question...does that really matter when you are building the "Ultimate Fixie"?
January 21, 2010 update:
Compliments of my new new app called Hipstamatic, here is a pic showing the lastest state of this build. Notice the fine Schwalbe Ultremo tires (not the recalled ones), mmmmmmm new rubber.
January 20, 2010 update:
The arrival of the Sapim spokes has allowed the wheels to be built. With some figuring for the spoke tension (not an easy task, with the hub/rim/spoke combo) the wheels took shape. And in true redbike fashion, Derek used this opportunity to learn to build wheels. Normally a first time wheel builder might start with a lesser wheel, but as they say: It’s as easy as falling off a piece of cake. (I love mixed metaphors).
After two successful wheels builds, the cranks and bottom bracket arrived. There is nothing like opening new Campagnolo Record box and seeing that fine hardware. Now the Record 165MM Track crank with 50Tooth chainring can be installed and with the brakes installed the bike is really taking shape. Without the Blacksheep fork to build up the frame we opted to use the Reynolds fork that came with the frame just to satisfy our needs.
November 27 update:
We have found the fork! It is from the guys at Blacksheep , and a perfect match for the frame and of course, the brakes. As soon as the fork arrives we will get a picture of it and post it for all to see. Again, any ideas or comments about this build send it here
<< back to home
Ultimate Fixie
Our next fun build is a Merlin XLM hardtail mountain bike. First step, the wheels. Since we are going for uberlite we have decided on Edge Composite 24 spoke clincher rims paired with the royal family of Tune hubs (the Princess and Prince) and held together with Sapim's deliciously light CX-Rays. Without disc rotors and skewers the front wheel weighs a staggering 550 grams. Toss in a KCNC skewer (23 grams) and a seriously light Scrub rotor and titanium bolts (49 grams) and you have a fully functioning ~625 gram wheel...just waiting for the rear wheel to be built up to give you the full wheelset weight....oh yeah baby!!
Wondering what the next bicycle you could build is? A new road bike? a new MTB bike? or even a new cross bike? Nah! That is all to realistic! Instead maybe you could build the ultimate fixie. Yes, that's it, the ultimate fixie! Now how do I go about doing that?! Where to start.......
How about a very rare 55cM Eriksen Titanium track frame. Good start! Now add some Edge Composite 42cM carbon clincher rims...20 hole front rim and a 24 hole rear. You might ask, what hubs are you going to pair with such cool rims? Zipp, Dura Ace, or maybe some DT Swiss. These choices in the "real world" would be a good idea. But if you're building the "ultimate fixie", why make things real? That is why it was decided to go with some Phil Wood custom drilled Hi Flange track hubs. With some Sapim X-ray spokes on the way, the wheels should be up and running soon. As you can see from the photo there is a very nice Mango Chris King headset already in place. Not shown in the pic is the Eriksen seatpost, that just so happens to have an orange head...I sense a theme here. Next on the wish list is deciding what fork to use. The frame came with a Reynolds UL carbon fork (new uncut), but we decided that was not what we were looking for (you can buy it on Ebay if you want)
Feb 5, 2010 update:
With the arrival of the fork from Blacksheep the bike has taken shape. Note the orange Blacksheep decal they made for us to match the theme. When we put on the fork there was some wrangling with the brakes to get them to sit right, after all we would not want to scar those nice Edge Composite rims. But all is on track after some repairs that involved some parts from an ancient donor.
On goes the Surly flask and Ahearn Flask holder to keep you warm on those cool spring (hopefully very soon spring) evenings and we are almost set...We had someone ask "how much is that bike?” Good question...does that really matter when you are building the "Ultimate Fixie"?
January 21, 2010 update:
Compliments of my new new app called Hipstamatic, here is a pic showing the lastest state of this build. Notice the fine Schwalbe Ultremo tires (not the recalled ones), mmmmmmm new rubber.
January 20, 2010 update:
The arrival of the Sapim spokes has allowed the wheels to be built. With some figuring for the spoke tension (not an easy task, with the hub/rim/spoke combo) the wheels took shape. And in true redbike fashion, Derek used this opportunity to learn to build wheels. Normally a first time wheel builder might start with a lesser wheel, but as they say: It’s as easy as falling off a piece of cake. (I love mixed metaphors).
After two successful wheels builds, the cranks and bottom bracket arrived. There is nothing like opening new Campagnolo Record box and seeing that fine hardware. Now the Record 165MM Track crank with 50Tooth chainring can be installed and with the brakes installed the bike is really taking shape. Without the Blacksheep fork to build up the frame we opted to use the Reynolds fork that came with the frame just to satisfy our needs.
November 27 update:
We have found the fork! It is from the guys at Blacksheep , and a perfect match for the frame and of course, the brakes. As soon as the fork arrives we will get a picture of it and post it for all to see. Again, any ideas or comments about this build send it here
hours
mon, tues, wed, fri 10-6pm
thurs 10-8pm
sat 10-5:30pm
sun nope.
Mountain-Road-Cruiser-Cyclocross-Single Speed-Commuter-Hybrid
contact redbike
address: 10918 88 ave, Edmonton, Alberta. Canada. T6G 0Z1
phone: 780-435-2674
email: info at redbike dot ca
Subscribe to our newsletter |
Unsubscribe |
View our newsletter archives
How about a very rare 55cM Eriksen Titanium track frame. Good start! Now add some Edge Composite 42cM carbon clincher rims...20 hole front rim and a 24 hole rear. You might ask, what hubs are you going to pair with such cool rims? Zipp, Dura Ace, or maybe some DT Swiss. These choices in the "real world" would be a good idea. But if you're building the "ultimate fixie", why make things real? That is why it was decided to go with some Phil Wood custom drilled Hi Flange track hubs. With some Sapim X-ray spokes on the way, the wheels should be up and running soon. As you can see from the photo there is a very nice Mango Chris King headset already in place. Not shown in the pic is the Eriksen seatpost, that just so happens to have an orange head...I sense a theme here. Next on the wish list is deciding what fork to use. The frame came with a Reynolds UL carbon fork (new uncut), but we decided that was not what we were looking for (you can buy it on Ebay if you want)