Pro tip: when cutting cable outers, always put a length of old (sacrificial) inner cable inside at the point of the cut. This minimises crushing of the outer and helps make a cleaner cut.
That's probably a great idea if you were using cheap cutters. I use the same Parktool cutter that Ollie has used and there are no issues with deformations or anything like that.
@@mopedvieh it's still a good idea no matter how good your cutters are. Depends how fussy you are with the job you're doing at the end of the day. I'm fussy.
I love these style of videos which are more natural and less scripted. Nice to hear Ollie just waffling on to camera about something he’s clearly interested in 👍
I think he covered that in the first video - they were donated by Manon from her bits-box of track spares.... If you've got friends in the right places.....!
You can get the dura ace look if you grab a road dura ace and throw on some SS bolts.. it won’t be 144 but it will give you that dura ace look on a budget.
6:29 You couldn't race it in the Red Hook Crit because the Red Hook Crit specifically bans conversions because of the lower bottom bracket drop which can cause pedal strike in the tight corners. They actually do thoroughly check your bike before you race too.
Yes, not to mention that what they call 'budget' in this video, if someone had to buy themselves, would probably cost more than a Cinelli Vigorelli with decent parts.
Yeah, i winced, too. I use EggBeater on both my single-speed and my fixi; you're still attached to the bike, you can easily walk around in MTB-shoes, and they're not (as) ugly as plastic platform pedals. Alternatively, use some Shimano or VP pedals with both SPD and flat platform.
For the rear hub, Bricklanebikes have a hub which can be spaced to road spacing. Can be found if you’re searching for the squid bikes so ez tracklocross frame.
Been wondering about that too. Cut the steerer and then hammer the star nut into position again. Since this is still the most common system on MTBs you can borrow a dedicated tool from GMBN
Should probably mention to check chain tension at the tightest point. Chainrings are almost never perfectly circular once fitted to a chainset; set the tension at a slack point and it’ll wreck bearings in no time.
I can remember when single-speeds were all we could get. I died and gone to heaven when I came across my first 2-speed automatic. Select low gear by starting ahead; If you were in high, simply cycle the pedals backward about halfway to the brakes application. When the speed felt good to select high, simply cycle the pedals back, not quite to the brake application again, you're in high. When you came to a stop, the hub would 'automatically' cycle back into low.
Ollie: you do not need a half-link chain, you only need a half-link for an ordinary 8 speed chain, less complex and better. As for using track hubs (flip-flop hubs), as long as the axle itself is long enough, you can add 2 x 5 mm spacers - one on each side - this will take the 120 mm hub to 130 mm. I did same on a early 1990 steel frame (with the then typical long drop-outs) and have a nice fixed gear / single speed. Usually the single speed side uses a slightly larger free-hub than the fixed side, this allows for better mobility if you encounter hilly terrain.
Ok Ollie a couple of free tips for you. Pedals: Shimano M424 are the bees knees. Cheerfully cheap, bombproof reliable. Flat when you need them, clipped in when you want it. Ride flats for shopping, switch to CX/Gravel shoes for cadence lulz. No fiddly "I'm on the wrong side" faffing about. Plant yer feet and pedal! Chimney: work out where you need to cut off the steerer, grab an M6 bolt, thread it well into the star-nut and hammer away (yes, this will ruin the bolt). Get it just below the level of the cut. Remove the bolt, cut the steerer tube. Then hit up Park Tool for a TNS-1 Threadless Nut Setter to drive it to the correct depth and hopefully straightness. Job done, have fun! ninja edit: a proper internal-cam heavy-steel Shimano skewer is all you need to stop the back wheel from pulling. We raced on forwards facing dropouts for DECADES with minimal pulling issues. Strange how the craptacular "super light" open-cam skewers didn't gain any traction until vertical dropouts became standard.
The project was very interesting even though it does not represent a "budget" project for most people. All the parts on that fixie are pretty high end (zipp, durace ace, fizik...) and some looks brand new (wheels for example). I also doubt that most of us have a Cervelo frame on hand. Interesting information but some parts were not shown on camera (fitting the single speed on the freewheel). Anyway keep them coming those projects are very interesting to follow.
Paul Components have a 130mm rear flip flop hub that will work, I have the BOOST WORD one on my SS MTB it is a great hub, but they are quite ££££, also it had limited availbility in the UK and took I while to come from the US (customs issues too) but it is very good. Alternatively I'd recommend the Surly 130mm flip flop, it is in stock and available in the uk at way less than half the price of the Paul. The only real limitation with the Surly is the minimum holes is 32 which means a new rim too, otherwise it's good to go with a selection your favourite SS freewheels from White industries, Shimano or Sturmey Archer depending on price point, also you can use a narrow chain (that also come in half links)..But you may need a new chainwheel and if you are in Bath you'll need to drop a few teeth to get over those lumps anyway.
Colin Furze could help you build an ice disk wheel for the bike. Rotational weight doesn't matter and you could dispense with hubs or bearings. Naturally you'd need 23mm Gatorskins and an aluminum rim to cope with all that weight. You don't need a rear brake for fixed. You'll need a disk brake up front with all that momentum! Colin could help you spice up the musical score as well. You could add a safety necktie to your attire on that episode also!
Bike looks great for a budget build. Glad you dropped the Speedplay, but the Cervelo and Dura-ace are still a tough sell. 😂😂😂 So glad to hear you admit to cutting the cable outer with the cable installed! Did that same thing...cuz I’m an Idiot Sandwich!
Bike looks great for a budget build. Glad you dropped the Speedplays, but the Cervelo and Dura-ace are still a tough sell. 😂😂😂 So glad to hear you admit to cutting the cable outer with the cable installed! Did that same thing...cuz I’m an Idiot Sandwich!
Hi Ollie, thanks for the video. You mentioned in the previous one (part 2) you were going to tell us more about gear ratio and how to calculate it. If you could go into more detail about this in the next video, that’d be great. Great job! Cheers mate,
Gear ratio is derived by dividing the number of teeth on the front chainring by the number of teeth on the rear cog (e.g. 50÷25=2.00). This ratio represents the number of times the rear wheel rotates for each rotation of the cranks. In this example, the rear wheel turns twice for each complete pedal stroke. The relationship between gear ratio and gear inches, cadence and actual speed is another long story.
In the earlier videos he said he was gearing down, all he had was the 52t chainring. I think he said he was getting a 44t chainring but not sure on the cog.
@@roguecode2354 I have a fixie with a flip flop hub. I ride in single speed with a 46/16. It's perfectly fine. I'd imagine anything below 50 would be okay for someone fitter than me. If I can do it, then surely these guys can.
@@dvs620 The smaller the chainring the easier it gets. So if he ends up with a 44 its probably easier than yours. I ride 49x16 and its not bad but it's also not super easy, I only ride fixed. If he has a 17t or 18t cog the 52t chain ring is similar to 49x16
@@roguecode2354 Yeah. But my bike came with a 42t and I'd spin out whenever I was on flat roads. The benefit of going uphill with the 42t vs the 46t is minimal to me. But the upgrade of the 46t over the 42t on flat roads is significant.
Those shimano hoods/brake levers in combination with the nice black/silver cockpit. It matches the frame silver accents and black seatpost too. Nice, allways same colour stem/seatpost, supernice in my perspective. Maybe red bar plugs, would be nice too add
@@playandteach If you are using QR axles they will always move forward eventually especially if you are a strong rider using a huge track ring like Ollie, you just cant get them tight enough. Even with nut on axles aluminium frames can cause issues as often you find the amount of torque you need to keep them from moving starts to make a mess of the dropout. On steel you can usually get away with it as long as the axles/hubs are good enough quality to take a bit of over torque without the treads stripping/stretching or the bearings locking up, but even then you have to keep an eye on the chain tension. Dropping in some kind of spacer like a chain pin, or a bit of spoke solves the problem (until you forget about them and they fall out when you flip the wheel).
ollie! I ride single speed fixed all winter, after a lot of experimenting I've settled on 46-16 in Nashville, TN, USA. Also a pretty hilly city. try it out. Also you need some stylish toe clips for those flats
Try Velosolo for rear hub conversion. If you can source a disc hub wheel, Velosolo do a sprocket that bolts directly where the rotor would normally go. Simples 👍
Enjoying watching your build. After episodes 1&2 I decided to tackle the work I’d been putting off needed to get mine back on the road. Test ride went well today 😀
Nice Job Ollie, I actually commuted on a single speed for about 6 months including up a 5% grade and then my knees said "hey gears would be nice!". I would have done the stem spacers under the stem myself to remove the chimney YMMV.
Hey Ollie, Sturmey Archer makes a cheepy hub. The SA HBT30 is a flip/flop hub with 130mm spacing. I buil myself some fixied training wheels with those hubs. They work fine and look pretty good.
13:45 is the mosr hipster ollie has ever looked in his life- cycling cap, jeans, skate shoes, doing a track stand on a Cervelo? Straight outta haight-ashbury my bro.
Instead of a chain made entirely of half links, you only need one to achieve the same goal. (the goal being to size the chain more accurately. Half links, due to their design, will wear and stretch significantly faster than a regular chain. I recently installed that same chain on a new bike build. It lasted 320 km of dry road use before being too stretched. With my next chain, I achieved the same tight fit by using a single half link. Works like a charm and the regular KMC chain is lasting much better. The half link chain does look super cool though.
You don’t need to remove the star nut to cut it. Just use a star nut setting tool to drop it lower in the fork before cutting and then not only is it out of the way of the cut but it should also be in the right position to use again for headset compression. Cheeky mechanics tip: Mark the setting tool with the amount you are about to cut off before using so you can make sure you sink it the perfect amount and then attach a jubilee clip to act as a stop; preventing you from accidentally going too deep 😉😉
Me wathing the first video in this series: I'm not remotely interested in building a single speed or even most tech generally I just love and find it very relaxing listening to Ollie enthusiastically explaining stuff Me by the third video: okay this looks fun though
This brings back good memories of when my friends hung out in their cheap café buy coffee that costs as much pay as much as my entire family would spend in a day.
Check the Shimano M324 pedals - one side SPD, the other is flat. Built like a bridge but a little heavy. Those flats look a little ducky on that sleek machine. One little neg about the 1/2 link BMX chain is that it'll wear a bit faster, but who cares? You've built a fabulous bike!!!
Yes they would. But they are totally impractical since you would soon grow tired of the reduced number of ways to place your hands. I've been through that proces: First I tried Mavic's lowered bull horns (anyone remember them?). Not enough hand positions. Then I tried flat MTB handlebars with horns. Same thing. Then I went back to racing handlebars and have been using them ever since. And beleive me: A no-nonsense single-speed bike looks absolute stunning with racing handlebars, way better than with bull horns or flat MTB handlebars.
cant you get hold of and older MTB hub, 135mm and use the disk mount as the fixed cog mounting - its fairly common.. and then you still have the cassette freehub body for the freewheel side.
You could use Speedplay Frog pedals and get them from ebay. recessed cleats are still convenient for everyday use. That's what I have been using on my commuter for about 15 years.
Get a dtswiss track hub and put spacers, this is what most do when they have a wider spaced frame. Like some of all city frames have 135mm spacing on there tracklocross frames. Also get a blb, miche or all city cog.
Ollie, I'm surprised you went with a -17 degree stem. For an around town bike, I would recommend setting up more to look around easier. The position you have now looks pretty aggressive for a beat around bike. This also has a big impact when you put a backpack on.
Yea it’s extremely not likely that Ollie will actually ride this bike regularly, much less do any actual commuting while riding a backpack. He’s just having fun and making content. It’s probably more likely that we’ll see this same frame rebuilt as sow thing else in the future. Besides, he’s riding a TT frame with 23’s. Comfort and practicality were not considered.
Lightweight rear skewers don't do well in horizontal dropouts. Steel skewers can work, but the best budget fix is to buy a length of 'all thread' rod, nuts & washers at the hardware store.
First time I have seen the rear brake on the left lever. Is this a point where we in the US are backwards from the rest of the world or is this a recipe for launching yourself over the handle bars?
Same in Australia and New Zealand, rear on the left, front on the right. Not sure why America has rear on the right. Front on the right is standard across the world for motorbikes, so why did the US flip it for push-bikes? I'm sure someone knows.
No, the guys from UK are weird in that regard 😄. The rest of Europe has the rear brake on the right hand side. I once borrowed a MTB when I was in the UK and nearly went OTB because I smashed the front brake instead of the rear.
Its a big, drop bar, bmx bike. Would be nice to have seen how to convert the freehub. I know its a kit, but how to install the kit would been nice to see it pit together.
Cool bike. I light of the new Shimano Dura-Ace and Ultegra release I'm sure a lot more people will find single speed bikes more attractive. I know I won't be spending thousands of dollars for gears anymore.
Does anyone know where (or which brand) can I get a single speed frame with dropped seat stays and rear internal routing holes like the one in this video? Many 🙏🏻 I m in Australia.
@@elijahheadrick1389 just highlighting is all - it's a great build, no doubt and if they're from a bits box or donation, then it IS budget but still, on component value in it's own right, this is not a budget bike.
Just bash the star-nut down to the position you want it, or if you really want to use an expander bash it right down into the tube and forget about it or use an 10mm drill bit to drill out/destroy the centre bit and they come out easy.
Hi gcn I am trying something similar on my much older bike... The problem I have is I don't have a rear cassette instead I have a freehub. Any ideas? I want to avoid buying a whole new rear wheel. If I get just a single speed rear freewheel how do I then correct chainline
@@MJ-ed7is yeah, I think the point he's making is just "reuse old parts you might have laying around if they're in good shape" His budget for a single speed might be way bigger than mine. Maybe I'd reuse my old Peugeot bike, others might get a Poloandbike frame...
Just take a screwdriver and use a hammer to force the starnut down deeper then cut, that's what I did on my alloy road bike when I needed to cut the steerer.
Use straps/ toe cages if you’re going fixed and lose those wide plastic pedals for smaller pedals so that you won’t clip the road when leaning aggressively.
My bike needs a new derailleur and I was thinking about also upgrading the group set to an 11 speed at the same time but I think I’m sold on the conversion to single speed flat bar.
Pro tip: when cutting cable outers, always put a length of old (sacrificial) inner cable inside at the point of the cut. This minimises crushing of the outer and helps make a cleaner cut.
That's probably a great idea if you were using cheap cutters. I use the same Parktool cutter that Ollie has used and there are no issues with deformations or anything like that.
@@mopedvieh it's still a good idea no matter how good your cutters are. Depends how fussy you are with the job you're doing at the end of the day. I'm fussy.
@@FurySpyder Yeah me too. I guess I'll give it a try next time. Thanks for the advise 👍
Very nice tip, sometimes I had to cut another cm just because it was too damaged inside
Thank you!
Cheers for that tip. I did have that issue when I last changed my cables
I love these style of videos which are more natural and less scripted. Nice to hear Ollie just waffling on to camera about something he’s clearly interested in 👍
Ah yes the famous budget dura ace track cranks
I think he covered that in the first video - they were donated by Manon from her bits-box of track spares.... If you've got friends in the right places.....!
@@FurySpyder Oohh i see, that's still a really nice piece of gear !
There's really nothing budget-y about this build, Fizik, Zipp, Dura-Ace components on a Cervelo frameset.. But still liking the build
@@villeesa8419 same tbh
You can get the dura ace look if you grab a road dura ace and throw on some SS bolts.. it won’t be 144 but it will give you that dura ace look on a budget.
6:29 You couldn't race it in the Red Hook Crit because the Red Hook Crit specifically bans conversions because of the lower bottom bracket drop which can cause pedal strike in the tight corners. They actually do thoroughly check your bike before you race too.
Yes, not to mention that what they call 'budget' in this video, if someone had to buy themselves, would probably cost more than a Cinelli Vigorelli with decent parts.
he rode the red hook and is fully familiar with what's allowed and not, MATTHEW
Plastic flat pedals on dura ace cranks, kill me :')
Yeah, should have used some pedals with just plain polished aluminium body. Not that more pricey that plastic ones, last much longer, get fixee points
This channel has always been pathetic. 😂 Like their NTB channel with a total of 5 different bikes.
@@LosAngelesWeedSmoker says the self lung polluter from cali
@@LosAngelesWeedSmoker Boo! Hiss!
Yeah, i winced, too.
I use EggBeater on both my single-speed and my fixi; you're still attached to the bike, you can easily walk around in MTB-shoes, and they're not (as) ugly as plastic platform pedals.
Alternatively, use some Shimano or VP pedals with both SPD and flat platform.
For the rear hub, Bricklanebikes have a hub which can be spaced to road spacing. Can be found if you’re searching for the squid bikes so ez tracklocross frame.
Why don't you just knock the star nut further down into the steerer?
Been wondering about that too. Cut the steerer and then hammer the star nut into position again. Since this is still the most common system on MTBs you can borrow a dedicated tool from GMBN
Doddy will be in later to sort it out.
I was just gonna recommend that! That's what I've done in the past.
That is most certainly the case he needs to do just beacuse it is much cheaper and doesn't require buying new headset.
thought the same too bro :-)
Should probably mention to check chain tension at the tightest point. Chainrings are almost never perfectly circular once fitted to a chainset; set the tension at a slack point and it’ll wreck bearings in no time.
It's dura ace, I'm sure it'll be fine.
I suspect a Dura Ace track chainset won’t be many people’s choice for a budget single speed though.
Good point but even taking that into account, doesn't that chain look a wee bit slack?
@@weeringjohnny track slack ftw
slack is easier on the chainwheel teeth than an overly tight spot will be on your BB bearings and your chain.
I can remember when single-speeds were all we could get. I died and gone to heaven when I came across my first 2-speed automatic. Select low gear by starting ahead; If you were in high, simply cycle the pedals backward about halfway to the brakes application. When the speed felt good to select high, simply cycle the pedals back, not quite to the brake application again, you're in high. When you came to a stop, the hub would 'automatically' cycle back into low.
Can you send me a link to this 2-speed automatic you speak of? Thanks!
Let’s go! Been waiting for this all week!!
should have used mks pedals with toe cages
or straps
Ollie: you do not need a half-link chain, you only need a half-link for an ordinary 8 speed chain, less complex and better. As for using track hubs (flip-flop hubs), as long as the axle itself is long enough, you can add 2 x 5 mm spacers - one on each side - this will take the 120 mm hub to 130 mm. I did same on a early 1990 steel frame (with the then typical long drop-outs) and have a nice fixed gear / single speed. Usually the single speed side uses a slightly larger free-hub than the fixed side, this allows for better mobility if you encounter hilly terrain.
More builds is great to see guys. Jeremy’s Orbea build was also nice
This is the best frankstein i have ever seen! I need to see the final conversion into a real fixed bike please!
Ok Ollie a couple of free tips for you.
Pedals: Shimano M424 are the bees knees. Cheerfully cheap, bombproof reliable. Flat when you need them, clipped in when you want it. Ride flats for shopping, switch to CX/Gravel shoes for cadence lulz. No fiddly "I'm on the wrong side" faffing about. Plant yer feet and pedal!
Chimney: work out where you need to cut off the steerer, grab an M6 bolt, thread it well into the star-nut and hammer away (yes, this will ruin the bolt). Get it just below the level of the cut. Remove the bolt, cut the steerer tube. Then hit up Park Tool for a TNS-1 Threadless Nut Setter to drive it to the correct depth and hopefully straightness.
Job done, have fun!
ninja edit: a proper internal-cam heavy-steel Shimano skewer is all you need to stop the back wheel from pulling. We raced on forwards facing dropouts for DECADES with minimal pulling issues. Strange how the craptacular "super light" open-cam skewers didn't gain any traction until vertical dropouts became standard.
The screaming you hear is Jon Canning expressing his horror
Can't wait to see the fixed gear wheel build! ^^
Brilliant set of vids. I was thinking today Ollie is such a brilliant addition to GCN- great
Half link chain - Well you taught me something there, had never heard of it.
Oh, my non-native ears heard it as Halfling chain.. Thx for spelling it out :)
I use a halflink connector on a normal chain. Saves me 2 Watts of frictionloss!
@@petertillegreen5014 The best ones are made from Mithril...
in bmx they are the most used chains pretty much.
The project was very interesting even though it does not represent a "budget" project for most people. All the parts on that fixie are pretty high end (zipp, durace ace, fizik...) and some looks brand new (wheels for example). I also doubt that most of us have a Cervelo frame on hand. Interesting information but some parts were not shown on camera (fitting the single speed on the freewheel). Anyway keep them coming those projects are very interesting to follow.
Paul Components have a 130mm rear flip flop hub that will work, I have the BOOST WORD one on my SS MTB it is a great hub, but they are quite ££££, also it had limited availbility in the UK and took I while to come from the US (customs issues too) but it is very good. Alternatively I'd recommend the Surly 130mm flip flop, it is in stock and available in the uk at way less than half the price of the Paul. The only real limitation with the Surly is the minimum holes is 32 which means a new rim too, otherwise it's good to go with a selection your favourite SS freewheels from White industries, Shimano or Sturmey Archer depending on price point, also you can use a narrow chain (that also come in half links)..But you may need a new chainwheel and if you are in Bath you'll need to drop a few teeth to get over those lumps anyway.
Colin Furze could help you build an ice disk wheel for the bike. Rotational weight doesn't matter and you could dispense with hubs or bearings. Naturally you'd need 23mm Gatorskins and an aluminum rim to cope with all that weight. You don't need a rear brake for fixed. You'll need a disk brake up front with all that momentum! Colin could help you spice up the musical score as well. You could add a safety necktie to your attire on that episode also!
Bike looks great for a budget build. Glad you dropped the Speedplay, but the Cervelo and Dura-ace are still a tough sell. 😂😂😂 So glad to hear you admit to cutting the cable outer with the cable installed! Did that same thing...cuz I’m an Idiot Sandwich!
Those silver bars complement the frame so good. Nice, amazing, superb, greaat (The Very Best of Jazz Club - Fast Show)
Does look very nice. I must say I love the look of a half link chain. It may be heavier but looks lush. 👍
Bike looks great for a budget build. Glad you dropped the Speedplays, but the Cervelo and Dura-ace are still a tough sell. 😂😂😂 So glad to hear you admit to cutting the cable outer with the cable installed! Did that same thing...cuz I’m an Idiot Sandwich!
Hi Ollie,
thanks for the video.
You mentioned in the previous one (part 2) you were going to tell us more about gear ratio and how to calculate it.
If you could go into more detail about this in the next video, that’d be great.
Great job!
Cheers mate,
will do👍🏼
Gear ratio is derived by dividing the number of teeth on the front chainring by the number of teeth on the rear cog (e.g. 50÷25=2.00). This ratio represents the number of times the rear wheel rotates for each rotation of the cranks. In this example, the rear wheel turns twice for each complete pedal stroke.
The relationship between gear ratio and gear inches, cadence and actual speed is another long story.
Ollie,, you are just a bike guru and a speed demon......salutations from former tour of California.....
That gear ratio looks miserably massive!
Otherwise, this was a great, fun build. Such an oddball frameset to get this treatment. Fantastic choice.
Maybe he's got stronger legs than us? Those uphills will still be a challenge for sure!
In the earlier videos he said he was gearing down, all he had was the 52t chainring. I think he said he was getting a 44t chainring but not sure on the cog.
@@roguecode2354 I have a fixie with a flip flop hub. I ride in single speed with a 46/16. It's perfectly fine. I'd imagine anything below 50 would be okay for someone fitter than me. If I can do it, then surely these guys can.
@@dvs620 The smaller the chainring the easier it gets. So if he ends up with a 44 its probably easier than yours. I ride 49x16 and its not bad but it's also not super easy, I only ride fixed. If he has a 17t or 18t cog the 52t chain ring is similar to 49x16
@@roguecode2354 Yeah. But my bike came with a 42t and I'd spin out whenever I was on flat roads. The benefit of going uphill with the 42t vs the 46t is minimal to me. But the upgrade of the 46t over the 42t on flat roads is significant.
Fixie on flats is brave. Silver M520’s for the win
It's not a fixie yet!!!
Graham Fielder no. But incoming he said.
@@Zzyyxx22 if you're running errands and commuting, it's way better to have flats with straps. As he said, if he was racing he'd put Speedplays
Sergio Diez Viñuela id take the 520s over clips & straps any day
Those shimano hoods/brake levers in combination with the nice black/silver cockpit. It matches the frame silver accents and black seatpost too. Nice, allways same colour stem/seatpost, supernice in my perspective. Maybe red bar plugs, would be nice too add
A simple hack for bigger tires is to break a cuppla pins out of an old chain and use 'em as spacers between the dropout and the hub.
Can I ask why you need spacers? Can't you just move the axle back in the the drop out?
@@playandteach If you are using QR axles they will always move forward eventually especially if you are a strong rider using a huge track ring like Ollie, you just cant get them tight enough. Even with nut on axles aluminium frames can cause issues as often you find the amount of torque you need to keep them from moving starts to make a mess of the dropout. On steel you can usually get away with it as long as the axles/hubs are good enough quality to take a bit of over torque without the treads stripping/stretching or the bearings locking up, but even then you have to keep an eye on the chain tension. Dropping in some kind of spacer like a chain pin, or a bit of spoke solves the problem (until you forget about them and they fall out when you flip the wheel).
@@chris1275cc brilliant tip
@@derman3658 Thanks, but it was really RadioSnivins tip LOL
@@chris1275cc Thanks for taking the time.
What a beauty that frame is :O! great built Ollie! good stuff.
ollie! I ride single speed fixed all winter, after a lot of experimenting I've settled on 46-16 in Nashville, TN, USA. Also a pretty hilly city. try it out. Also you need some stylish toe clips for those flats
Try Velosolo for rear hub conversion. If you can source a disc hub wheel, Velosolo do a sprocket that bolts directly where the rotor would normally go. Simples 👍
Enjoying watching your build. After episodes 1&2 I decided to tackle the work I’d been putting off needed to get mine back on the road. Test ride went well today 😀
More.
A full NJS build would be 👌🏼
thumbs up for the matching grey Gazelle
Mr. Ollie you need to look up the Paul hubs they have a 130mm spaced hub for singlespeed
I was hoping for a fixed belt drive with a split belt. that would be awesome! but the bike looks awesome great job!
Nice Job Ollie, I actually commuted on a single speed for about 6 months including up a 5% grade and then my knees said "hey gears would be nice!". I would have done the stem spacers under the stem myself to remove the chimney YMMV.
looks good and actually looks better as a fixie than a TT bike... let's see how far the improvement can go Ollie. chop that chimney for starts.
Hey Ollie, Sturmey Archer makes a cheepy hub. The SA HBT30 is a flip/flop hub with 130mm spacing. I buil myself some fixied training wheels with those hubs. They work fine and look pretty good.
Another great 3 part series from Ollie.
"Viagra Stem"...🤣 Ollie cracks me up.
13:45 is the mosr hipster ollie has ever looked in his life- cycling cap, jeans, skate shoes, doing a track stand on a Cervelo? Straight outta haight-ashbury my bro.
I'm pretty sure he orchestrated that for the comments.
Great video series GCN & Ollie. Really interesting.
man up an push that 52, thats a bomb trackbike now to be fair. dura-ace track cranks(or any NJS cranks for that matter) looks just soo friggin nice
Ollie says he is taking it for a test ride outside....*pops on the casquette*. Always looking pro!
There are a few 6 bolt sprockets you can buy to use a disc hub on the back. Should open the options available to you.
It's a top idea really. Very good looking bike. Submit to bike vault!!!
I love the flat pedals with the durace crank
Instead of a chain made entirely of half links, you only need one to achieve the same goal. (the goal being to size the chain more accurately. Half links, due to their design, will wear and stretch significantly faster than a regular chain. I recently installed that same chain on a new bike build. It lasted 320 km of dry road use before being too stretched. With my next chain, I achieved the same tight fit by using a single half link. Works like a charm and the regular KMC chain is lasting much better. The half link chain does look super cool though.
Broke my Heart Ollie to see you break apart that fast P1 TT bike.
You don’t need to remove the star nut to cut it. Just use a star nut setting tool to drop it lower in the fork before cutting and then not only is it out of the way of the cut but it should also be in the right position to use again for headset compression.
Cheeky mechanics tip: Mark the setting tool with the amount you are about to cut off before using so you can make sure you sink it the perfect amount and then attach a jubilee clip to act as a stop; preventing you from accidentally going too deep 😉😉
Watching this series makes me miss my track bike I sold yesterday. 😞
Me wathing the first video in this series: I'm not remotely interested in building a single speed or even most tech generally I just love and find it very relaxing listening to Ollie enthusiastically explaining stuff
Me by the third video: okay this looks fun though
This brings back good memories of when my friends hung out in their cheap café buy coffee that costs as much pay as much as my entire family would spend in a day.
Check the Shimano M324 pedals - one side SPD, the other is flat. Built like a bridge but a little heavy. Those flats look a little ducky on that sleek machine. One little neg about the 1/2 link BMX chain is that it'll wear a bit faster, but who cares? You've built a fabulous bike!!!
Bull horn bars would look cool 🐂
Yes they would. But they are totally impractical since you would soon grow tired of the reduced number of ways to place your hands. I've been through that proces:
First I tried Mavic's lowered bull horns (anyone remember them?). Not enough hand positions.
Then I tried flat MTB handlebars with horns. Same thing.
Then I went back to racing handlebars and have been using them ever since.
And beleive me: A no-nonsense single-speed bike looks absolute stunning with racing handlebars, way better than with bull horns or flat MTB handlebars.
cant you get hold of and older MTB hub, 135mm and use the disk mount as the fixed cog mounting - its fairly common.. and then you still have the cassette freehub body for the freewheel side.
You're going to need to park more tools on that wall.
Hey you can use a Paul Components High Flange hub. It’s available in 120mm and 130mm spacing, withe flip/flop and single fixed
Would fit right in on this ‘budget’ build, lol.
Neither would building custom wheel in their entirety
You could use Speedplay Frog pedals and get them from ebay. recessed cleats are still convenient for everyday use. That's what I have been using on my commuter for about 15 years.
I would install magnesium pedals not plastic. That's what I have on my single speed and it's great!
Get a dtswiss track hub and put spacers, this is what most do when they have a wider spaced frame. Like some of all city frames have 135mm spacing on there tracklocross frames. Also get a blb, miche or all city cog.
Ollie, I'm surprised you went with a -17 degree stem. For an around town bike, I would recommend setting up more to look around easier. The position you have now looks pretty aggressive for a beat around bike. This also has a big impact when you put a backpack on.
Yea it’s extremely not likely that Ollie will actually ride this bike regularly, much less do any actual commuting while riding a backpack. He’s just having fun and making content. It’s probably more likely that we’ll see this same frame rebuilt as sow thing else in the future.
Besides, he’s riding a TT frame with 23’s. Comfort and practicality were not considered.
Lightweight rear skewers don't do well in horizontal dropouts. Steel skewers can work, but the best budget fix is to buy a length of 'all thread' rod, nuts & washers at the hardware store.
I like this bike a lot more than I thought I would!
When you put the flip-flop hub for the fixed gear on at you going to fit straps or change to toe clip pedals?
I stand corrected on the length of those fork ends. The half-link chain is a groovy solution
You could check Mack Hubs, its a polish company that actually makes great lightweight hubs, and you could customize spacing to match your Cervelo.
Beautiful bike 😍
Thanks. Great teaching 👍
First time I have seen the rear brake on the left lever. Is this a point where we in the US are backwards from the rest of the world or is this a recipe for launching yourself over the handle bars?
Rear is always on the left in the UK. Some people prefer it the other way around but this is unusual.
Same in Australia and New Zealand, rear on the left, front on the right. Not sure why America has rear on the right. Front on the right is standard across the world for motorbikes, so why did the US flip it for push-bikes? I'm sure someone knows.
No, the guys from UK are weird in that regard 😄. The rest of Europe has the rear brake on the right hand side. I once borrowed a MTB when I was in the UK and nearly went OTB because I smashed the front brake instead of the rear.
@@byejason maybe its to do with signaling right in countries where we drive on the left?
@@mopedvieh yeah, you drive on the wrong side over there too 😂
Its a big, drop bar, bmx bike.
Would be nice to have seen how to convert the freehub. I know its a kit, but how to install the kit would been nice to see it pit together.
Cracking conversion, looks mint👍
Guy was really stoked on the “cheepo” pedals lol
Cool bike. I light of the new Shimano Dura-Ace and Ultegra release I'm sure a lot more people will find single speed bikes more attractive. I know I won't be spending thousands of dollars for gears anymore.
Does anyone know where (or which brand) can I get a single speed frame with dropped seat stays and rear internal routing holes like the one in this video? Many 🙏🏻 I m in Australia.
That Dura-Ace crank is 🔥
Budget.
@@TomCashTV $105 on ebay. If youre going real budget better get used to some ugly FSA cranks.
@@TomCashTV And I mean, you can just buy a whole damned SS from State for $300.
@@elijahheadrick1389 just highlighting is all - it's a great build, no doubt and if they're from a bits box or donation, then it IS budget but still, on component value in it's own right, this is not a budget bike.
Could you not use some clip in MTB pedals and have both worlds? Clip in but still be able to walk around on shoes with cleats?
Nice work!
Can i use the stock brake cable tgat came on the bike? Or do i have to get one specific for this brake style
Where are you would put the two ends of the chain together paint the link a bright color so you know where you attach link is
Just bash the star-nut down to the position you want it, or if you really want to use an expander bash it right down into the tube and forget about it or use an 10mm drill bit to drill out/destroy the centre bit and they come out easy.
Hi gcn
I am trying something similar on my much older bike... The problem I have is I don't have a rear cassette instead I have a freehub. Any ideas? I want to avoid buying a whole new rear wheel. If I get just a single speed rear freewheel how do I then correct chainline
What if GCN send me that bike converted into a fixed gear bike. What a dream
Dura ace, pirelli, cervelo, vison. Definitely a budget.
He already had the Cervelo frame, so that's for free! Same with the Vision wheels.
@@serdiezv for free for him, not for people who's watching a video. But once that cervelo been bought, isn't? :)
@@MJ-ed7is yeah, I think the point he's making is just "reuse old parts you might have laying around if they're in good shape"
His budget for a single speed might be way bigger than mine. Maybe I'd reuse my old Peugeot bike, others might get a Poloandbike frame...
No need to try and distroy the starnut, jut tap it in a bit further underneath to where you want to cut the steerertube.
It would have been great to see a close up and side by side comparison of the half link chain and a regular chain.
Do brakes in the UK follow the swap in driving side? Why did you connect your left brake to the rear wheel?
Just take a screwdriver and use a hammer to force the starnut down deeper then cut, that's what I did on my alloy road bike when I needed to cut the steerer.
Looks great!
I was waiting so long
same here lol
Great job Ollie.
Builds budget bike, with top of the line crankset 😋
Should change the pedals to flip-flop flat/SPD combo pedals. Best of both worlds.
Use straps/ toe cages if you’re going fixed and lose those wide plastic pedals for smaller pedals so that you won’t clip the road when leaning aggressively.
My bike needs a new derailleur and I was thinking about also upgrading the group set to an 11 speed at the same time but I think I’m sold on the conversion to single speed flat bar.