It feels pretty cool to take something old or discarded and with some elbow grease transform it into something usable. Reader Gabe sent along the following text and video showing the transformation of a ten speed that had been tossed into a dumpster. If you have given a old item new life we would love to hear about it.
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Last semester I did a video project on how to turn an old ten speed into a fixie. It is not really a kludge hack but it might give the viewers some ideas on their own projects.
A little bit of back-story on the bike is that it's a 1970s Prince Racer. I scoured the internet and could only find that it was a higher end department store bicycle that cost around $100 back in the day. Last summer I rescued the old ten speed from a dumpster. I replaced many of the components to convert over to fixie, BB, cranks, pedals, and bought new rear wheel w/flip-flop hub in addition to several other recycled parts.
Re:Cycling from Gabe Przygoda on Vimeo.
I'm glad to see one more bicycle rescued from a landfill or recycle bin, but what is with all the fascination for fixies? Single-speeds, OK, but what's wrong with coasting from time to time?
Posted by: Bicycle Bill | 01/24/2012 at 04:14 AM
I would suggest if you're on a budget to scrap the FD and shifters, keep the RD on, but adjust the limit screws to a 17t. A classic road bike with a 42 x 17 is great around town~
Zero money, little or no maintenance with the removal of the shifting! Buy new brake pads :P
Posted by: WV Cycling | 01/24/2012 at 08:39 AM