My New Bike...

Ok, I bought a Bridgestone Kabuki frame with forks today for $20. What next?

pix please, and progress!

hayabusa swap

It's going to be flat black, and the budget is $200. Pics tomorrow, after paint.

Bicycle or Motorcycle?

....

Either way, Hayabusa swap.

Bicycle.

fixie?

I don't know much about fixed.

Ok, PICS!

As received: rusty and scratched. Not to mention the stripes, which match that 911 that was on here a while ago...

The head badge: In the middle of sanding: Done: (sorry, no pics of primer or painting.)

Sorry about the last pic, it was dark and the paint was wet. I'll shoot another tomorrow.

Cool bike! I kind of liked that 911 that was on the board last week...

Yes. More pictures! Then get J.G. to do a video review of it.

The stripes are/were the cycling World Champion colours, nothing negative. Although, I cannot tell you when a Bridgstone rider was world champ. Probably a track champion.

find a used 9 speed Alivio drive-train, used Weinnman wheels, no name cranks, Dont spend more than $30 on a saddle, some used bars and I think Bridgestone tires would be appropriate

Dont get too hung up on anything...cant find Alivio? Sora is ok, 105 is typically more expensive (but better). Ride mismatched wheels if thats all you can find to match the budget. Garage sales can be your friend, as well as police auction. The point is dont let part price stop you from riding...youre a novice (no offense) so you wont notice the 6lbs youll carry riding less expensive gear. We all want to ride Lances discarded '07 model, but the reality is 18 lb titanium/carbon bikes for most of us are the same as driving a Maserati to the grocery store...its waaaaayyyy more than we need.

I have a bridgestone MTB bike that I love/hate, but mostly love. Nice looking, good quality and unique. A combo Im a big fan of. Enjoy

I had a Bridgestone 200(?) 10 speed that I bought around 1985, rode it for almost 20 years and sold it to a friend. It's still around and those pics make me want it back. 4clndrfury suggestions are good but it is also a perfect candidate for a fixed gear conversion. No shifters or brakes, fromula car of bicycles.

Bridgestone also made motorcycles in the 60's that I know of, maybe they still do in Japan.

Cool old frame. Might've been a higher-end Bridgstone, judging by the chrome fork ends.

And the drop-outs look like they'd suit a fixie conversion well, if you chose to do that. Personally I wouldn't. 4cylndrfury's plan sounds like a good, cost-effective way of getting it on the road.

I like the idea of a fixie a lot...I like the lack of cables and deraileurs, the bars are clean and the minimalist look is sexy. However, unless youre on a rails to trails bike path or in a very urban environment, I dont much care for them. I guess Im too snobby when it comes to gadetry and gizmos. Fixed is great for riding around a track, but I like to make hills feel smaller and make intersections less "exciting"

a fixie is VERY doable with some good parts for $200 though

I don't get fixed-gear bikes at all. Not in an urban environment, anyway. Just seems dangerous to me.

A "single speed" with a freewheel mechanism, and at least one brake, would be more practical.

Luke wrote: A "single speed" with a freewheel mechanism, and at least one brake, would be more practical.

very easy to do with a cassette rear wheel, 1 cog, a bunch of spacers and a tensioner (think deraileur without the side to side movement). best of both worlds? I think so!!!

Here it is finished:

And I think it would make a great fixie. So, I need to find a crankset and wheels. Any suggestions? Florida is flat, so I'm thinking about something like a 52/13 ratio.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

Great site. Thanks.

52/13? Damn you're brave. That's 109.1 gear inches...going to be hard to learn how to skid on and probably will wreak havoc on your knees during back pressure. If you run 52/17 that's only 82 gear inches and you will have 17 skid patches.

It's something to think about.

Not to jack Tommy's thread, but what the hell is a fixie? I've wondered ever since the "Don't pee on your bike" thread.

In reply to Appleseed:

It's a fixed gear bike. It's a single speed but without the ability to freewheel/coast. Traditionally reserved for true track bikes then adopted by the big city bike couriers, now every hipster has one.

Ok, so now I'm shooting for 52/17. Any suggestions on parts?

Oh, and I like the fixed idea because I have a mountain bike if I need to go up or down anything (The ~20 mile loop I ride has about a foot of elevation change, it's a marsh.), and it's cheap, and the bike would be perfect for it, and I hate routing cables. I am going to run a front brake, though. I hate getting killed.

Tommy Suddard wrote: Ok, so now I'm shooting for 52/17. Any suggestions on parts? Oh, and I like the fixed idea because I have a mountain bike if I need to go up or down anything (The ~20 mile loop I ride has about a foot of elevation change, it's a marsh.), and it's cheap, and the bike would be perfect for it, and I hate routing cables. I am going to run a front brake, though. I hate getting killed.

They say that a fixie makes you a better rider. That's why I am fascinated with them. I am playing with a road bike now that I set up as a single speed freewheeler and I find that not shifting is liberating. It's our shop bike with more than one rider so it won't be a fixie yet.

It's a good idea to have 1 brake on a fixie, just in case the chain breaks at a bad time. It's a remote chance but when bad things happen it's usually more than one...

The couriers can stop at a light without putting a foot down. Now that's cool.