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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 9, 2010 at 3:56am

It's a crappy frame, but a good starter. You'll probably not find a harder bike to work on than a vintage french bike. You'll basically want to replace everything, have a difficult time sourcing new parts, and have a hard time taking off the old parts. Join the Chainlink group, Velo Francais, to find out more about the pleasure of working on and riding french bikes.

So in other words...you'll learn a lot!

I'd just keep the gears, crank and seatpost, and buy a new brakeset, handlebars, tires, and saddle.

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Permalink Reply by Don P on September 9, 2010 at 5:41am

You did not specify the year range, but if it is a late 70's - early 80's, the Motobecane Super Mirage could be made into a fixie, but it is not the ideal candidate for 2 reasons:

1. Start a fixie project with a frame that fits you. On these bikes, measure from the center of the bottom bracket, along the seat tube, to the center of the seat lug. A rough guide to fit is your inseam. If your inseam is 30-32", the measurement should be about 21"; 31-33" = 22"; 32-34" = 23". A good site to check this and more is: http://www2.bsn.de/cycling/ergobike.html

2. Although the steel frame probably has the ideal drop out spacing (120mm), it is made of 2040 tubing, lighter than most Schwinn frames of its time, but not cro-moly (like Reynolds 531, Columbus, or Vitus). On fixies, lighter is better, and cro-moly has the ideal properties.

With a $500 or so budget for this build project, and the right frame, you can get a entry set of wheels, tires, bottom bracket, crank, stem, bars, post and seat off ebay, and customize the bike as your own. The right frame is cro-moly steel, with semi-horizontal drop outs, spaced close to 120mm. Bottom brackets are easier to work on if they are english threaded. Hope this helps

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Permalink Reply by auggie_niner on September 9, 2010 at 5:43am

thanks the guy that sold it to me new i was a novice and got waaay more than he should've. it has new tires, brakes clean handlebars(original- the guy at the local bike store was impressed they were in good condition) and was stripped to a single speed but still has its original sprocket. i'm willing to work around with it but feel like although its a learning experience, it an expensive one. do you have any suggestions for good vintage frames for when i go into my next fixie project?

Kelvin Mulcky said:

It's a crappy frame, but a good starter. You'll probably not find a harder bike to work on than a vintage french bike. You'll basically want to replace everything, have a difficult time sourcing new parts, and have a hard time taking off the old parts. Join the Chainlink group, Velo Francais, to find out more about the pleasure of working on and riding french bikes.

So in other words...you'll learn a lot!

I'd just keep the gears, crank and seatpost, and buy a new brakeset, handlebars, tires, and saddle.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 9, 2010 at 5:49am

you can start looking for inspiration here: http://www.classicrendezvous.com/

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Permalink Reply by auggie_niner on September 9, 2010 at 8:58am

hey you guys helped alot! i'm super new and have been trying to learn as much as i possibly can about fixies and the anatomy of "the bike". thanx alot again. i'm super amped now.

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