So I’ve been very lazy lately and I need a good project. I have this early-mid nineties Bianchi Volpe which I use as my “around town” bike. It's a great bike and a I genuinely love riding it around more than my road bike, or anything else I've owned. I’d like to convert it to a single-speed partly because the derailer keeps freezing up, partly because I think it’d be a cool something to learn how to do, and partly because I have all of Saturday and the following weekend free. Unfortunately, I’ve no clue where to pick up the parts I need (crank, rings…wheels) or a guide or anything like that. Does anyone have any suggestions where to turn?

Thanks!
Jd

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here's some good reading on the subject.
When I did my raleigh super record conversion I started with the original cranks, just stripped to one chainring. You can have your rear wheel (if you have one and don't need to keep a freewheel) rebuilt with an inexpensive cartridge bearing hub like a nashbar, surly, or formula, and you'd end up with a hand-built wheel. Ron at RRB in kennelworth built mine for $40. Yojimbo's is another great place to have a wheel built. You'll need a 3/32 cog if you use you're current chainring. I've got a shimano bmx freewheel I have no use for if you're not building it fixed - brand new/never used $10? Or for a freewheel just use spacers (check on this for an older bike - cassette vs freewheel) and remove all but one of the cogs from your wheel. Then just strip everything off that isn't needed - that's the fun part. Well, it's all the fun part.

These were the sites (in addition to the one linked to already) I frequented for parts once I got it built, for upgrades to "real track components."

http://thebikebiz.com
http://store.somafab.com/index.html
and chifg.com has for sale and free stuff forums that are constantly being updated...but it might take a while to get a login from them.
Thanks guys, anyone have any other personal expierince or tips?
Oh yeah - kinda hard to tell from the pic, but does the frame have dropouts that let you adjust the rear wheel spacing? If they're vertical like most modern bikes you'll probably need a chain tensioner, and can't run fixed, unless you get an eliptical hub. But If you're reading sheldon's page you probably figured that out.

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