No-Coast: A New Experiment Begins

The next fixed gear bike trial starts now.

 Last May I wrote about making my Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross (Orange Crush) a fixed gear bike. I ended up binning that idea, but the dream of having another fixed gear bike did not go away. 

In fact, when I went to Chicago in August to visit Ari I mentioned that I was still wanting a fixed gear bike to ride. Since then, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a good deal on a road frame that would make a good fixed gear candidate. 

It had to have horizontal drop outs for obvious reasons. You have to be able to tension that chain properly! I also wanted an older, steel bike which would more than likely have room for bigger tires. Any racing bike from about 1990 on would probably have room for 25mm tires at best. That's too skinny for me! 

Of course, the frame had to fit me. That meant a 58cm bike, but something close that was good might be workable. I wanted a road bike due to the less crazy geometry which modern day track bikes have. I prefer a lower bottom bracket , slacker angles, a longer wheel base, and the classic looks of a steel road bike. So, a track bike was out. Well.....unless it was a really old one! But that was not likely to be affordable for me. That was the final part - the bike had to be insanely affordable. I already have too many bicycles, so adding another one had to make sense somehow. Spending any amount would be too much, but over a hundred? Out of the question. 

So, one day we got a donation at the collective. An old road bike, nearly complete, and little used by the looks of it. 1980's vintage, most likely judging by the Shimano 600 component group. It looked like it might fit. The seat tube measured 60cm, a hair too big, but the top tube measured out at 55cm!? Who does that? Well, Shogun did, apparently. Anyway, I decided to get the bike since we would have scrapped it out anyway. It is too old and outdated to get anyone's interest, and we can hardly give away a road bike at the Collective. 

I had converted another fixed gear bike earlier in the year to a coaster, and the wheel set I had saved for such a project. Since this Shogun 1000 was an older road bike, the rear spacing was 126mm and I only had to add a couple of threaded spacers to each side of the 120mm spaced fixed gear wheel to accommodate the Shogun. 

The wheel has a flip-flop, fixed/fixed hub, which has two differently sized cogs one tooth off from each other. I set the bike up using the larger of the two cogs so when I go to the smaller cog it will make the wheel base a tad longer. But I doubt I'll swap it around at this point. I may change that to a slightly bigger cog for an even lower ratio, but we will see. That's waaaay down the road yet! 

I removed the two derailleurs, the shifters, and derailleur cables. I mounted the wheels, which have Panaracer Pasela 700 X 32mm tires on them, and aired up the tires to 40psi. The wheels spun! There was clearance, but not much! However; after a short ride. I was hearing some tire scraping something giving me that tell-tale high pitched whine. I stopped and looked, but could see nothing. Then I figured it out. The act of riding compressed the wheel enough that the tire was kissing the bottom of the front brake. 

With no front brake there is plenty of clearance for the 32mm tire.

So, I had to remove the front brake and I was able to leave the rear brake which has plenty of clearance. So, one brake should be fine. 

The bike appeared to be little used so the components left, like the bottom bracket and headset, appear to be fine. Also, as stated, these are all Shimano components and are well made being from the 600 group. Yes - this is the group with the fluted head set lock nut. I happen to have the wrench for it too! 

I can barely stand over the frame, but with its short top tube it seems a little cramped. I may have to look for a slightly longer stem. It has about a 90mm or 100mm at most on there. I doubt I'll find a seat post with more offset since it is a 26.6mm diameter.

You can see where the tire was rubbing the front brake

So, due to that the cockpit seems a bit cramped and maybe a tad too low and forward. That's common with many road bikes of this era. The Shogun is less that than some I've tried, and the slightly lower bottom bracket than some bikes I've tried helps here. 

I took the stock Shimano 600 pedals off and screwed in some flats. I removed the front brake and wire, the stock chain, (replaced with a cheapo Bell single speed 1 1/8th pitch chain. Gold in color though!) and I removed the outer 53T ring on the crankset. Otherwise the bike is stock. 

The Brooks Professional with big copper rivets was on it and in excellent condition. I left that on, naturally. I've ridden it all of a mile, so it will take some time to break it in. 

Okay, so that's the build and the story behind the bike. Now what? Well, I have to ride it some all over town to see what I might want changed, if anything, and whether or not this will work. I liked my old Raleigh Grand Prix fixed gear bike a lot, but I had a really sketchy rear wheel, a somewhat suspect front wheel, and it was flexy! I eventually scrapped that bike at the Collective a couple years ago, I think. This Shogun 1000 is Tange "2" double butted CroMo, so it stands to reason that it should be a bit stouter frame than the Raleigh had. 

The finish on the bike looks excellent for a bike that is likely 41 years old. (Based on the Shimano 600 components) The lugs are well executed and the head tube is painted in a complimentary color. The decals are not clear-coated, and it is also likely this was wet-painted and not powder coated. I barely wiped the frame off just to knock off a layer of dust and it looks magnificent. It should polish up well. 

But all that is a moot point if, like the Gravel Mutt v3 from last year, it doesn't fit or ride well. So, I have a plan to cruise the local bike paths and see what I think. If it is a failure I'm not out much money or time. In fact, the Brooks saddle makes it worth while right there. But if it does work out?  I'll have a fun fixed gear bike to run errands on, commute with, and just bomb around on anytime I need a fixed gear, well.....fix! 

Stay tuned....