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Links--Stout Hearts; Sheldon; Other Suppliers; Bikes&Framesets; Hubs; Other Stuff; Events; Mailing List
Stout Hearts and True...
Aimar Fraga Angoitia is a Spanish fixer. He has already made translations of useful articles available for a Spanish audience, and has started to assemble pictures from a Spanish fixer community. Nice going, Aimar! http://www.simplifica.tk
Dennis Bean Larson's Fixed Gear Gallery has always been a great place to see all kinds of fix, and now includes an online swapmeet. http://www.fixedgeargallery.com
Dirt Rag is a pretty good starting point for explorations in the larger world of mountainbiking. http://www.dirtragmag.com
Dragon Tongue have the greatest collection of S/S links on the planet. A true labour of love. Y'all come back, now... http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/3162/SSlink.html
Greg Goode is the guy who wrote the excellent Fixed Gear 101. His new site looks at street riding for track bike fans. http://www.oldskooltrack.com
Leapfrog is Scott Spitz's A5 print zine celebrating all aspects of bike culture. Scott writes for us about his new bicycling advocacy center. xpeoplespoetx@hotmail.com
SingleTrackWorld provides regular updates on offroad cycling from a UK perspective. http://www.singletrackworld.com
TheFixedGear is a startup website aiming to provide onespeed coverage. Definitely worth checking regularly over the coming months. http://thefixedgear.com
Joe Whitehair's quarterly magazine is a good crossover between the worlds of FG and S/S. Joe wrote for us about his legendary $2 fix. http://www.singlespeedoutlaw.com
Sheldon Brown
Sheldon Brown ran Harris Cyclery, a good bike shop with a strong web presence. News of his death reached us in February of 2008. He was a fount of knowledge and a strong supporter of this site since its inception, and the world of cycling will be poorer without him. Go softly, Sheldon.
Why ride fixed? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
Fixie conversions http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
Fixed gear parts http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/fixed.html
Sheldon on chainline http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainline/
Suppliers
The 63xc.com suppliers list is quite short, because we only list shops that have been recommended by at least one reader. Also, we're trying to exclude poorly executed sites. Wake up out there! It's 2006, and there are decent web designers even out in the sticks...
UK
Hubjub is a 63xc.com spinoff, and not surprisingly comes first in this listing. Rather than being in competition with your LBS, we're a dedicated FG dealership selling only primo stuff: EAI, FIXIE inc, LeVeL, MKS, Nitto, Phil Wood, Sugino and White. We have full secure online transactions and we're happy to discuss custom orders, including sourcing serious vintage kit. http://www.hubjub.co.uk
Condor are the shop of choice for London's messengers, and they stock a range of fixed gear products including Goldtec hubs.
http://www.condorcycles.com
Hard-to-Find is Francis Thurmer's UK mail order enterprise. The name presumably derives from the fact that it has no web presence. H2F issues an eccentric photocopied catalogue, and is a good source for offbeat componentry, including a healthy portion of fixed stuff. Unit 20, Kemps Farm, Chapel Road, Ford, Aylesbury HP17 8XG, UK
Paul Hewitt Cycles is Hubjub's preferred UK wheelbuilder. Mr Hewitt enjoys an enviable reputation as a maker of touring and other cycles, and the company has a serious interest in track racing. http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk
St John Street Cycles sell bikes and parts from a shop in Somerset and an extensive website. Their component range includes the Alhonga dual-pivot brake we reviewed earlier this year, as well as a variety of fixed gear goodies. http://www.sjscycles.com
DE
Berlin's Keirin Cycle Culture Cafe have no interest at all in offroad, but we couldn't pass by this amazing site, a shrine to all things NJS-certified. http://www.keirinberlin.de
US
American Cyclery launched a fixed gear web business in late 2002, selling a lot of interesting vintage track kit. http://fixedgear.americancyclery.com
Business Cycles are a Miami-based track dealer referenced in Greg Goode's article on chains. They run a good, regularly-updated bargain bin and stock an unparalleled range of fixed gear kit. Much of it seems to be track-specific, but this would be a great place to shop for chain. http://www.businesscycles.com
Harris Cyclery falls within the domain of Sheldon Brown, discussed above. Sheldon really likes fixed gear. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris
Mellow Velo is the rider-centric Santa Fe bikeshop of 63xc.com contributor David B. Any bikeshop owned by an offroad fixer is worth visiting. http://www.mellowbike.com/
Old Spokes Home in Burlington, Vermont are the local fixie specialists in a fix-friendly town. http://www.oldspokeshome.com
The Hub is a Minneapolis co-op where Sam Tracy of 'How To Rock'n'Roll' fame works, at least some of the time. http://thehubbikecoop.org/
Bikes and framesets
Lots of singlespeeds could be built up as fixes, so we didn't list all the great makers--you know who they are, right? The following have explicitly stated an interest in fixed gear. If anyone else out there thinks they deserve a special mention, please get in touch.
Justin Burls is a UK builder in both steel and Ti who has an offroad fix on the drawing board for 2007. http://www.burls.co.uk
To our immense regret, Ti builder Matt Chester has closed his order book, but his 700see print 'zine is ongoing. http://www.mattchester.com
Carlos Cruz contacted us last year to tell us about his plans for a steel fixie MTB, and now he shares his experiences of the project in the Stories section. Carlos has his own website where you can learn more about his nascent business. http://www.clementecycles.com
Mike Flanigan of ANT bike fame has a sideline building S/S MTBs, and has written up his new 29" fix in the Rides section. It might be worth pestering him for something custom. http://www.antbikemike.com
Robin Mather is a hard working and open-minded builder based in Bath, UK, whose fillet welds are to die for. We interviewed him in 2002: UK riders looking for a custom offroad fix are recommended to give him a call. http://www.robinmathercycles.co.uk
On-One are a web-based business from the UK. They produce mostly singlespeed frames and components. A few years back they introduced the Il Pompino, a beefed-up 700c singlespeed/fixed gear frame 'for people who just like to ride'. Jezz reviewed it for us, and there are a couple for on the Rides page. http://www.on-one.co.uk
Redline make the Monocog, a simple, basic singlespeed originally released with BMX-type 110mm rear spacing. Post-2005, both alu and cromo versions feature a 135mm rear, making them no-brainers for cheap fixie conversion. http://www.redlinebicycles.com
Solitude should have been up here three months ago. Alex's UK-based outfit is working on custom and S/S fixes for serious riders: if you know Alex's writing, you'll know that having him build your bike is an appealing prospect. http://www.solitudecycles.com
Surly are a US manufacturer who make--in increasing order of toughness--the Steamroller fix, Crosscheck cyclocrosser, Karate Monkey hybrid, and 1x1 singlespeed. These are sturdy, inexpensive, slightly retro frames, well-regarded by dealers and riders alike. While they all have offroad fix potential, we think the Karate Monkey's rare combination of 700c wheels and generous clearances makes it particularly interesting. http://www.surlybikes.com
Van Dessel Sports is a US manufacturer producing a range of low-maintenance aluminium hybrids, with an odd mix of commuter-type features and high-spec componentry. You can read pieces on the Country Roads Bob and BuzzBomb in the Reviews section. http://www.vandesselsports.com
Vulture Cycles of Oregon wrote a tantalising letter in which they laid claim not only to some 700c offroad fixes, but also to something called the Velociquattro which has flip-flop hubs on both front and rear wheels. Pedal-powered pushme-pullyous? Can someone tell us what's going on? http://www.vulturecycles.com
Willits Brand recently popped back onto the map in Austin, Tx. We're delighted to see Scorcher pioneer Wes back doing what he does best. http://www.willitsbikes.com
Hubs
Relatively few makers produce fixed gear hubs, and the handful that do tend to prefer the track to the road, let alone the trail. All the following are explicitly rated by their manufacturers for use offroad. You might want to look at our guide to fixed gear hubs, which boils down a lot of hub features to a simple comparison chart. Many of these items are available in the UK from Hubjub.
Goldtec produce very heavy duty sealed bearing fixed gear hubs. The website describes them as 'track hubs' but the target market seems to be cycle messengers, who love 'em. In an exchange of letters, a spokesman assured us that they should work fine offroad. As an added bonus, they are available in a wide range of widths and drillings. http://www.goldtec-cycles.co.uk
Irocycle from Staten Island--slogan: You Only Need One--make sound, inexpensive fixed and singlespeed bikes and components. Their offroad-rated 120mm is just the thing for converting a 70s tourer, and a 130mm is in the pipeline. http://www.irocycle.com
Kogswell steamed into the market in 2003 with a dedicated FG frameset seemingly built for couriers. Genny G. reviewed it for us a few issues back. The company also makes an excellent fixed gear hubset with sealed bearings and other features putting it streets ahead of others in its price bracket. http://www.kogswell.com
LeVeL Components went public in spring 04 with an extremely interesting bolt-on sprocket. Will is apparently riding one, FWIW. http://www.levelcomponents.com
Paul announced their lovely High Flange in spring 2003, and we got hold of one of the earliest production for review. At the time of writing, supplies of the hub are just beginning to trickle out of the factory. http://www.paulcomp.com
Phil Wood make many beautiful components, among them the Kiss-Off offroad-specific fixed gear hub, available only in 135mm spacing. However, according to James Valiensi, all Phil trackhubs are guaranteed for trail use. http://www.philwood.com
Royce, who we interviewed a year or two back, make some of the nicest CNCd components in the world. The offroad version of their track hub is a custom order. http://www.royce-uk.co.uk
Surly don't just make frames. They also produce the famous 1x1 singlespeed hub, beefed-up track ends and sprockets, a couple of FG-compatible hubs, and a useful gimmick called the Fixxer which converts freewheel hubs to fixed. Check the Reviews section for our coverage. http://www.surlybikes.com
Van Dessel Sports produce an inexpensive sealed bearing flip-flop hub in 135mm spacing. We know nothing more. http://www.vandesselsports.com
White Industries announced their ENO hubs in Spring 2003. We reviewed the innovative 'Eric' version, which has an eccentric axle for use in vertical dropout frames. Less well-known is the fact that White can build an Eric-type FG shell onto the standard axle used in the S/S versions of the hub. The result is a very robust FG hub suitable for use with horizontal dropouts and track ends. http://www.whiteind.com/ENO_Products/index.html
Other stuff
BestBikeBargains got in contact to tell us about their metasearch working over eBay to find bike parts. The founder of the site is a fixer, and he reckons that his preferences are hard-encoded into the site. http://www.bestbikebargains.com
Boone Rings recently went back into production with their light, durable CNC titanium chainrings. As if this weren't sufficiently exciting, they started making bolt-on cogs which can be used to reassign a disk brake hub for fixed gear use. http://www.boonerings.com/cr/cr.html
Danscomp halflinks come in 1/8 and 3/16", and they have a neat little springclip rather than one of those slide-off jobs that require needlenose pliers. http://www.danscomp.com
Dave Yates is a UK framebuilder who has built several good fixes, but his inclusion here is for his unique residential framebuilding courses, which aim to bring absolute beginners to the point where they can build their own bikes. http://www.daveyatescycles.co.uk/
The Fixed Gear Hooligans operate out of Falls Creek, Pa, and they want to sell you their rather neat sew-on patches. http://www.fixedgearhooligans.com
Fixed Innovations, a company run by Eric House, makes eccentric axles. These enable the user to vary chainlength by twisting the axle about its axis--a useful trick for those trying to convert a vertical dropout frame to fixed gear use. The site also includes resources to help you figure out whether you can set up your preferred gear without use of an eccentric axle, which seems very sporting under the circumstances. http://eehouse.org/fixin/
Highpath Eggrings are high-quality chainrings CNC-machined to order, a service that's worth knowing about if you're repurposing a track chainset. Options include your own choice of drillings and ring forms anywhere from delicate roadracer traceries to BMX-style solid. Highpath are now making up sprockets to fit disk mountings, as described in Jason Millington's article. http://www.highpath.co.uk
Toeclip is another catalog-type online vendor, but this time run by the Mellow Velo crew. Worth a scan if you're US-based. http://www.toeclip.com/
Mailing List
63xc.com has a low-volume mailing list (<2 messages per day). You can subscribe here.
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