First single speed build
Introducing Fredrick the Facebook Marketplace Special. He is my first venture into the road bike or single-speed world as a mountain biker. I recently moved to a new city and wanted to commute on a bike so after some Facebook marketplace scouring I came across this beautiful Lemond Zurich. Reynolds 853 chromoly steel frame with a carbon fork and seat post. The saddle was kind of jacked up so I also picked up a selle italia felite right away that needed a bit of TLC but is now perfect. I then sourced a cheap 16t single speed rear wheel from Facebook marketplace (39t up front), as well as a Paul components Melvin chain tensioner used off eBay. I put on some flat mountain bike pedals because that’s what I’m used to and they’re wayyy grippier than the crap that was on it. As the final touch I got rid of the hoods that came on it and replaced them with regular old MTB break levers. it originally had drop bars, but I immediately replaced them for these bullhorn bars that I flipped backwards and upside down. I love the way it looks and I like the position it puts me in better than the drops. Unfortunately the housing on the front brake is a little too short so it’s kind of taught, I’m gonna re run that soon (im never gonna fix it) overall this build has been under $400 total and took me about a month and a half to piece together and im SUPER happy with how it turned out. It rides smooth and quiet and doesn’t skip teeth. Im thinking of slapping a front derailleur on it and making it a two speed (climb gear and fast gear). But then I’d have to post it elsewhere haha. I think for my first venture into this world im absolutely loving it and im super super hyped for how it turned out. In the future I might upgrade to a nicer matching wheel set but for now he is functionally complete.j