r/fixedgear

Hey everyone,

I currently ride a fixie with horizontal track dropouts, but I’ve been wanting to build something around a Cannondale CAAD4 Saeco USA Team for a while. The CAAD4 Saeco has honestly been one of my dream frames, and I’ve found one that I’m seriously considering buying.

I know it has road-bike style rear dropouts rather than traditional horizontal track dropouts, so I’m wondering how realistic it would be to turn it into a true fixed gear.

A few questions:

• Is it possible to run a true fixed cog safely on this frame?
• What would be the best way to deal with chain tension?
• Would a chain tensioner be suitable for a fixed gear, or should I look at something like a magic gear / eccentric hub?
• Is there anything specific about the CAAD4 dropout that would make this a bad idea?
• Has anyone here actually built a CAAD4 or similar Cannondale as a fixed gear?

I already have a horizontal-dropout fixie, so I know what the usual setup is. I’d just really love to have the CAAD4 Saeco as a fixed gear if there’s a good way to do it without compromising the frame.

Thank you all for the help

First self build

I’ve had this bike for over a year now. And almost one year since my huge accident haha. Had a lot of fun skidding and tricking with this bike. I always thought the new v8 was ugly imo so I considered myself lucky to nab one in Berlin just before they retired it. I’ve probably gone through 8-10 tires on the back already. Front tire has been the exact same this entire time but I prob gotta change em soon.

I’m making this post because I’m building a road bike soon. Not selling it no, but my time on this bike will definitely decrease especially for longer/ hillier rides. This just a bookmark for myself to remember the good and bad times I had on this bike.

Spec
8bar Krzberg V7 Team Edition Small
Sugino 75 ST w their red dust cap
Vision chainring 49t
Dia compe 17t cog and lockring
Uno stem 17 degrees 110mm
Selle italia aspide saddle narrow
Brandless carbon road bar 42cm
Brandless seatpost 27.2
Oem 60mm carbon wheelset

So, I have a fixie commute bike that I built 20 years ago, back before counterfeit parts were all over the place like they are these days. Now that I'm riding more in hillier places, it's time to switch up my gearing, so I decided to just refresh everything. At which point I realized I no longer know where to buy fixie parts these days.

In particular, I'm looking for a 48T 1/8" chainring, a chain, and 17T and 19T cogs, without paying separate shipping from a bunch of places. Also, I don't trust or shop at Amazon, so skip that one.

(For the curious, the black frame was the original one, but I bent it up by failing to bunny-hop a curb, and replaced it with the blue frame that I bought off a friend. Rear wheel is a fixed/fixed flip-flop that I built myself with a Mavic Open Pro rim)

Where do you guys shop for yours? Metal and/or carbon? Just getting back into it and trying to build an extra frame I have hanging around.

completely stripped the rear wheel hub while put learning skids.
i suspect a loose lockring, the wheel was from an old dawes sst i picked up from facebook market for my state city bike conversion.
that being said, any recommendations on if i should rebuild the wheel with a stronger hub? or if i should replace the wheel as a whole?

im eyeing this KHE wheel as its a budget/beater build but i’d like to practice skids with confidence. thanks in advance.

featuring my ugly bike