learning to fix

Ok, so, sometime early last year, I got it into my head that it'd be a fun project for me to try and take some road bike frame, and convert it to a fixed-gear bicycle. There is a huge amount of information to be found googling for the term, if you're not familiar. Shortly after doing this, I started scouring ebay and craigslist for a suitable frame, and found a guy selling a Raleigh Technium 450 aluminum bike. I was primarily interested in the frame, but the price was right and I nabbed it on ebay.

And then, it sat in my apartment for approximatley one year before I actually got anything done. Mostly I've been daunted with the prospect of even trying to start, because in short, I know absolutely nothing about bicycles, save for how to ride one with a normal gearing setup.

Right now, the frame is sitting in our living room, with a few things remaining to be removed such that I might go through, seperate the pieces I want to keep and re-use from the rest, and then systematically clean up and make ready for use the parts I intend to use again. I've been stalled again though by the absence of the appropriate wrenches, and so not much is going on again. That and I've got a lot of work to do with school and everything, and interesting though this project may be, it is not the highest priority of mine right now.

I'm writing this as a record of my progress and how various parts of my project go. I imagine as I get into more tricky things like replacing the freewheel part of the rear tire, I'll have a lot more to say on how I managed to nearly break something. So, yeah, that's where I currently stand. Next time I get around to doing anything, I'll keep this updated.