Been a while since I started the track bike project and finally managed to ride it a few days ago. Thought I’d share a few thoughts.

1) I love it! Managed to build the entire thing for about £475 all in. Very pleased with the quirky looks.

2) Yes I did go for the orange Velocity wheels! :)

3) Wow, it’s interesting to get your head round not ‘coasting’. My first ride was a slightly rushed ‘hack’ into central London for a meeting. Not the best time to learn but I survived. I did have a proper panic on Highgate West Hill though when I realised that if my newly fitted and untested brakes didn’t work, I was only going to speed up until I hit something. On a mountain bike, I can hit 40+mph down that hill, so the outcome of a runaway fixie makes you shudder. Dislocated kneed and a fat lip at the very least.

4) I went on a taster course at the outdoor velodrome at Welwyn Garden City courtesy of Welwyn Wheelers. Turned up, paid a fiver to hire a bike and had an hour’s tuition and introduction into track cycling. It was brilliant. Ok, it’s out of season now so the hardcore stuff isn’t so hard, but come the new season, I’ll be back… and I have the bike for it too! Check it out if you can, really friendly, slightly scary and a great story for the pub.

5) It’s been interesting to see the difference in attitudes that exist in the cycling world, and nothing splits them like a ‘fixie’ bike it seems. I’m from hairy-legged, beer drinking, mountain bike stock and was amazed at relatively icy approach of the London fixie scene. I visited a special fixed wheel bike forum called londonfgss (London Fixed Gear and Single Speed) and, well, I may as well have turned up naked to a WI cake sale. Everyone seems to mildly hate each other and dismiss you if you have gears or like any colour other than silver or black. Very curious bunch and not somewhere I’d recommend a newbie fixie rider starts off. Maybe progress there when you have thick enough skin. It reminds me of the tension between skiers and snowboarders back in the day. It’ll pass, hopefully.

As a contrast, there’s a great forum for retro bikes called (unsurprisingly) RetroBike. Completely different scene. Same kind of narrow focus but packed with people you wouldn’t mind having a pint with.

Anyhoo, will report back if anything mad happens but for now, that’s the latest bike chapter closed. Now I just have to ride the damn thing.

Thought I’d share the results just in case it helps you decide your wheel conundrum too. I guess I should make this in flash some day so you can change the colours yourselves and change the frame colour. Maybe one day I’ll get the time…

I’ve uploaded the .PSD layered file here if you want to add your own frame in by hand. Just open the file in Photoshop, select the rim or hub layer and change the Hue/Saturation (Apple+U or CTRL+U on a PC).

(And yes, I know I’ve made the rear wheel radial too… just saved a bit of Photoshop time)