# 26" fixed gear ride?



## SpinWheelz (May 3, 2004)

Of the growing number of fixed gear bikes proudly shown off here at the forum, it appears that virtually every one is born out of a road, cyclocross or mtb 29er frame. Seeing as most of them are used on the road, I can appreciate the desire to use 700c wheels. Are there any adverse reasons for not using a regular 26" wheeled mountain bike to build up as a fixie?

Cheers.


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## roadiegonebad (Jan 31, 2004)

SpinWheelz said:


> Of the growing number of fixed gear bikes proudly shown off here at the forum, it appears that virtually every one is born out of a road, cyclocross or mtb 29er frame. Seeing as most of them are used on the road, I can appreciate the desire to use 700c wheels. Are there any adverse reasons for not using a regular 26" wheeled mountain bike to build up as a fixie?
> 
> Cheers.


To be ridden on road or mtn? Several guys here are doing fixed mtn. If you want it for the road- why not? As long as you can get a good fit, give it a shot.


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## qtip (Jan 12, 2004)

*my first fixie experience*

I posted a pic of my new franken'fixie' Bianchi BuSS 29er the other day. A few years ago I commuted for a while on my BuSS as a 26er as a fixie. No real reason I can see why not to use a 26" wheel...the reason I went with 29" wheels this time around was because I prefer the larger wheel for general xc riding. If you like a 26" wheel for the riding you'll be doing, then that's your ticket.


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## SpinWheelz (May 3, 2004)

I realize that 700c/29" wheels have application to both mountain and road. I was just wondering if there was a prevailing reason as to why almost all fixed gear bikes are of the larger wheel variety and that there are few to no regular sized mountain bikes/wheels used for fixed gear builds.

If I were to venture this route, I'd likely try it on a 26" wheeled mountain bike, for the purposes of fit and cache of existing spare parts. Wanted to know if doing this was a no-no.


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## fixgeardan (Aug 20, 2004)

i spent the last year on 1 fixie 1x1 the bike never saw a free wheel with 2.5 tires it was great my only mtb i replaaced it with a karate monkey at x-mas only reason for switching is smother ride and all that momentum just made since for fixie.26 works fine but 29'er is better in my opinion.


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## bulC (Mar 12, 2004)

*there are no no-no's*

in fact the spirit of frankenbikism embraces and encourages nonconventional builds and uses.
since I have lots of old road stuff, and lots of old mtb stuff, when I built a fixed for trail riding, I used conventional 26" technology. as an old roadie, I prefer my pavement pounding on 700c wheels. that said one of my ss towner 700c bikes in a previous incarnation was a "28.5er" fat tired offroad fixer. I've even had fixed 700c wheels with fattiers on an mtb frame with horizontals, but the resulting 13.5" bottom bracket height was not to my liking.
700c wheels can ride singletrack. 26" wheels can ride pavement. use what you got to create what you desire.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2005)

*No reason*

I ran a 26 inch soulcraft fixed offroad all last summer. Being able to roll over obstacles is nice though since it is harder to bunny hop a fixed gear.


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## Brandon (Dec 30, 2003)

My take is that you'll see the majority of fixies being used as primarily road machines, so it seems logical to start with a road frame. One huge advantage to using 700c for road is tires, getting good quality 26" slicks designed to go fast is a lot more difficult, every LBS has some decent 700c road tires, very few have 26" (or 650c) road tires.


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## Cygnus (Jan 7, 2004)

*26" fixed commuter*

I set up this 26" wheeled bike to ride fixed. this is a pic of it with a freewheel, and i rode it this way on Cycle Oregon in 2003, but i used it fixed as a commuter all of last year (42x16). i have a geared road bike and can see the advantages of bigger wheels for the road, but there are no overwhelming issues going 26" fixed. there are a number of 26" skinny slicks available. panaracer has some nice ones.


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