When I decided to get a new tri bike, I also decided to keep my old P2K and turn it into a fixie. I’ve seen a lot of folks riding them, and they look like a blast. I picked up my new Kuota Kalibur yesterday, and decided to bring the P2K into the basement and get started on the project. I pretty much used my allowance with the new bike, so its going to be a bit before the spousal unit lets me spring for the parts for the fixie project.
My P2K before the disassembly begins, leaning up against a bunch of storage bins in the basement (my wife is very organized).
The soon to be radically changed drivetrain:
And cockpit:
Box O’ Parts. Notice how nasty the bottom of the aerobars are…they and the bolts holding them onto the base bar were a lot more corroded than I had thought they would be. I told my wife that from now on, my Cervelo SLC and Kuota Kalibur are getting yearly strip downs and clean ups.
Stripped down in all her nekkid glory! Now, all I need are some new pedals (the old ones went on the new Kalibur), a 42-tooth chain ring, a converter to turn my free hub into a fixed gear, and a few cogs for the back (couple different sizes until I figure what works around here). Will probably eventually replace the saddle into something more roadbikish.
The buildup of gunk underneath the aerobar brackets. Yuck!!
Full frontal nudity!! I like the look of the bike without the aerobars. I’m almost as excited about this project as I was getting the new Kalibur. Almost.
Well, that’s all for now gang. Tune in next month as I attempt to put it back together. I did warn the folks at Wheelie Fun to be prepared for me to come in with a stripped down bike and a bag of parts!!
I think I’m going to try a 42x17 at first, and then see how it goes. Its a little hilly around here, so it will probably take some experimentation to figure out what works best, plus just getting used to the fixed gear.
Gonna go fixed gear, I think. Surley makes a convertor that takes a Shimano free hub and turns it into a fixed gear. I might go singlespeed for a while, though, to get used to not having any gears. Haven’t totally decided yet…
You should put the aero bars back on and race a few time trials on it. There is a local TT each month and in the past some guy has shown up on a fixie and dominated.
I’m in the process of building up a fixie. Why can’t you have a rear brake? I know you don’t need them at all, but my area is decently hilly and I like my knees.
To the OP, cool project and nice bike to work with. have fun with it.
Its just a bit of a hassle getting the rear brake realigned to the wheel every time you puncture (its fiddly enough as it is). I don’t have one on mine but I never use the rear brake on any of my bikes. As far as I can tell the only use for a rear brake is to stop you from melting your tub glue on super long twisty alpine descents in high summer!
