…so I fancy building up a budget singlespeed for winter commuting duties but I'm not sure what I'll need/how to set about it.

I'm planning on cannibalising what I can from the full-susser; forks (100mm), discs, bar, stem, wheels etc, so I'll need a new frame and *other singlespeed stuff*. Any advice would be appreciated!

I've got an old-ish LX chainset but would a dedicated singlespeed chainset be a better bet than a cannibalised triple?

Initial frame thoughts ran to one of the new green slot dropout Inbreds, but are there any other budget options around?

Lastly, any advice on how to singlespeed the back end?

Thanking the kind STW folks in advance :o)
Adam

beard and pipe? good starting point

then head into town for some sandals 🙂

Have a look @ Charlie The Bikemonger.com

My chainset is a Hone one which was a triple – never had any problems with it.

I used pretty much everything from a dead hardtail and bought a 2004 Malt 1 frame from Merlin to hang it all off. Used an old ramped middle ring and a FireEye chain tensioner.

I have ridden it continually for a year now and haven't had any grief at all:

I use the middle ring and cranks of a 10 year old Specialized own brand triple chainset without problem, maybe less ramped than modern ones but never had any slippage.

Rear wheel just get some spacers and a cog (on-one kit is cheap and cheerful) Charlie the bikemonger has a good range of stuff too. Tensioner if you don't get a adjustable frame.

plumbing pipe makes for a good set of spacers, cogs you can break up an old cassette, this'd make it very cheap

This is my budget build – put together at the weekend:

Single-speed bits are an On-One Doofer plus a kit from Ebay with spacers and an 18t cog (it had a 16t as well) – just using the standard 32t middle ring from a triple.

I've got a slot-dropout Inbred which I might run as a singlespeed at some point however I'm weak of leg so the extra weight (at least 2 lb) of the Inbred frame wouldn't be ideal initially. Most of the bits are cast-offs from my other bikes but it's quite light and rides well enough.

I'm just setting about a similar excercise, waiting for an ancient specialized frame I spotted on fleabay last week: 17", steel with those old style wrong way round horizontal Dropouts, needs a respray and I'll probably have a go at grinding off the cable stops…

Going back to basics so V brakes and a rigid fork (I quite fancy some Project 2's)….

I would have liked a mid-late 90's Kona frame (used to have one, actually quite miss it now) but I'll see how I get on with the speccy 95% of the kit should be transferable anyway…

Got some spare Hone cranks, spare pedals, and plenty of old cassette bits/SS kits to cannibalize…
got some spare bars, might need a stem, headset, seatpost, saddle and grips, oh and brakes,Only other thing I really need to sort are some lightish non disc wheels and I think I'm well on the way to having a new, old rat bike… bugger I need loads of stuff, time to start trading in the spare parts…