Usually when you think of doing a fixed gear conversion, it usually means taking a geared bike and turning it fixed. I decided to tinker with my fixie a few weeks ago to try to make it more utilitarian. I took my pretty Surly Steamroller (Fixedgeargallery #5042) and built a 3-speed wheel for it.
Track spacing and 3spd hub spacing are exactly the same at 120mm, so it made a logical choice. I looked at a few Sturmey Archers that had more gears (5spd, I believe) that had 120 spacing but the reviews were really mixed about the reliability above 3 speeds.
I swapped the bars from drops to Nitto All-rounders. These bars are nice, but unlike the Albatross bars, they do not take bar-end shifters. These bars also have a pretty steep rise/drop (depending on how you orient the bars) compared to the A-bars.
One thing I’ve discovered with this bike and my Xtracycle, is when I switched from drops to swept back bars, I always needed a longer stem with a lot of rise. In the case of the Steamroller, I had to hunt for a 130mm stem with some good rise to make it work. I like my bars at semi-performance position, so not exactly bolt up-right. In fact, for my current Trek project I’m working on, I ordered a 135mm adjustable stem, anticipating the need for a longer stem.
Overall, this bike is super fun to ride. It turns heads because people don’t know quite what to make of it. Is it fixed or isn’t it? The CETMA rack on the front makes it very useful. This has become my short distance delivery and grocery bike. Another fun detail to note is my semi-permanent top-tube protector 
I was considering wrapping up the whole bike in twine and adding shellac, but the top tube took forever so I left it at that
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12 responses so far ↓
1 Quinn // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:15 am
I have asked countless people about this, and gotten shoulder shrugs and funny looks.
I want to put a 1 speed internal (coaster? pedal backward to break)
hub on a San Jose, to become a “safe”-er fixie
2 Russ Roca // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:18 am
Totally possible…with this bike I’m using a Shimano 3spd with coaster….the bike doesn’t have cable stops for a rear brake, so the coaster is the best way to go…..
I did have to zip tie the cable for the click box though…
3 Jeff the Veloteer // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:23 am
That is a slick-looking ride Russ. I dig the rack too. I saw a sweet flatbed rack on a Salsa bike at my LBS made by Paul components.
http://www.paulcomp.com/
4 Val // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:26 am
Just for future reference, the reliability problems with Sturmey five speeds disappeared many years ago. If you find one of the older ones that uses two cables to shift, you could run into problems unless you have good shifting technique. With the newer hubs (anything made after 1990), everything is smooth and good. IGH rules!
5 Ghost Rider // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:46 am
Russ, did you build the wheel yourself? Man, I really need to learn how to do that.
Quinn, how is a coaster brake safer than a caliper-brake based singlespeed? As far as I can recall, a San Jose comes with a freewheel and two brakes, not a fixed cog.
6 RL Policar // Jan 18, 2008 at 10:49 am
Russ,
That’s one classy bike.
7 Noah // Jan 18, 2008 at 11:33 am
Love it. Have you seen this?
http://sheldonbrown.com/awfixed.html
Kind of best of both worlds.
8 tj // Jan 19, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Nice job. I just picked up an old 3 speed S/A for a utility bike project. Love the rack — perfect for hauling pizzas!
9 Quinn // Jan 21, 2008 at 8:45 am
Ghost,
Sorry, I meant coaster vs. “brakeless” fixie, (every one around here rides brakeless), even with rim brakes, the momentum of a fixie would seem to be more dangerous.
10 Matt // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:32 am
If you want to get really wild, Shimano does the 8-speed Nexus hub with a coaster brake. It has over a 300% gear range (vs. 175% for the Sturmey AW hub). Kind of weighs a lot, but keeps the bars clean of those pesky brake levers.
11 jas // Mar 7, 2008 at 8:03 pm
sounds like you’re rich! congrats
12 Bob // Apr 12, 2008 at 1:58 pm
“…for my current Trek project I’m working on, I ordered a 135mm adjustable stem, anticipating the need for a longer stem.”
Is this one of those made-in-China adjustable reach/rise stems you see on some inexpensive hybrids? I examined one and it used only bolt-nut friction to hold the stem and bars in position. Aren’t you worried that one good curb jump or off-pavement ride will cause the stem to collapse and throw you off the bike?
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