I have aquired an old road bike which I wish to convert to a single-speed fixed gear. Have read Sheldens and other threads so trying not to repeat anything here (sorry if I have).

Not to sure how good the bike is, if you could have a look at the picture and let me know what you think? What needs changing, what useless and whats good? and to what? ie: stick with 27' rims or change to 700's?

It an A.S. Gillott frame, with Rigida rims, Shimano Sugino gears and stuff and Weinmann Vainqeuer brakes.

I've seen a lot worse. Presumably it's 531? You will have big clearances, but at the same time, that tends to make a more relaxed ride...

Not sure about 531?

Obviously got to remove all the ancient items like: muguards, pump, waterbottle holder and dodgy sadle on top of the gears.

i would sell the 27s and all the geared bits, go for 700c wheels, keep the bars, stem, and head set, and get a modern brake on there

Is it worth selling the 27's and geared bits? or should I hang on to them... just incase?

depends how fickle are you? how broke are you?

You'll almost def have to squeeze the rear forks and seat-stays by a centimetre, from 130 mm to 120 if your gonna buy track hubs (which i would). other than that i'd agree with chris crash. if the clearance between brake mount and braking surface is really big, you could get dia-compe 806 brakes (which have a really long reach), failing that Alhonga's. You might find that you need to mount a back brake to the front forks unless you want to drill the rear hole of your front forks (to 8mm i think) to accomodate a modern brake...

geared bikes are where it's at.

don't convert.

pj, you're not very persuasive!

Thanks for advice, hadn't thought about the large brake clearances....
I'm not sure wether to try an keep it fairly retro or try to make it look a bit newer/more modern?

if your converting go mostly modern as the bike is not what it was, if your keeping it geared go clasic

if you've got a bit of money, and u want it to be a nice bike your prob going to have to change a lot of it anyway - so go modern. i reckon you'll ahve to replace wheelset, brake, chainrings, cranks and BB (depending on ur money), tires, chainring bolts, and brake levers. if u get all of those in a fairly decent spec ur gonna be looking at about £250 upwards (without changing cranks or BB)...
...then u'll prob get the bug, get the frame re-sprayed, and end up spending more like £400 up.
It happened to me!

Bet it's only 126mm at the rear.

SJS cycles have looong reach brakes with nut fittings, meaning no need for drilling or funky back-to-front fitting of brakes:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-T...nd-Rear-79.htm

Cheers for advice. I think initially I want to spend a small amount just to get it running, then I'm sure I will end up getting carried away.

I was inititially going to buy an OTP like a Charge Plug, or Langster (Boo), but decided this would be better and more fun!

Does anyone know much about Gillott, Is it a frame worth spending monet on, I saw someone else on here restored one but theirs looked better than mine to start.

i'd leave it as is. perhaps just a clean and service, but retaining the patina.
find a truly knackered bike for pittance and restore that.

polo bike? :D

Please do not convert this. On top of everything else the geometry is wrong for a conversion. your BB will be too low, too much clearance, and it'll look really akward.

save a puppy, buy OTP or something that converts well.

what size frame are you looking for?

buy my gt!!

If you want a HHSB, don't convert it

But if you have to, keep the mudguards on.

Frame size 58. Stupid question but how can you tell about geometry, brake clearances? What should I be looking for?

Are you sure it's a 58 cm? it does not look like it to me.

if you're gonna convert, then look for a cheap road frame, not a touring bike. you want something without mudguards, with horizontal dropouts. look for the gap between the front wheel and the fork, and between the rear tyre and the seat tube.

Bead seat diameter of 700c rims: 622mm

Bead seat diameter of 27" rims: 630mm.

27" wheels are therefore larger - if you put 700c's on this frame for example, you'll increase the gap between tyre and frame. Ideally you want it pretty tight for a good look.

looks more like 48cm to me

Sorry 56.

I was only planning on using this as a first ss fg as It was laying around in a family members shed, However might have to give it a miss now.

Tempting