How to Build a Proper Fixed Gear Bike

The bike I ride, channel sponsor, pretty cool people:

Mildly ironic Reasonably Dangerous cycling shirts:

Proper bikes: those bikes that are built so well that just looking at them inspires you to ride them. Proper bikes are more fun to ride, more comfortable, last longer, and look better. But with so many small things to keep track of during a bike build, how exactly does one build a proper bike? Join me as I build up a special edition Wabi Special to see my process for building proper bikes.

Bike Tire Pressure Calculator:

0:00 Proper Bikes are Dope!
0:46 Unboxing a Very Special Wabi Special
2:40 Proper Preparation is Key
8:23 To Grease or Not to Grease?
11:18 Take a Break
12:36 Proper Torquing Tips
15:55 Crank Installation
16:44 Proper Tire Tips
18:13 The Disaster of NOT Greasing
20:50 Wheel Installation
21:23 Build Finishing Touches
23:41 Purple Wabi Special Bike Check!
28:39 Sponsor: Wabi Cycles

Parts for this fixed gear build
Frameset:
58cm Wabi Special (Special edition Keirin purple)

Handlebars/Stem/Headset:
48cm Nitto Noodle/Wabi Stem 100mm -17 degree/Tange headset

Saddle/Seatpost:
Brooks Swift/Wabi seatpost

Pedals:
MKS GR-10/Toshi Double Straps/MKS stainless steel toe clips

Cranks/Bottom Bracket/Chainring:
Wabi Pro cranks/Hollow Tech II bottom bracket/48t Wabi Pro cranks

Cog/Lockring/Chain:
EAI 15t cog/Wabi lockring/Izumi Super Toughness chain NJS

Rims/Hubs/Spokes/Tires:
Wabi Sub-15/32c Continental Gatorskin Black Edition

Ryan Witt
Robby Andaya
David K.
Ellie Lovelace
Justin Javier
Kelvin Ho
Julian Corona
Fixed Federation
OC Bike Crew
Stan Strong 108
Brandon Black
Zane Kolnik

Dominic Jones
Seungwan Kim
Chris
Crash
Simon Newton
Javier Lopez
M.
Martin Mohr
Young Architect
Nick
Scott Palangi
Todd Brannan
Epilektric
Michael Greif
Nicodache

Connect with me:

#sponsored #fixedgear #fixedgearbuild

[davis]

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about how good other people's bikes are and how I want to build one of those by myself. Great video timing!

[sicsempertyrannis]

Highly recommend building your own bike at least once in your life. Very satisfying and a great way to learn about maintenance and components. 🤘

[suhdud]

Ahhhh!
Purple is also my favourite colour BUT the correct shade. That looks like a base coat of purple.
It needs to be deeper - I would buy the Soma Rush if given the choice of the two.
One thing that Wabi nailed is those delicious cranks!

[Simte]

I did my proper build back in 2016 and I regret nothing. It was my dream bike after all.

[kennethward]

Nicely done!
Just a couple additional thoughts from a member of the “steel is real” mafia;
1) With a new steel frame, find someone who knows what they’re doing with the right tools to face the bottom bracket and chase the paint from the threads. You will be rewarded with a lifetime of well aligned bottom bracket bearings that thread on smoothly.
2) Likewise, get the head tube and crown races ground. Hands free riding is so much better on bikes prepped this way.
3) Nothing wrong with grease. Nothing. But-on same rack as grease at a good bike shop is anti-seize, use this on anything other than bearings. A little better for those applications in terms of keeping stuff from slipping, preventing corrosion, and more resistant to washing out. Superb for bottom brackets to aluminum frames and cogs to wheels.
4) I absolutely concur with conclusion that if you are approaching bicycle components with an electric power tool, something is wrong. Never mind that I recently had to (successfully) resort to using an impact wrench to remove a freewheel that had been on a tandem for over 30 years…

[eporeon]

i didn't expect them to work but the red straps actually look really nice with the purple

[psychoaiko]

Dude, you finally got your purple bike! I'm happy for you man 😊

[cygnusx]

I thought you had that purple alter chainring for that purple wabi

[RicQuintanilla]

Zach running hollowtechs?!?! No

Looks fantastic Dude!

[lukewalker]

Glad you got your dream bike, man. Also shoutout to you for letting me know about Wabi. I've been riding fixed gears since 2006, was riding the Raleigh Rush Hour. I got my Special about a month ago, Autumn Copper. Dudes in nice cars turn their heads to check out that bike, and it's such a joy to ride!

[Survivalist-of-war]

Bought a Torker U-district fixie for 60 bucks. Beat to hell but it rides. My poor ass is going to try and built it up this winter hopefully by next year's riding season I'll be able to save enough to get it dialed in. It's my first bike as an adult and making it into a daily commuter. Running a 40/20 ⚙️ right now but need to bring it down to a 38/20 for the terrain. Been really loving this Chanel and have been watching everything the past 2 months. Learning as much as possible. I recently grabbed a chain whip. One tool at a time! Haha

[notlt]

LOL the beautiful mind-ing of the tire pressure calculations was amazing!

[notarabbit]

I like to line up the valve stem with the psi range written on the tire, and then trace over it with a white gel pen so you can read it at a glance.

[calvincraddock]

You need a propane torch to remove that cog. Soak with wd40, apply heat, and repeat till it comes off. The heat will help break up the corosion.

[alibaba]

i actually have a real purple wabi, not a lavender one . love the sparkle though

[MiceSkillz]

I've been waiting for this 🔥 and 30mins 😍 time to watch!

[joshikins]

I’m building a fixed gear from an old Bridgestone ! Can’t wait !!!!

[jerwinusacdin]

I built my dream bike back in 2016, and still kicking today. Actually I sent it to the repaint shop, waited for 1 week and will pick it up home later ;)

[danielgolite]

I bought a vintage Schwinn bike. The previous owner had painted it a deep metallic orange. With black handlebar tape it is stunning. Best bike color.

[claytonjoseph]

Zach, detachment of rear sprocket fix. Try rapping rear sprocket with a old chain, and place it in a bolted 🔩 down vice and turn "whole" wheel counter clockwise it should unscrew... good luck 👍