Wazzat top tube thingy? A floatation aid?
Oh- you mean the hipster pad? I basically use it to hide my zip tied cables. On my old single speed steel frame I used clips for this purpose, but this aluminum frame is slightly oversized and I cant find proper clips.
Also, the pad has a nifty storage pocket where I stash a wrench to adjust the rear wheel nuts.
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Obviously you guys never owned a BMX bike in the '70’s! PFFFT!
It’s for when you wipe out – that’s WHEN, not IF – you could still have kids if – that’s IF, not WHEN – you ever grow up. 
Ah…sweet, sweet Redline…my very first schoolboy crush.
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I think the fixie goons like them to clamp their knees on when the are putting down big skids
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No siree - in the 70s I owned a proper Italian steel road bike with Campy, alloy wheels that ate spokes like popcorn and a screwed-on freewheel that did not agree with the aluminum alloy hub it was mated to. And cycling shoes with nailed-on cleats held down with straps that I remembered to slack off most of the times when I stopped. Proper stuff.
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New build using some old parts off my old Surly 1x1. Loving the Karate Monkey so far and hoping to do some races with it later in the year.
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I had one of these. It is the only bike I’ve ever regretted selling. That bike was so much fun, and ask great for racing short track XC.
I’d always wanted a single speed bike. There’s something about it that I found intriguing. Picked up a barely used 1983 Raleigh frameset made from 531c tubing and put it together with various new and shelf dusty parts. Love it.
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What an outstanding build. Well done!
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Double dipping as I put this up in the Aluminati thread before riding it. A season later, happy to report it’s an absolute blast. Swapped out the grips for some lime green ESI chunky’s. Otherwise just rode the heck out of it.
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Beautiful! I think I can spot a chain tensioner; which model?
My first proper bike was a Peugeot ten-speed (which was a big purchase for my folks in those days). I loved that bike, and even as it languished in the back of the garage over the years, I could never quite part with it. I took it to a bike shop at some point in the mid '00s for a big tune-up and found it . . . frighteningly unrideable. (Did I really used to bomb through LA traffic on this thing? As kid?! With no helmet?!?! Was I mad?!?!?!) Back into the garage.
Now I mostly live in the country. Wanting to get more comfortable working on my bikes, I thought it would be a neat project to strip the Peugeot down and turn it into a fixie. I was mostly after the learning experience; figured when it was finished I would just kinda, I dunno . . . look at it. But with new wide wheels and no more downtube shifters, it is a joy to ride! So I upgraded to GP tires and wound up doing a good chunk of my outdoor riding on it this summer.
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The Haro Mary SS has a eccentric BB and was OEM SS back in 2006-2008ish. Found this Mary SS with gears and swapped in a 32/20 and a White Brothers Rock Solid fork. So fun even on rough Phoenix SOMO trails.
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I love the way you’ve done this build!
I have pretty much the exact same frame, just in a late 80’s flouro colour scheme and have been running it as a SS for a few years. I’d like to update it though and interested in a couple of things -
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how did you sort the headset etc to set up a stem like that? I ended up with an old skool quill stem I’d like to swap if possible?
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I bodged some wheels to use spacers on the freehub to get the chainline. Was it easy to get some SS wheels that worked for the chainline or did you have cold set the rear triangle or anything?
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It looks like you have some form of adapter to hold the axle in the dropout? I’ve struggled with mine as the wheel likes to slip - what adapter is that on there?
Love the paint and final look of the build.