Sheldon Brown is the go to for everything like this.
There are no affiliate links, and he went way beyond the company he worked on, it's a pure act of love and is super comprehensive. It's just info to help you.
I would caution people reading that site to double-check anything they see there, or simply consult a much, much older version from archive.org.
Sheldon passed over a decade ago, and the site has been modified over time by a guy named John Allen. He fancies himself an expert of similar caliber, but has a tiny fraction of the hands-on experience Sheldon did.
He's made a number of edits/additions injecting his personal opinion. For example: about belt drives, of which he clearly has no personal experience.
Huh, I had a look at the belt drive thing - Allen added that in 2012(!) when belt drives were still relatively new - Gates went mainstream around 2009, and Center Track appeared 2010-2011. At the time many more belt drives would have been retrofitted onto old bikes instead of frames designed for them. He may not have had the experience then, but should have by now...that definitely needs an edit.
And wow, over a decade indeed, I can't believe its been so long :(
(FWIW my main bike has been belt drive & Rohloff geared, dynamo lights for 6 years now, the reduced maintenance is great, I can just step on my bike and go)
For anyone else stumbling across this, sheldonbrown.com has a wealth of high-quality information about bicycles, and it's rare that I don't look there first.
100%. If I’m doing my own maintenance (for just about anything) or want to build up some Franken-bike, I read up on my Sheldon “thank god that website is still around” Brown.
Semi-tangential, I took my fixie to Harris Cyclery for a tuneup before it closed. Boy, was I floored when the guy working at the counter told me that fixies weren't cool anymore. Sheldon was a big part of my journey to riding fixed gear. I learned everything I know about bikes from his site and he even answered questions personally by email.
I'm pretty sure when the guy said fixies weren't cool, I heard Sheldon spin in his grave a little.
Yeah the hipsters ride ill-fitting vintage steel racers now, some of the girls look so uncomfortable straining forward to reach the brake leaver. Fixed gear has gone back to being for a few enthusiasts and messengers and other bike weirdos like me. I’ve ridden one as a daily for years and years due to how awesome the virtually zero upkeep is, plus I personally find them safer, especially in winter.
Don’t worry, fixies are still cool among a select bunch of people. I’ve never cared for them, but plenty still do. There is also a budding fixie racing community outside of the track (including crit and CX), which is simply terrifying to me.
