General: first fixie project

Those wold both make great starters, I don"t think i would recommend riser bars for a starter though, I would go with bull horns to give you more options as to where your most comfortable holding your hands. 175 bucks is a bit steep for a first fixed conversion. if you have a nice goodwill outlet around, they normally have plenty of old road bikes for like 10 bucks, id go check them out there and see what condition they are in or maybe bring someone with you who could help judge there condition, check if the wheels are aluminum or steel, don't get steel. see how the wheels role ect... then take it home, rip all the parts off and convert the back wheel and your ready to role.

good luck ( :
-mike

do you have any sort of bike co op near you? they normally have great deals.

hmm that makes it tough then for keeping it cheap, you could try craigslist, other than that the cheapest new fixed gear wheelset is somewhere around 100 i think
at your local bike shop

Fixed gear on the cheap...I find it really comes down to your aptitude for bike mechanics. If you are a somewhat competent mechanic or know one who will help you for free it's totaly doable. Otherwise, save your money until you can find complete bike on CL for a couple hundred bucks. Small frames are rare, but also small cyclist are too. So if a bike your size comes up it will be less $ than a comparable bike in a larger size. A complete bike is just better than buying a wheelset($100), a saddle(at least $25), tires($30),tubes($10), bar tape($15), not to mention all the labor you will put into repacking bearings and such. Not trying to deter you, just something to think on. Also, check sheldonbrown.com for conversion details(best bike website out there. Good luck.

yeah after looking over the bike i feel like i would be spending more money converting this than i would buying a complete bike. i'll fiddle around with it a bit, but will probably be on the look out for something on CL.

Check Craigslist, that's a good place, but also get to know the dudes (or dudettes) at you local bike shop. Let them know that you're looking for a cheap fixie. They most likely chill with a bunch of people who raced or just have like ten bikes. They'll probably be able to hook you up.