Fixed Gear Bikes

xXLoss_of_ControlXx · Post by **xXLoss_of_ControlXx** » 09 Jul 2008 09:14

this is a single speed

this guy is waiting for a fixed wheel and orange handle bars.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 13 Jul 2008 07:35

I am in love with those toshi singles. right now i have them ghetto-doubled with some shitty ALE straps that are about to snap. when i go through these i'll get some real doubles.

swapped out my rear gatorskin for a conti contact 28c... seems to be holding up to the skids a lot better

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 13 Jul 2008 18:09

Ooohh snap! A track frame!

LEGIT!!

I am running hose clamps instead of straps. I broke hundreds of dollars worth of straps and moved on! So far a set of hoseclamps lasts me a month, which is WAY more than any strap ever did.

I have been drilling my tricks hard, I can almost nose wheelie!!!

jon · Post by **jon** » 13 Jul 2008 18:16

Nice bikes guys. What frame is that above?

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 13 Jul 2008 20:28

the one you kept badgering me to buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOxR7rTYuSI[/youtube]

it's not exactly a great frame, just a manufacturer that certain shady brands would buy and resell for giant profits. it's not bad though and of course the price was attractive. free shipping too. it sucked having get a new headset, bottom bracket (+installation) stem and seatpost since they were all incompatible though.

jon · Post by **jon** » 14 Jul 2008 04:49

Das what I thought

So it is a real track frame. Horizontal rear dropout do not a track frame make but that one is legit. Sure it's no ti/carbon "spaceship" as tom likes to call them but its very well priced for what you get. The only thing I am not a huge fan of are the water bottle mounts but that is pretty nitpicky. As for shady bike makers ... I think khs is pretty good and they use the factory/frame for the khs flight 100. I think you made a great choice. The people on BFSFG forum seem to love theirs to death.

What bike forum are you reading/posting on? Seeing as you are riding a kilo/toshis/gaterskin/ and locking up sheldon brown style I would guess you have been moon lighting on another forum

Are the wheels cxp 22's (from wheels direct)?

I will be posting up my new bike in a couple weeks time. Still waiting on parts to come in (well really all the parts .... they are ordered but are coming in from 5 different cities and 2 countries) I might have gone over board with this build but it was fun/stressful picking parts and I think I really learned a lot through the process.

In other bike related news I recently discovered little old Guelph, Ontario is home to two of Canada's custom frame builders. I next learned Guelph is only one of 3 cities in NA that offers a real bike mechanic course. Of course that course is several thousand dollars, 2 weeks long, and meant for bike shop owners so I signed up (along with a buddy) for a shorter 2 day bike mechanic course to be run in August. I am really excited to learn stuff. Esp about gears and those other bike parts that I havn't used in a while.

I can't wait for my new bike/toy

BTW is anyone watching the tour? I love the time trial stages. Their bikes are so beautiful.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 14 Jul 2008 05:28

the wheels are mavic open sport i believe. i dont know the hubs but the whole thing is laced up by my local shop and they're pretty much indestructible.

i dont read any bike forums, just a few blogs. what's a kilo?

you should definitely take that course because i totally wish i could.

jon · Post by **jon** » 14 Jul 2008 05:40

brian relly wrote:what's a kilo?

Mercier Kilo TT - aka the frame you have

Here is a link to 133 pages of pictures of built up Kilo frames:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=305822

For example this one that was posted just a couple of days ago.

ville · Post by **ville** » 14 Jul 2008 08:06

Nice new frames! I've also been looking into getting a "real" fixed gear frame. Almost ordered an IRO Angus before the website gave me $430:!: for shipping to Finland and/or Germany. Asked them why it costs so much but no reply yet.

In the mean time I've been track standing, doing backwards circles (2,5 the best so far) and skidding. Managed one skid with the other foot over the handle bar when it rained the other day. What fun!

jon · Post by **jon** » 14 Jul 2008 08:42

I would have guessed it would be easier to find track frames in Europe than NA. Why order from the states?

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 14 Jul 2008 17:08

For someone who has never ridden fixed, do you recommend doing single speed first and then going into fixed ... or just slowly learn how to ride fixed from the start?

jon · Post by **jon** » 14 Jul 2008 17:17

Start with fixed. SS is closer to a regular gear bike than it is to fixed.

Better yet get a rear wheel with a flip-flop hop and run a front and rear brake. That way you can run a ss freewheel on one side of the wheel and flip the wheel around if you want to run fixed. That way you are not stuck with a riding style you might not like. Although, I have never heard of someone not liking fixed.

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 15 Jul 2008 13:47

Well I ordered a "Windsor The Hour" yesterday from bikesdirect.
Now before I get flamed for buying a bike, not building one up, and especially for buying from bikesdirect, let me explain why I did so.

I've wanted a fixed gear/single speed bike for a while now(almost a year ago if you look at my posts in this thread), and I was going to build up my old bike. However as I was adding up the costs of building up my old road bike, they came close to how much I payed for the hour.($300)
I know that the components aren't that great on the hour, but the way I see it, I was going to get the cheaper components for my build anyway. So this way I get a better frame with similar components.
Before I purchased the hour I went around to many local bike shops and gathered some info. I also read a lot on the internet on various websites. The hours frame is supposedly the same as the Fuji Track and SE Lager frame. I'll also upgrade the components on the bike as I learn more about it.
Either way my bike is coming in next week and I'll be riding as much as i can.

jon · Post by **jon** » 15 Jul 2008 14:05

Flamed?

The hour is a sick bike. People seem to love them so much. Awesome bike for the price. Ride the crap out of it till things break then replace them. Might be a good idea to go to a shop and make sure the cog and lock ring are nice and tight because I have heard of people stripping their hubs on new bikesdirect bikes.

If I lived in the states I probably would have bought a bikesdirect/bikeisland bike already.

If you are going to use it as a single speed I would suggest putting two brakes on it.

Here is a really useful link all about braking technique: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html - a good read for everyone

jon · Post by **jon** » 15 Jul 2008 18:12

Here is a thread of people talking about their hours:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=436547

snafu1322 · Post by **snafu1322** » 15 Jul 2008 19:48

jon whats your username of BF:SSFG?

jon · Post by **jon** » 15 Jul 2008 21:04

jhaber

Footbag Forever · Post by **Footbag Forever** » 16 Jul 2008 10:40

Mu buddy has a white soma track frame. Turquoise velocity deep V's, a drop stem with white bar tape. The things looks like sex. I've ridden it before and learned to do track stands on it, it's amazing!

I'm building a fix out of my crappy schwinn traveler. Luckily that version of shcwinn is a lot lighter than most other schwinn's but the dropouts are ok for a fix so I'm doing it. I just need a new rear wheel and bottom bracket. I'm so excited.

jon · Post by **jon** » 18 Jul 2008 11:11

Hi all,

I just re-read this thread and in doing so felt really foolish for a lot of my earlier comments in this thread. I was contributing to the negativity and elitist attitude that seems to run through the fixed gear scene. I apologize for that, it was uncalled for and not helpful in any way.

Snafu do you post on BFSFG? Can you put up pictures of your Sputnik and your review of the bike. I was so close to getting one myself and perhaps I should have. I think it is probably one of the sweetest road fixed gear bikes on the market. The 631 steel and easton fork are really sweet.

I will hopefully have my build done around the beginning of August and will post lots of pictures when I do. Waiting for parts to come in was exciting at first, kinda like the expectations you have before Christmas but at this point I am really kinda tired of double guessing all my choices. I am a bit stressed about it all and think I went a bit overboard with the amount of time and money I spent. I could have bought 4 bikes for the price I will end spending on this one and for a student with not a lot of money it was foolish. That said, I have learned so much in the process and know I will learn even more before it is all said and done. When I am finished I will post my thoughts about the whole process so hopefully other people can learn from what I went through.

/end post

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 18 Jul 2008 12:16

UPS couldn't drop of my bike yesterday because there was no one home to sign for it. I'm going to pick it up today after work ... gonna put it together ... take it to a bike shop ... and then have my first fixed gear experience.