Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Expensive frames?

Just curious. I have now officially been off the cigs for one year and have promised myself the money I've saved to go for a bike. That was a bad grammar thing, I know. Anyway, what kind of bike would you recomend? Assuming you had roughly 2k to go for a bike. I'm not sure it will be a fix as I don't have a Mountain Bike and getting one is something I've been thinking about. So have at it! You have 2k in your pocket. What do you buy?

Vanilla (http://vanillabicycles.com)

This could be a pretty long list....
Me personally, I'd probably go for a Waterford 'cross, as I've got a nice track, mt, and road bike already and Waterford makes a sweet custom steel bike.
If youre thinking about a moutain bike, I've always been a big fan of Ritchey and Breezer (I'm not sure if he makes mtbs anymore) if you're looking for steel.

don't listen to these guys...(not that they don't know what they are talking about, cuz they do!)..

because you should go to your LBS, look around, see what makes you drool, and reward yourself for quitting a nasty habit!!

good luck, and keep us posted..

randy

If I had 2k sitting around for a bike, I think an Independent Fab would be underneath my ass right now.

I'd talk with IF and have them recreate that one they have in the show circuit. Steel fork with one leg normal, the other side cross fork leg. Used so that they can run a disc brake on the big leg side. I know, I know, no brakes....but it looked so damn cool.....

Dave

I think you would have to spend under 1000 for the frame in order to get the components and frame for under 2000. That is assuming you want better quality components and not bargain box stuff. Think Cinelli Olympic for the fixed. Classic design and great looks and ride if built up with Campy, Mavic, Phil Wood, Sugino or other high end components.. Don't know about the off road stuff. Road frames would probably be out of the price range when you consider the cost of components for a total price of 2000 for higher quality road stuff. Campy 10 Spd Chorus is about $1400 or so, Shimano Ultegra is about the same. Not even the highest end groupo.


fixedgearhead

https://www.pacecycles.com/product.asp?catID=1&subcat=441

tell bush to sort out your economy so you can import one of these without blowing the whole budget.

fssb
sparky

Hi,
get a single or a fixie AFTER you get your legs used to riding again.You can put one together easily with a used bike. There are dozens of great bikes at that price. Here are a few that kinda jump to mind. Rivendell Romulus might be just what you are looking for. It is retro (which is part of the charm of single speed)...comfortable...At $1550 they are discontinuing the bike because (I think) the falling dollar has killed their profit. A great bike to get back into riding on; and one that would be as good riding across the country as it would be down to the local Starbucks. Sorry if I'm over the top. For a sportier approach, I adore the Gunnar Sport. The Schwinn family makes them, with that wonderful Schwinn style. It's a lot of fun to ride, but without the jarring ride of a high perfomrance bike. Another bike in that same category is this.....
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/habanero.html
When I test rode the Century Special I was astonished at the the ride. It had the smoothest ride of any bike I have ever been on. It has slightly more lean than the Sport which has more lean than the Romulus. I mention that because you need to get your back used to that lean; now that you're not a kid anymore.Hmm, how old are you? However with the smoothness of the ride; it would not be too hard to do on that one. If you do decide on that one, get a carbon or steel fork. One last suggeston would be the Airborne Valkyrie. This is the highest performance of my choices. Despite it being titanium, don't expect a buttery ride; or even the mellowness of the Sport. But it has a sweet ride for a high performance bike, and if you're young and fit; it could rock your world. It's the most expensive of the bunch. There are many other wonderful bikes I haven't mentioned. These offer a range from a lite touring (Romulus) to sporty to mellow/performance to high performance. Just remember you'll be spending hundreds of hours in the saddle (trust me, the hard part with any of these bikes is getting off, not getting on) so I would be a little conservative in my selection.

get a single or a fixie AFTER you get your legs used to riding again

I rode 3000 miles last year and am on pace for 4000 this year. I'm currently riding a fixed 1978 Raleigh Competition GS. I'm just looking for ideas on what to spend the money on once I actually get it in my pocket. I'm currently broke but I WILL reward myself with a new bike for getting off the cigarettes.

Ok,
there is a mechanic at my LBS who got himself a Waterford fixie with the old Schwinn burnt orange color and Henry James lugs. The bike is beautiful. I am thinking of 'borrowing' the color for my next bike. Btw, the second smartest thing I ever did was quit ciggarettes. It's tough, but it's the best thing you can do right now. Soon food will taste better, you'll ride faster, and even, ahem, recreational activities with the fairer sex will be better. No ****, I even had better vision after I quit (took a year for that)

Vanilla

SS MTB all the way

For $2000, I'd get one of these:
http://www.bianchiusa.com/sass.html
http://www.bianchiusa.com/typo3temp/391a4274b4.jpg

AND one of these:
http://www.bianchiusa.com/pista.html
http://www.bianchiusa.com/typo3temp/95662e67cb.jpg
Henry

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking for a 29er. Something nice and steel with horizontal drops. Slide in a set of big burly meats for the trail one day, a set of skinnies for fast road work the next. In fact, for $2k, if you do some good shopping, you 'might' be able to outfit somethink like a karate monkey with road and offroad parts. Give yourself the ability to change gears (at least in the rear) offroad, strip off all that silly shifting stuff for day to day fixie riding.
I keep toying with this idea, I screw with my bikes so much now it's starting to make sense to get a bike that is meant to be screwed with all the time. Fixed, SS, geared, internal geared, on road, off road, coffeshop cruiser, long distance tourer, flat bar, drop bar, bullhorns, cruiser bars, cantis, disks, brakeless.
The frame looses quite a bit in beauty (and it's heavy so I hear) to achieve it's incredible versatility, but if you wanted to drop the coin I'm sure IF or any other good builder could put together a frame for you that would look much nicer and accomplishe the same stuff. Wish I had $2g's to drop. I'm still using my quitting smoking to justify my current crop of bikes.

Pick me! Pick me! :)

Pick me! Pick me! :)
Thylacine for instance could build you anything you want, and he's a poster here on the forum and appears to be a stand up guy. :)

Well I already have a cyclocross and 2 road to fixed conversions. The cyclocross doubles as a geared road bike. So I'm left with the decision between a MTB or a real track bike. Something purty.

I kinda like Blast radius's idea. i could call them the twins.

Thylacine for instance could build you anything you want, and he's a poster here on the forum and appears to be a stand up guy. :)

Okay, hows this for an idea. A 29er with clearance for 2.1" tires, with horizontal dropouts ( groovy ones with a derailleur hanger so you can go fixed or ss or geared ), nice steel rigid forks, maybe with a Pauls KISS gruppo, some Thomson in there for fun.....

Naturally I'm only saying this because its kinda what I want to build for myself once my new roadie is done :)

vanilla vanilla vanilla

or a surly LHT and then quit your job and ride around till your 80, then write a book about it and retire to a nudist colony with lots of cash

ellsworth truth

or pinarello track

I have to admit. This picture is making my blood burn a little bit

Holy-jumping-bejesus-f*** !!!
That's sexy!

How did you quit? Im going to be trying in about 2 months(after the stress of school fades into the ease of summer break) and am looking for suggestions.

Funny thing is that after years of attempting to quit and trying the patch and the gum and tapering and everything short voodoo chants. I just stopped one day. I ran out of smokes and just refused to go buy more. I had also just gotten over a nasty case of bronchitis too. I did stay away from the bars for awhile and also avoided friends that smoke which in effect meant that I didn't really see any of my friends for a couple months.

Cinelli: are they decent frames?

Mine is very decent. It is an "Omnium" design meaning it is suitable for various Track disciplines. Not as good as an event specific frame design but "good enough" for all the events in a Velodrome environment. What I think it translates to is that it is "perfect" for riding brake-less on the street. Quick handling and Oh! so pretty in the chrome accents. Not as high priced as other true track bikes but still more expensive than some of the braked fixed gear brethren out there. Surly,Bianchi Pista, De Bernardi, et: all. Nothing wrong with any of those bikes, just using them as an example of the "Dual Purpose" fixed/brakes issue on a lot of the lower priced fixed gear bikes out there. There are probably really no "bad" fixed gear bikes out there if they come from major makers, just different price/finish levels.IMHO



Fixedgearhead

I'm debating whether track geometry is actually good for riding around town. Last time I looked, the city wasnt a velodrome, so maybe there's a geometry out there for urban fixies that isn't just a track bike?

Just thought I'd put that thought out there :)

Before I went and sold it, my Basso track bike was amazing on the street.

MKRG,
you should seriously talk to my friend eric baar at groundup designs and get something custom. he would make you anything: track, cross, road, mountain, criterium... he has done it all. he charges 1300 for a custom track frame and fork. that would include it being powdercoated at spectrum, which is the best place in the state for powdercoating. they specialize in bikes. he's going to be doing a production run of some single speed 29"ers soon. since they'll be production they should be cheaper. like maybe 7ish for the frame only. he mostly does fillet brazed steel, but he can do titanium. he is a fantastic tig welder, but his brazes are utterly gorgeous. he actually has some aeromat tubing right now. i don't think they make that stuff anymore, but it is unbelieveably light and strong. it's like 68 rockwell. hard stuff. break the teeth off of a carbide steel hacksaw blade hard. i think the walls are .030" thick... very thin. he just made scott, xcutterx, a lugged track fork for his gios. it is stunning. anyways, checkout his site or give him a call. tell him chris referred you.

719.633.8904
www.groundupdesigns.com
(his site needs updating in the worst way though)

Cannondale makes a sweet s/s mtb, headshok, discs(I think) and a cool bareframe called the 1fg. Kona also has a nice s/s mtb out for this year.

Here's a great deal! ;)

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=47749

Well the problem is that I don't actually have the money. I just want to start looking so that when I do get the money (months at the very least) I'll know what I want. I may get lucky and find another great old frame to rescue for $10...who knows?

Has anyone had any experience with Circle @ Cycles? I sure enjoyed browsing their web site. I love pedalin, coastin, and even brakin, but I hate shiftin.

I plan on getting a cinelli for city use, but i'm a little unsure of the size. i ride, more or less, a 55cm road frame, but am not sure of sizing on cinelli. any help would be appreciated. Fixedgearhead, you ride a cinelli, what size? is it bigger, small er, or same as what you would ride in road bike?

thanks ,

tomb

I plan on getting a cinelli for city use, but i'm a little unsure of the size. i ride, more or less, a 55cm road frame, but am not sure of sizing on cinelli. any help would be appreciated. Fixedgearhead, you ride a cinelli, what size? is it bigger, small er, or same as what you would ride in road bike?

thanks ,

tomb

I ride a Cinelli Supercorsa that is a road frame that I converted to fixed. It is 55cm. Also, I ride a Cinelli Olympic track that is 55 cm.
The only difference is that the BB is higher and that makes the overall height a little higher on the Track frame. The fork rake is also steeper so that makes it handle a bit quicker. They are made out of different tubing so the ride quality would be different anyway. That said, Italian road frames are rather quick handling as a rule. I find that the way I sit on the bike is exactly the same. Same stem length, almost the same seat height extension, Ect. There is a couple of mm difference in the seat height on the road frame, but that is not enough to warrant a size change in my opinion. I would not change the size of one at all. So, I would say that if you know what size road frame you like then buy that size. If you were going to ride it on a velodrome then you might go down one size as that seems to be the preference. Smaller size on the boards. For the street, same size.
Hope this helps.


fixedgearhead

thylacine, there are two fixies out one from condor http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/scarlett10.htm (http://) and then one from On One http://www.on-one.co.uk/products/ilpompino.shtml that i think are more geared for the street and urban usage

You're goink to BUY a bike Thylacine? ;)

for more money i'd probably get a 7cycles ti geared roadie
for 2k probably built up habanero