Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Daughter in college wants used fixed gear? cost,suggestion?

Ok, newbie here..

My daughter, who is 5'5" in height, wants fixed gear to ride around campus.....

Park on porch of her house, locked, so don't want to spend alot of $$.

Max: $200.00

What can i expect to look for find in this range?

thanks

Maybe a nashbar hounder. Other than that, really nothing. Thats just not a realistic price range for a fixed gear.

maybe a craigslist buy on a conversion.

he said used. Sometimes you'll find decent used stuff in that range on craigslist. Not sure about what size you'd want.

Perfect, here. (http://www.walmart.com/ip/700C-Men-s-Mongoose-Cachet-Fixed-Speed-Bike/13398142)

http://www.roadbikeoutlet.com/single-speed-fixed-gear-fixie-bicyles.html

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=1&_trkparms=65%253A15%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1&rt=nc&_nkw=fixed+gear&_sc=1&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=12&_sc=1

And this site seems a bit seedy, but
http://www.bikebuyers.com/fixiebikes.htm?gclid=CI-t3v3E26cCFSU6gwoduncyIA


That's just a couple I could find, I'm not sure about the quality,I think I have heard decent things about Dawes though.

I'm sure there are a few out there, but they can be hard to find!
I wish you the best of luck finding a bike for your daughter!

Bikebuyers is the new bikesdirect.

Touting "no tricks."

Perfect, here. (http://www.walmart.com/ip/700C-Men-s-Mongoose-Cachet-Fixed-Speed-Bike/13398142)

+1
No heartbreak when stolen.

get her a kilo tt or a windsor hour or wait for a fuji track to go on sale at performance all are a little out of your price range but well worth it

300~350 is really the lowest you can safely go for a beginner prebuilt bike

unless you want to try an find an old road bike for conversion and are handy with bikes if so you can easily build a 200 conversion that is well worth it

I'd say have her search around craigslist or other sites until she finds one that she thing looks good, will fit, and within the price range. Hopefully that will make her appreciate it more since she will be looking herself.

Thats what I did when I wanted a bike for college; and it has made me take care of it a lot more than I probably would have if my parents simply bought one.

^ Decent advice

Craigslist reminds me of a great wino who used to live outside my apartment building years ago in Cleveland; his favorite phrase was, 'Hey, any garbage can come up with a chicken' That's equally true of Craigslist, I'd been pondering around about getting into biking again, saw a Specialized Langster on C/L for $200 and had it in the garage in two hours. Just an excellent bike, love it, and the kid had papers on it too. It's a real crapshoot, but there's some lucky finds out there. Good Luck

Just don't send her alone to look at stuff on craigslist...i know common sense but just throwing it out there

Does the campus have a bike co-op? Mine does, and they have a program where the teach you how to build your own bike. You show up with a frame (or more complete bike), pay them $50, then they teach you how everything works at weekly classes and let you dig through the used parts bins, as well as giving you a discount on new stuff. You end up with a bike and the skills to maintain it yourself. Lots of people do cheap singlespeed and fixed conversions.

No idea if this is a common program at bike co-ops, or unique, but it'd be worth looking into.

Balefire - My campus co-op is like that, too!

I agree that a campus co-op would be a cool experience for her. At my campus co-op, you pick out a frame, and that includes a one year membership to the co-op. You can then fix up the bike or have volunteers show you how to fix things up. I see a lot of single speeds coming out of the co-op but not so many fixed gears, since a fixed gear conversion usually requires a new wheelset.

If she has a campus co-op or a local co-op in general, she can easily buy a fixed wheelset and a bike from the co-op and get a conversion built for under $200. Plus, she'll learn the ins and outs of her bike, too.

Has she ever ridden a fixed gear bike? If not, she may want to start with a flip-flop rear hub. That is a rear wheel that is fixed on one side like a track bike and a single speed on the other that will coast. So you can turn the wheel over and use whichever you want. I have a bike with one and switch back and forth depending on what I'm doing. At least she would have a choice if she doesn't like the fixed gear.

With all the people building fixed gear bikes to sell, make sure the one you get has sufficient adjustment to tension the chain properly. If you are unsure what you are looking for, I suggest going to your local bike shop and talking it over with them.

I just bought a fixie of CL and put an ad up that said "Cheap Fixed Gear Wanted" put that that you want to spend around 200 and see if you get offers, I ended up finding a 2001 Bianchi Pista for 180.

I just bought a fixie of CL and put an ad up that said "Cheap Fixed Gear Wanted" put that that you want to spend around 200 and see if you get offers, I ended up finding a 2001 Bianchi Pista for 180.
at that price it might be a stolen bike

she'll be too busy making "music" with skinny hipster boys to bike around that much. just get her a mongoose cache.

i bought my brother one of those 150 dollar steel dawes fixies. i was impressed. 4130, set of weinmanns laced to formulas, even included the formula cog and lockring. altogether i was more than happy.

she'll be too busy making "music" with skinny hipster boys to bike around that much.


this.

she'll be too busy making "music" with skinny hipster boys to bike around that much. just get her a mongoose cache.

lol

she'll be too busy making "music" with skinny hipster boys to bike around that much. just get her a mongoose cache.
I think everyone can agree that cc wins the thread. :lol:

haha some girl brought a conversion into the shop. bb was siezed, fork was bent, and the headtube was so ovalized the headset cups fell out when the fork was taken out. great way to spend $150

and just so this doesn't sound sexist, a guy brought in a bike he got of CL for $175, and the seat tube was split down to the bottom bracket

There is a dawes on ebay for about $200. The seller is the wife of the owner of bikesdirect. Also crosslakesales (also on ebay) has a fg/ss they sell for around the same price. Don't think you'll fine much better for the price anywhere else.

Nashbar has a single speed Schwinn on sale for $145. If your daughter wants a fixed gear instead and the hub isn't a flip-flop, a new one is around $15.

Cmon we all know hipster girls don't actually ride their fixies but push them around and pose on them for pictures.

cheap and old so it doesn't get stolen. kids want "single speed" bike cuz they are trendy and desirable and it's the "in" thing now. in Cambridge Mass they are converting old Schwinn 10-speeds with drop bars and hooking them up with straight bars and getting rid of the gears and derailers, etc.

Target now carries such a bike brand new! I saw one there the other day. (but I think it has drop bars)

Target now carries such a bike brand new! I saw one there the other day. (but I think it has drop bars)

they have one with bullhorns and tri brake levers, uber trendy.

yeah, I saw that bike on their web site while searching for what I had seen in the store. weird how i couldn't find what I saw in the store on their web site.

Cmon we all know hipster girls don't actually own/ride fixies but push around other people's fixies and pose on them for pictures.
ftfy

again newbie.....
I woud GUESS my daughter would want a bike that could "coast" .....so is that a FG or Singlespeed...?
Sorry, yes i have not done all my home work, but I'M WORKING ALL THE TIME TO PAY THESE GIGANTIC COLLEGE TUITIONS!!!"

Thanks for all the replies...awesome forum....

btw: I work for Veterans Affairs...pray for our soldiers in harms way, regardless of our politics....//thanks

you ought to find out for sure whether your kid actually wants fixed (or not). then since you appear helpless, learn if she can or has any friends who can help her build the bike if you buy thru mail order or a used for conversion.
if not...buy her something is ready to ride!

coasting would imply single speed. they have what's known as a free hub that allows coasting (and usually come with a brake or two) whereas fixed gear bikes you can't coast and often don't have brakes because just slowing your pedaling forces them to stop. many bikes that are bought as ss/fixed have what's known as a flip flop hub where if they're on one side they're ridden as single speed, but if you flip the rear wheel over, they're fixed gear. Sorry for all the dufuses on this thread casting aspersions on your daughter. what can I say, we're a lot of juveniles.

coaster brake ftw dude simple cheap fun and unique

again newbie.....
I woud GUESS my daughter would want a bike that could "coast" .....so is that a FG or Singlespeed...?
Sorry, yes i have not done all my home work, but I'M WORKING ALL THE TIME TO PAY THESE GIGANTIC COLLEGE TUITIONS!!!"

Thanks for all the replies...awesome forum....

btw: I work for Veterans Affairs...pray for our soldiers in harms way, regardless of our politics....//thanks

at first i was like :D

but then i was like :notamused:

and then i was like :mad:

and after that i was like :50:

Surely this is either a troll, or someone who is totally clueless as to faux paux on internet forums.

Think of it this way: a bike, when actually used to its full potential, is the most affordable form of transportation available. unless she's going to pay her bus fair with a job she hasn't told you about for some reason, you will be stretching your dollars further by getting her a bike that she can use to get around. i guess bumming rides from friends is technically cheaper, but that's not really a form of transportation. and it means you have to make and keep friends.

as for our soldiers, (and this is the faux paux) i have tons of respect for them. i hope they all make it home safe. but bringing that up here (especially with language like 'pray' and 'regardless of politics') is like me telling you the statistics for acquaintance r*pe at american universities. it's not really relevant and it's next to insensitive if you go by stereotypes of the addressed demographic.

we're a bunch of cyclists, don't tell us what to do with our spiritual energies. good on you for helping veterans. they need all the help they can get after our system chews them up and spits them out...

i was worried my last reply would have been regarded as sexist... because it was... but after this reply i'm just like :innocent:

take the money you are going to save on gas driving your daughter to soccer practice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqv8UJc72SU) and buy her a nice bike she'll actually ride use and keep for a while. Swobo Dixon. (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/BI270F01-Swobo+Dixon+9+Speed+Bike.aspx?sc=FRGL) all the style of a singlespeed but a total beast and 9 speeds.

or give her money so she can get her own bike. bikes are like underwear. you don't love it unless you pick it out yourself and it's not something you want your dad to pick out for you.:eek:

[intercom]Charlie please report to the office[\intercom]

Aw cc, don't be mean. It looks like he just doesn't use the internet very much.

To the dad, just get a cheap singlespeed not a fixed gear bike. Spend some time on Google. Maybe even go a LBS (local bike shop) if you're feeling up for it.

I think cc's post was more offensive than the OP's one liner about our soldiers. Give the OP a break. I volunteer at the local co-op and almost every time I'm there, someone walks in who is much more clueless than the OP.

You should just tell your daughter that her budget is $200 and she should do her own research. She'll appreciate the bike more that way (ideally).

Don't forget that you should also invest in a good lock. College campuses are theft gold mines for nice looking bikes.

at first i was like :D

but then i was like :notamused:

and then i was like :mad:

and after that i was like :50:

Surely this is either a troll, or someone who is totally clueless as to faux paux on internet forums.

Think of it this way: a bike, when actually used to its full potential, is the most affordable form of transportation available. unless she's going to pay her bus fair with a job she hasn't told you about for some reason, you will be stretching your dollars further by getting her a bike that she can use to get around. i guess bumming rides from friends is technically cheaper, but that's not really a form of transportation. and it means you have to make and keep friends.

as for our soldiers, (and this is the faux paux) i have tons of respect for them. i hope they all make it home safe. but bringing that up here (especially with language like 'pray' and 'regardless of politics') is like me telling you the statistics for acquaintance r*pe at american universities. it's not really relevant and it's next to insensitive if you go by stereotypes of the addressed demographic.

we're a bunch of cyclists, don't tell us what to do with our spiritual energies. good on you for helping veterans. they need all the help they can get after our system chews them up and spits them out...

i was worried my last reply would have been regarded as sexist... because it was... but after this reply i'm just like :innocent:

take the money you are going to save on gas driving your daughter to soccer practice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqv8UJc72SU) and buy her a nice bike she'll actually ride use and keep for a while. Swobo Dixon. (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/BI270F01-Swobo+Dixon+9+Speed+Bike.aspx?sc=FRGL) all the style of a singlespeed but a total beast and 9 speeds.

or give her money so she can get her own bike. bikes are like underwear. you don't love it unless you pick it out yourself and it's not something you want your dad to pick out for you.:eek:

uh oh someone got their little feelings hurt :.(

i'm not sure what all the offense is over, OP asking to pray for soldiers? I wish i had so little to do that I could rant about someone asking others to pray.

and go to a bike shop and try bikes out, then buy a bike there. my girlfriend's sister was wanting a bike and thought she wanted a road bike or single speed. tried one out that was a little too big for standover (but not to big to ride) and when she stopped in the parking lot she slammed her vagina on the top tube and was complaining the rest of the day about how much it hurt. the bike that worked out best was a 7sp internally geared cruiser.

and if you can't afford a bike at a shop, then save up. or buy an old stumpjumper or gary fisher mountain bike off craiglist and spend $50 on a new set of slick tires.

emphasis on the 'i'm just like:innocent:"

and when she stopped in the parking lot she slammed her vagina on the top tube and was complaining the rest of the day about how much it hurt. the bike that worked out best was a 7sp internally geared cruiser.


Ouch, I had a friend who tried my bike while wearing ballet flats and short shorts, was so excited that she did not give me time to forewarn her that you cannot idle your feet; my mks's tasted human blood and flesh that day.

This thread just got better.

not really, 44 posts and no pictures of the girl?

watsup with that, playa?

(I'm not here to help, I'm just here to be inappropriate.)

EDIT:OP needs to troll harder like this guy.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/722369-Roadies-are-a-bunch-of-unathletic-idiots(NSFW thread)

...So this thread is virtually useless without photos.

Edit: Oh I didn't want to be that guy, but was. In my defense, it did take 2o posts.

Any time I here "slammed" and "vagina" in the same sentence, my eats perk up.

Regarding our soldiers...Sorry, did not mean to offend....
OR, please take 1min out of your busy day and see this awesome cyclist...."Can't keep 'em down man!"....

Hey, I'm ex-military man, no p####y, and can hang with the best of you....I just love my country, sorry to offend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC5mC_R3FeU

Nashbar has a single speed Schwinn on sale for $145. If your daughter wants a fixed gear instead and the hub isn't a flip-flop, a new one is around $15.

I built up a fixed gear for my daughter at college, fairly quickly she decided SS was better transportation around campus. A flipflop rear hub is a very good idea.

EDIT:OP needs to troll harder like this guy.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/722369-Roadies-are-a-bunch-of-unathletic-idiots(NSFW thread)
I can't sees it! It wants a password. :(


Any time I here "slammed" and "vagina" in the same sentence, my eats perk up.
It took me a second to realize that you meant "ears"; meanwhile, I was wondering why hearing those two words makes you hungry. :lol: