Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - My son's custom single speed got stolen - looking for 'decent' servicable replacment

Can't buy used around here - there is none.
No craigslist within 100 miles or so.

Looking to buy from my small LBS - as I try to give them business.

They only have certain things they can get.

This is one of them. Looks ok - wanted to run it by you guys and see what might be good/bad.

I know the bike is kinda heavy - so leave that off the critique.

When you are giving opinions - when I say we ride - we ride. I've been doing over 70 miles a week - or more with him on a single. He commutes 10 miles a day to school, and he is carless by choice, as am I.

I figured I could get something like this till we could afford a decent replacement and sell this for most of what I paid for it.

TIA for thoughts on bike. We ride single mainly - only do fixed once in a bluemoon.


Sorry - here is the bike
http://www.sebikes.com/draft.php

They only have certain things they can get.

This is one of them. Looks ok - wanted to run it by you guys and see what might be good/bad.


I don't see anything. ?

Where da BIKE?

Bueller?

Sorry

here it is

He likes the white one.

http://www.sebikes.com/draft.php

If you're limiting yourself to what your LBS carries then asking us for advice won't do much. Since you don't have a choice of what to buy.

Having said that, the SE Draft should be a good solid bike to ride every day. Heavy, but you already know that.

Well, I could spend more and get another custom job for like $450 with origin 8 stuff.

I could get a Surly Steamroller frame and have them build it up.

I'm just wondering if this is a good bike or not - if not I'll keep saving. Thanks for thoughts.


If you're limiting yourself to what your LBS carries then asking us for advice won't do much. Since you don't have a choice of what to buy.

Having said that, the SE Draft should be a good solid bike to ride every day. Heavy, but you already know that.

i say keep saving.

can't your bike shop order some different bikes to give you some options?

Since your LBS is an SE dealer see if they can order you a Lager or Draft Light. Neither of the above are top quality but the fatigue life on some of the components should be quite a bit better. The cranks, hubs, & seat post on the Draft look really shoddy & it would suck to have to walk the bike 10 miles home after bending a chainring.

What other brands does your LBS stock? Most major bike manufactures have affordable single speed options.

If they only carry SE stuff for SS/FG I'd second the notion about the lager. The frame is a little nicer (straight gauge 4130 vs hi-ten), and the components are a little nicer. Formula Hubs/Alex rims, FSA crankset, Tektro Brakes. Nothing high end but at least name brand parts that should last for a while. I bought one for my first FG and it's was a good bike. Never had any problems with it and it rode very nice.

I don't know what the going rate is at your LBS for these bikes so the price difference may not be worth it I dunno. I know the one near me where I bought mine sells the 2010/11 for 300/350 respectively which is pretty good imo compared to what you find online.

If you are in a high-crime/theft area, build up an ugly/fast bike that will keep the thief's eyes wandering. Saw my friend's $100 bike with a "nice" gold rattle can job on the wheels get jacked (I caught the guy and detained him until the police arrived) right next to my nice, but sticker covered and slightly dirty bike with an ugly rack. The thief also left behind a $2500 mtb that he had stolen from a local racer... didn't have a clue what he was riding, probably thought it was just a 100 dollar wal-mart mountain bike. No use dumping money into a flashy bike that will just end up in the hands of a crackhead... Or, just get the SE and teach your son to lock up properly.

i know you want to support the local bike store, but there are some quality but affordable bikes at bikesdirect.com.....ie the kilos, timeline, etc.

You could always order items online and asked your LBS to put it together for you. You'd be supporting them by paying for labor. Don't limit yourself to what's out there. If you go that route I'm sure a lot more people will post more useful suggestions.

If you are in a high-crime/theft area, build up an ugly/fast bike that will keep the thief's eyes wandering. Saw my friend's $100 bike with a "nice" gold rattle can job on the wheels get jacked (I caught the guy and detained him until the police arrived) right next to my nice, but sticker covered and slightly dirty bike with an ugly rack. The thief also left behind a $2500 mtb that he had stolen from a local racer... didn't have a clue what he was riding, probably thought it was just a 100 dollar wal-mart mountain bike. No use dumping money into a flashy bike that will just end up in the hands of a crackhead... Or, just get the SE and teach your son to lock up properly.

there was a thread not too long ago about stealing bikes and "detaining" + its legality. did you physically hold him? details please

and yeah, supporting your lbs is great and all, but it simply isn't worth it if they have barely any choices, the choices themselves aren't great, and the markup is huge (which is usually is). bikesdirect or even ebay (where i got my complete fuji track pro off of) would both work.

there was a thread not too long ago about stealing bikes and "detaining" + its legality. did you physically hold him? details please




After he nabbed, the bike, he tried to ride off... but had never ridden a fixed gear, and crashed. I was already outside of the bar and dragged him by the hood of his jacket (which I tore off), then by his belt to the entryway of a closed office and pinned him down with my knee on his neck/upper back while we waited for police. I had about 40-50 lbs on him and didn't have any issues keeping him detained, I also didn't throw in any cheap shots (really wanted to), just handed him over to the police, who recognized him and said "Are you stealing bikes again?" the second they saw him. We were laughing with the cops when I showed them what he rode in on and what he stole to replace it. The guy got a couple months in the pen.

A friend of mine has an older SE Draft, she really likes it, but she took all the stickers off because she didn't like that her bike was 'beer themed.'