Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Going now to go check out my first bike I found on CL, is this a deal?

http://gainesville.craigslist.org/bik/2504254689.html

Sorry, I know this may or may not be a single speed, but I don't have anyone who has experience with bikes with me to look at it, and was wondering if I could get some advice on what to ask, or if this is a good price!

Thank so much!

That is not a single speed.

Welcome to the world of bikes!

thats a geared bike

Look over the frame for any sort of blemishes or cracks. That's usually the first thing on my list.
What do you plan on doing w/ the bike? Do you want a single speed?
It's a good lookin trek! However, the owner didn't post up much information on it. Just ask him for some history on the bicycle, I"m sure he'd be more than willing considering he IS selling a product.

I guess there is no real reason I would want or need many gears. I am going for something more simple since it will be used to move around town and campus. would it be possible/expensive to convert it to a single speed? or a waste of money?

Its simpler to ride a bike as is than to take it all apart and rebuild it. Especially since you arent too knowledgable yet.

Treks are not really good candidates for FG/SS conversion as they have short horizontal dropouts. Not to mention, I think that's a trek with vertical dropouts which just complicates a conversion that much more.

Its impossible to say one brand is bad for conversions. Both of my Treks would make for fine conversion. That perticular bike, I cant see the drop outs if you can alright. But to say Treks are bad doesnt work.

That's a cool bike, if you get it, just leave the gears on it. Also, $275 is a little high for an asking price, I'd offer $200 and pay no more than $225 or so.

If you want a fixed gear or singlespeed check out bikesdirect.com and either way head over to http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ to do some reading about bikes.

Its impossible to say one brand is bad for conversions. Both of my Treks would make for fine conversion. That perticular bike, I cant see the drop outs if you can alright. But to say Treks are bad doesnt work.

I didn't say and I don't mean that they were outright bad, and that you should toss out your trek. I just said they have shorter horizontal dropouts which could result in some difficulty depending on your technical skill level.
~~~Anyhow that particular trek does seem to have vertical dropouts if I remember correctly; 90% positive. Let's just say I know there's also blue colorway for that bike and that it's made out of 6061 and if I'm correct it comes with shimano 105.

I didn't say and I don't mean that they were outright bad, and that you should toss out your trek. I just said they have shorter horizontal dropouts which could result in some difficulty depending on your technical skill level.
~~~Anyhow that particular trek does seem to have vertical dropouts if I remember correctly; 90% positive. Let's just say I know there's also blue colorway for that bike and that it's made out of 6061 and if I'm correct it comes with shimano 105.

You could be thinking of the 1200, that was blue with yellow lettering, 105 components and biopace chainrings.

You could be thinking of the 1200, that was blue with yellow lettering, 105 components and biopace chainrings.

White lettering.

Nevertheless, I have a big hunch that the ends are vertical on that bike.

They definitely are on the 1200, and I'd be willing to bet that they are on that bike as well. The fact that that bike probably comes with pretty solid components that are probably in working order makes me think it's not a good candidate for a conversion.

They definitely are on the 1200, and I'd be willing to bet that they are on that bike as well. The fact that that bike probably comes with pretty solid components that are probably in working order makes me think it's not a good candidate for a conversion.

My thoughts exactly; ride it as it is.

You should offer him 7000.

Thanks for all the great advice guys, I offered him 7000 and he settled.

Not really... but I have decided I will keep looking for a solid vintage SS.

Special thanks to TheBikeRollsOn, http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ has turned out to be a great resource, I look forward to learning more!

No problem, also check out the Start Here sticky http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/510358-Fixed-Gear-Single-Speed-Start-Here!

Should help you on info specific to SS/FG.