Wayne B

Hi, first post. I've been bicycling for years, but I'm new to all the technical details and such. Please be gentle.

I'm not quite sure how to ask this, because I don't know the right terminology.

I want one of those bikes that look like fixies, but I want one that has a freewheel and gears. I think what I'm looking for is called a track bike, but when I search for "track bike" I only get fixed geared track bikes. I know the bike I'm describing exists because I saw some guy with one once.

Maybe if I describe what I want in a bike one of you might be able to help me.

Here's what I want from this bike:
-I want it to be super lightweight, but not super expensive
-I want it to have 700c wheels because I want it to have very little resistance/friction from contact with the road
-I want to ride to and from work 13 miles round trip over residential and city streets with some hills along the way only on days with fair weather
-I want it to be able to carry items because I want to run errands to the grocery store, bank, etc.
-I want to ride for recreation

Thanks for any help

Dahon.Steve

I'm getting the picture of a fixed gear bicycle made into a three or eight speed with an internal hub. I think there is a manufacturer who makes a drop bar eight speed hub bike, but I'm not so sure about a three speed.

Wayne B

Thanks for the reply, Steve

The bike I saw that guy riding had regular gears, not an internal hub. That's the only way I could tell he had gears. I don't think would have been able to tell if he had multiple gears if he had an internal gear hub. He was moving at the time I saw his bike.

CaptainCool

You're describing a road bike. What parts of road bikes do you dislike?

Jeff Wills

A track bike has a single gear, usually "fixed", i.e. coasting is not possible. A bike with multiple gears, by definition, is not a a track bike, because track bikes are not allowed to have multiple gears.

What you are describing might be called a "road" bike, but my Gold Rush recumbent also fits your requirements:
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/jeff-grr/index.htm . There are many different bikes that would suit your needs.

Wayne B

I have a Murray Eliminator 10 Speed road bike. I think it's from the 1970's.

Mainly I want a lighter bike with skinnier tires. My bike has 26 X 1 3/8 tires.

Also I find that I don't need all 10 gears. I usually only use 2 or 3.

Wayne B

I guess what I want is a road bike with multiple gears that uses a track bike frame and 700c wheels. Is something like that possible?

pacificaslim

Sure. Basically all road bikes use 700c wheels. And you can get a road bike frame that has track frame geometry but a rear derailleur hanger, or you can use an actual track frame and use an adapter piece to hold the rear derailleur. But why are you convinced you want/need a "track" frame instead of "road" frame in the first place?

Maybe you can spend some time on https://velospace.org/node looking at pictures of bikes and that will help you zero in on what you are looking for.

BTW, if you want to carry stuff on the bike, are you going to just use a backpack/messenger-bag or do you want to actually attach stuff to the bike? If so, you're getting even further away from track bike.

Wayne B

My road bike doesn't use 700c wheels. It uses 26 X 1 3/8 wheels.
I'm only interested in track/fixie frames because I was under the impression that they are lighter than road bike frames.

Doug5150

If a track frame is lighter, it's usually because it is custom-built for a lighter-weight rider, and also isn't built to take the pounding of poor roads it would get in real-world use.

The more "traditional" looking frames use small-diameter steel tubes, if that helps your search.

If you really want an old-looking bike but don't want the hassle of buying vintage, there is the Eastman India roadsters from Yellowjersey: https://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML ....but..... be warned that these bikes aren't light and use odd (vintage) parts sizes. You also may have practical problems if you wish to do things like update from the rod brakes, the stem/handlebars or the wheels (rims). I would think that you could switch to different rims and spread the back end of the frame for an 8-speed hub; you *might* be able to switch to using roller-brake hubs but you'd want to inquire about that before buying.... But hey, if you want vintage-looking-but-new, it is out there and the delivery guy can drop a piece of it on your doorstep.
~

JanMM

Have you looked at bikes in a decent bike shop recently? Compared to your '70's "ten speed racing bike", you would find no lack of lighter bikes in multiple styles. Forget track bikes but don't limit yourself to road bikes.

DieselDan

I hate to post this, bikesdirect.com, has a 5-speed internal hub road bike.

KevinF

Couple things here... The weight of the frame is pretty small compared to the weight of the overall bike. i.e., once you're finished adding on gears, brakes, saddle, handlebars, etc, the weight is going from three or four pounds up to around 20. In turn, the weight of the whole bike is pretty minimal compared to the weight of what it's carrying -- i.e., you. So don't get too concerned about a pound here and a pound there. Unless you're racing, you'll never notice the difference.

As for track / fixie frames. A "real" track / fixie frame is very different then a road-bike frame in three areas:
1) All "real" track frames, and most fixie frames have 120mm of space that the rear wheel needs to slide into. All modern road bike rear wheels (i.e., wheels with gears) are 130mm wide. i.e., geared rear wheels simply don't fit into track bike frames.

2) Real track and most fixie frames don't have any attachment points for rear derailleurs. i.e., even if you could get a geared rear wheel to fit, there's no way to attach a shifting mechanism to the frame.

3) Real track and most fixie frames are fairly "twitchy". i.e., they're designed to be extremely agile, something's that useful if you're navigating crowded city streets (i.e., a car cuts you off, you can easily go around it). Or if you're racing on a track, agility makes it easy to get around your opponent, etc. That agility isn't necessarily a good thing if you're just out riding though.

AndrewP

You dont want an expensive bike so I think this would suit you. https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...iragesport.htm You could carry cash from the bank, but not groceries. This one would allow you to attach a rack at the back for your groceries https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/lt1200.htm Prices are good but you should first talk to a bike shop about assembling and adjusting it for you, which might cost $50- $70.

Wayne B

I'm considering an internal gear hub with coaster brake for this bike now after suggestions from others on this thread. Thanks

CNY James

or this, which is super cool IMO...
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...8&menuItemId=0

Loose Chain

Your current "road bike" is a POS to be frank, a toy store bike. A tank would be lighter than that junker.

Whoever told you that a track bike frame was lighter than an equal quality road frame is wrong.

You suffer from a lack of knowledge, before spending money on a new bike please learn something about them.

Wayne B

This is why I am here asking questions... to learn something about them. And to be frank it's POS bike snobs like you at bike shops and forums like these that keep so many people from returning. Simply asking questions about bicycling seems to set you bike snobs off.

CNY James

if you get crap like that from the people at the bike shop, find a new bike shop. I had the same experience when I was getting into cycling, this place was downright rude to me for wanting a budget minded bike to get started on. I left, went to another shop, and was treated extremely well.

CNY James

why did you think he is here? No need to be an a-hole about it...

trinamuous

I commute on this:



It's an '86 model steel frame. Road race geometry with slightly longer chainstays which allows heel clearance room for the rack and panniers. Don't worry about weight so much for commuting. By the time you add a rack and all the stuff you drag to work, it doesn't really matter. Vintage may have more of the look you're going for and can be had for a good price.