Critical Jeff

Hours for RVA, represent!

td.tony

i got the windsor hour. my friend got the kilo tt. he's more of the "fixie hipster" type of guy, and im more of a road biker guy, i love long scenic rides. The bikes are somewhat similar. The kilo frame is more track like and i hate the toe overlap but i could probably live with it if i got it. the hours geometry isnt as aggressive.

just take a look yourself, if this helps.





the kilo's frame looks cooler and more flashy in my opinion but other than that, they are both entry level bikes and you would want to end up changing all the parts anyways, so just make ur decision based on frame geometry.

on my hour i just changed the stem to a 90mm +17 degree stem, got a 18t freewheel on the other side of the stock 15t, front brake, and have a new saddle on the way and will be ordering clipless pedals soon.

K_phomma

The windsor is a road geo
Kilo is a track geo

jaywhy

its a waste of money if your going to keep on upgrading stuff
thats what i told myself before i sold mine

5h0m3d4m0n3y

I had a Windsor Hour as my first bike and I definitely wasn't disappointed. But had I the chance to dish out an extra $50 for a Kilo, I'll do it in a heart beat. Windsor Hour just felt fragile to me, and I wasn't crazy about the crank either.

stryper

my roommate got the hour as his first fixed gear bike 7 months ago. He is 6'3", 165 lb and got a 61cm frame. His complaints were:

• the pedals, which he replaced the next day.
• He chopped the drops to some bullhorns, not cause they were bad, but that's what he liked riding.
• The wheels bent relatively easy from pretty aggressive riding (went through a new gator skin tire in 2 weeks and a soma everwear in a month). He replaced them after about 2 or 3 months with some Weinmann dp18's, which run much better.
• And he ended up bending the cranks somehow, I think they were just cheap. He still rides them though and they work to a functional degree until he can upgrade sometime in the next month or 2.

I have ridden the bike a few times, and baring the fact that I am only 5'8" and can't really reach the bottom of the pedal rotation while sitting on his seat, I found the bike to ride very smooth and comfortably. Much better than my 1980's miyata conversion. The bike only weighs 20.5 lb. Frame is durable as can be. And the original paint job is quality.

iansmash

the crankset that comes on the hour is not really that bad, throwing it out there...my biggest complaint was the bars/stem/seatpost/seat are all scrap bin bull**** parts


wheels are a little janky but weren't TERRIBLE


fact of the matter is though, you'll replace all those things on either bike.

daredevil

That's a nice looking bike IMO.

mihlbach

Most people on this forum (mis)judge the handling of a bike by how "steep" and "tight" it looks, but looks can be decieving.

Assuming the provided geometry charts for these bikes are correct, the Hour and Kilo TT frames have very similar geometry. See for yourself. The headtube angle of the Kilo TT ranges from 72-73.5 degrees. Thats hardly "track". The larger sizes of the Hour have a 75 degree HT angle, so if steep headtube angles are "track geo", the largest Hour frames are the most "track geo".

https://www.cyclesmercier.com/geometry_tt.html

https://www.windsorbicycles.com/track.htm

The fork rake (offset) for the Hour is not provided, so its hard to judge exactly how this bikes handles. However the Kilo TT fork has 40mm of rake for all but the smallest size. Thats not much rake for a road-like geometry frame, and I suspect they did it to make the bike look tighter. But this combo of frame and fork is actually going to result in more trail than is typical for either a road bike or a track bike, thus giving the Kilo TT more sluggish handling than even most road bikes. LOL. Track-bike indeed.

FlippyEh

Personally, I'd get the Hour over the KiloTT. I've noticed that kilos have hella toe lap, and as far as parts, you'll probably replace most of them on either bike anyway.

postprimepedal 

I love my Windsor but: I tossed the junk pedals after a week. Also immediately replaced the junk cog and handlebars and stem (I wanted bull horn bars). Replaced the seat after two weeks. Lived with the creaking headset as long as I could stand it - close to a year. Ditto the junk wheels. After a couple of years I decided, what the heck, and replaced the bottom bracket, crank set and front forks (with carbon.) So, I love my Windsor, but all that's left of the original is the frame and seat post.

foofmaster

I recently purchased 'The Hour.' It wasn't my first choice...the kilo was. I know someone who has one, and he likes it alot. BUT, BD was out of the kilo's when I had the cash so I decided to go with the windsor. Overall, I like it alot. The matte gray is a great looking color too! Although the paint overall blows...in the little over a month now that ive had the bike there are already a bunch of chips and scratches. I kinda beat it up tho, so it could just be that 48/15 gets pretty exhausting after a while, especially goin uphill. I swapped the cog for a 17t and its all buttah now!! The stock bars are pretty wide and awkward, but narrow bullhorns feel super good!! Just make sure you keep all your **** TIGHT. 2 of the stock chainbolts broke on me...replaced them all with some suginos. The stock seat sucks too...as do the pedals, I need to get some new ones ASAP! oh and...im 6', 180, size 12's...0 toe overlap w/ the 56cm, its good..but if they made a 57cm It would fit like a glove!

BD gets I had no issues with them.