taxi777

Hey you guys, I'm an Old Fart from the NorCal forum and I bought a Langster for a fun bike. It turned into a really fun bike! I thought you might be interested in an old dudes perspective on a single speed. I had a really bad experience on a fixed gear awhile back... https://taxi777petesblog.blogspot.com...o-regrets.html I swore I'd never own one, but I bought this bike cause of it's theme (taxi) and am really happy I did!

Well I got my first solid ride in with my New York Taxi themed Langster. I am truly enjoying this bike! I did an out and back from downtown to the beach and back up through GG Park with a modest amount of climbing on some of the hills. My legs were still pretty shot from a weekend on Tam so I skipped the Legion of Honor climb.

The Langster come with the option for running in the fixed or freewheel mode. I’ll simplify the explanations’ for those who don’t have the gear head knowledge…Like me. The back wheel can be flipped or turned around so that one side is fixed (keep pedaling) and the other side is freewheel (backpedal/coast). I really like this option, especially on long rides or shooting down hills a plus 35 mph. I’m not at brave as some who like it in the pedal mode. My knees are in disagreement with that setting and I’m not comfortable with it in the city in that mode.

This bike has personality. I feel like the bike and I are very compatible. With a couple of small tweaks it has become the most comfortable bike I’ve ever owned. It is probably due to the compact geometry. My top end size is 60 cm, but this frame is a 61 and it feels perfect. I switched out the 110 mm stem for a shorter stem and flipped it (down). The bike comes with a very compact messenger bar. I switched it for bull horns. I’ve never used bull horns, but man Ramon was right, they are great for climbing! I feel like I’m on one of those goofy cross country ski machines at the gym. It’s giving me a well needed arm and shoulder workout. I have those Olive Oil stick arms and can’t seem to build muscle. I got home feeling like I had been working out on the Nautilus all day.

The no hands tracking on this machine is fantastic. Again probably due to the compact frame, and precise factory tube alignment. The ride is a little bit lively compared to my other bikes and she lets you know what kind of pavement you’re going over. The bars really absorb a lot of shock though. I tend to like peppy, nimble bikes and this is the perfect ride for me. I’m a big fan of aluminum…Call me crazy! I’m very relaxed and have a perfect balance of pressure on my butt and hands. No numbness (on any appendages) after 20 miles.

The 42X16 is a little tough on the city hills, but I’ll stick with. It will build up my strength. I have a naturally very high cadence (100 to 110) so the bike tops out on me at about 23 mph which is a nice pace line speed.

Specialized did a great job on the design and the paint is striking. I get a lot of looks from the local MILF’s! Nice! Bling and Pose factor is 10.
Seat feels great! I run all my bikes with Fizik Alliantes. The stock Specialized saddle is awesome and comparable to mine. Black and Yellow too.

I upgraded the brake levers to Cane Creek TT 200. Calipers are a little messy. The front tends to pick up grit for some reason. Hey…who needs brakes, they only slow you down anyway.

I love this bike, although the London, Vegas were stunning…but New York, with taxi theme? Fugetaboudit!
My goal next year is to ride it for the Davis double, unless I get to stoke a tandem with somebody… (anybody? Hello? )Also to do the Aids ride to L.A. Seriously!

• Specialized A1 Premium Aluminum frame, fully manipulated tubing, compact design, integrated headset
• Specialized carbon fork, carbon fiber legs, aluminum steerer
• Specialized A1 Premium Aluminum flat bar, 400mm width
• Specialized Sport stem, 3D forged alloy stem and Specialized Comp, 6061 alloy
• Avid FR-5 brake levers
• Shimano 16t freewheel plus 16t fixed gear cog
• 42T CNC Zen Messenger chainring
FRAME Specialized A1 Premium Aluminum, fully manipulated tubing, compact design, integrated headset

REAR SHOCK N/A

FORK Specialized carbon fork, carbon fiber legs, aluminum steerer

HEADSET Specialized Mindset, 1 1/8" integrated threadless, sealed bearings, alloy 20mm cone w/ one 10mm and two 5mm alloy spacers

STEM Specialized Sport, 3D forged alloy, 31.8mm split clamp, 7 degree

HANDLEBARS

TAPE/GRIPS Body Geometry Bar Phat, cork ribbon w/ 2.5mm gel padding

FRONT BRAKE Dual pivot, forged alloy w/ cartridge multi-condition pads

REAR BRAKE Dual pivot, forged alloy w/ cartridge multi-condition pads

BRAKE LEVERS Tektro short reach for drop bars

FRONT DERAILLEUR N/A

REAR DERAILLEUR N/A

SHIFT LEVERS N/A

CASSETTE FREEWHEEL Shimano 16t freewheel plus 16t fixed gear cog

CHAIN KMC Z-510HX

CRANKSET Sugino Comp, five arm, polished arms

CHAINRINGS 42T CNC Zen Messenger

BOTTOM BRACKET Sport cartridge, square taper, 68 x 103mm

PEDALS

RIMS Alex R500, 700c, alloy double wall, machined sidewalls

FRONT HUB Specialized forged alloy, 32 hole, double sealed w/ chrome track nuts

REAR HUB Specialized, 32 hole, forged alloy, double sealed w/ chrome track nuts

SPOKES Stainless 14g

FRONT TIRE Specialized Mondo Sport, 700x23c, wire bead, 60TPI

REAR TIRE Specialized Mondo Sport, 700x23c, wire bead, 60TPI

TUBES Specialized standard presta tube

SADDLE Specialized Comp Road, full padding

SEAT POST Specialized carbon fiber wrapped, 27.2mm

SEAT BINDER Specialized CNC, alloy, 31.8mm clamp

NOTES Chain stay protector, clear coat, owners manual

idiq

Glad you like it. Can you include your years riding / experience otherwise, that helps build credibility to your build and establish yourself as more of an expert / authority on the subject.

powerband

Great review! No need to justify your personal feedback with age and experience of riding. Enjoyed the text; now hoping for pictures!

Thanks!

taxi777

OK! OK! you got me : ( I'm really 18.....but I was never breast fed



Me with my 80 year old wife

letsthrowfries

Yeah, great review! That's the biggest langster I've seen btw.

No need to justify yourself to us bfssg dbags.

idiq

Maybe you two don't understand how logic works. If you offer an argument, or in this case a review, in which you claim to have considerable knowledge (enough to write a fair review) you need to have the experience and background to make a cogent argument. Otherwise, the presentation commits (more so) to an appeal of authority.

If someone got on here, and wrote a review for a full-carbon fixed-gear, claiming things as "Stiff yet compliant" and had never ridden any other fixed-gear in comparison, or even bicycle before, you would want to know that wouldn't you?

In particular with this review - I have nothing against the review it's a pretty wholesome review - but I'd like to know what other bikes the rider rides, how long he has ridden, etc... I mean hell, even going to RBR it asks for 'Similar products tested'. Taking 3 minutes of your time to add your experience and expertise should only strengthen the review, unless of course such experience and expertise doesn't exist - then the review becomes arbitrary. Whether you care about that or not speaks words about you.

So, thanks. Fail moar for me guyz!

taxi777

...........................................................?........................................ ..................................

idiq

Yeah, how can you offer a full review without anything to gauge it against? Thanks.

I would have quoted you, along with your clear strawman of my points, but it seems that you've edited it out.

I said I had no problem with your review - and I don't - but not sure why it seems so hard to offer your experience and expertise, as I said earlier it will only strengthen your review.

letsthrowfries

Please stop trying to replace dutret.

idiq

Give it up dude. Seriously. Ad hominem attacks change nothing. Why do people not understand this?

Whether or not I am trying to replace 'dutret' has absolutely no bearing on the points I'm making, or even on your own counter-points.

Here's another example of an Ad Hominem attack: Why don't you snap more pictures of your kilo TT for velospace? Don't forget the NJS clips, or 49T ring.

Aeroplane

Dude, chill out. This is a thread about a dude's review of his bike. Let it die.

letsthrowfries

Yeah, sorry for attacking the poster instead of the argument. Internet pretentiousness just irritates me, especially when said pretentiousness explains latin phrases to feign erudition. I'm just kidding dude, chill- it's the internet, whether or not we believe each other is completely without consequence.

I was just saying that he doesn't need to substantiate most of his review because it's explained quite well in his post. He says the langster is nice and lively and stable riding with no hands and attributes it to compact geometry, he also states that he likes aluminum, indicating a knowledge of aluminum's purported stiffness. Further, he goes on to say it's an overall peppy and nimble bike. I think he's assuming we've ridden other bikes or have other bike knowledge so he doesn't have to explicitly compare- I mean road bike geo and track geo are quite different as are aluminum and steel. I think he covered review criteria quite well (bike feel/fit and aesthetics) he just left out comparison and durability and maybe price point.

Anyways, sorry if I pissed you off idig.

mr_macgee

Gotta to lov the MILF's, there a growing breed

taxi777

Hey I think its funny...no biggie! at least I get to ride my fun bike and not sit home all day wankin!
I hope I ride with you guys sometime here in SF let me know...It would be fun, a big fixie fest
PEte

ryanlovesyou

Who cares what people on the internet say?/ As long as you're out riding and having fun thats all that matters. That being said, I'm going out for a ride right now.

idiq

Hey dude, it's cool - sometimes I get really heated over stupid things, and looking in hindsight this serves as a good example. I won't even re-open the possibility of debate by offering any further comments. I'm sorry for sounding like a pretentious a-hole

oceanfx

Wait, so you're saying that the character of the person speaking makes...no difference to the words being spoken? Wow, I've learned a valuable lesson today.

Why does information need to come from an authority? When I was reading Greg Lemond's cycling handbook on the can this morning, I noted this gem: "remember, aluminium is far more flexible than steel and you'll lose efficiency as you gain lightness." Greg Lemond. One of the foremost authorities on bikes. And yet, from my meagre two years riding quite a few road bikes, I'm pretty sure steel flexes more than aluminium. So when an authority is wrong, his authority means absolutely nothing. Why should it mean anything if the advice is good, then? Advice is advice, and appeals to authority are a logical fallacy.

EDIT: Now that everyone's made up the last thing I wanna do is start ****...i just enjoy the debate. idig, others, respect.

Taxi, I haven't ridden an aluminium frame in a while; I've kind of been avoiding them since I had an alu mountain frame. How does the langster compare with steel you've ridden? Suddenly a cheap, light bike seems kinda nice...

powerband

Kid, this is a fu<king public forum on which the average user shares his or her experiences with products. Just because you popped in and out of a few philosophy- and logic-based websites and learned a few stuffy terms doesn't mean you've mastered the craft of logic nor does it mean you know how to use it in the appropriate context. If you want to debate, how about getting on an upper-level college debate team? Otherwise, you've only succeeded in revealing your immaturity with the intellectual process and barely scratched the mechanics of logic. Leave your pseudo-pedantry out of a bicycle forum, jerk.

bike manhattan

i got a mint 2006 langster off of a guy on craigslist. upgraded to armidilo tires and the stem was swapped for a slightly shorted one. the bike rides like a dream and fits me like a glove. i today just finally really got the saddle angle and height perfect as well as a slight tweak in handlebar angle. i also have power grip straps on the pedals which i really dig. i love this bike.

fetch

i would never, ever, have expected to see the word MILF in a bike review.


thats hot

idiq

I thought this was done, but apparently not. So, here goes my explanation:

Son, first of all I never claimed to be an authority on logic. I was merely pointing out the fallacies. To add to that, all of this started by me asking Taxi's background in cycling, a perfectly fine question to ask when a reviewer posts a review! Apparently that made me a d-bag though, and I responded by pointing out that it really doesn't make me a d-bag for asking that.

Also, being on a debate team and debating is often the antithesis of using logical forms and thought. As I point out below, people typically rely on fallacious attacks and appeals to win a debate, despite their opponent's position being far superior. You see this a lot in politics, debates, and guess what? Forums. So no, joining a debate team would not satisfy my apparent need for logical discussion. Is it so much that people make claims and statements with actual facts to back them up?

Now, I never claimed to get into the mechanics of logic, in fact, fallacies, appeals, and attacks are critical thinking and not formal logic. I certainly didn't diagram any arguments in first-order logical form, or second-order etc... Although using the knowledge operator (k) would have probably been handy in this instance. And no, that wasn't googled, this has all been information I've learned through class or related reading.

First, regarding Ad-Hominem attacks, the individual speaking, their personal attributes, do not alter the truth-values of the statements. For instance, if I said "There is a diamond buried 50 feet below your house" that premise is either True or False. Premises are true or false, arguments are cogent or fallacious.

Now, if you said, "Idiq, there is a diamond buried 50-feet below your house!" and I said, "Ocean you're just a stupid ninny who doesn't know anything about anything, that can't be true!" then I would have taken an Ad-Hominem attack. What you have said is either true or false, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you are or are not a "stupid ninny who doesn't know anything about anything". You see ad-hominem attacks all of the time on forums, debates, politics. You can usually win a debate by using such attacks, even if your opponent's position is far superior to yours.

Now, an Argument from Authority is an argument in which someone uses their position to attempt to make an argument cogent. Overall, an argument from authority is a fallacious form, that is, arguments taking their form are not true by necessity. When Taxi reviewed his Langster, he is expressing his opinion, not truths by necessity. He is using his position as an authority (whether he is or is not we will get to in a second) in an attempt to validate and make his argument cogent. But this type of defense has no bearing on the truth-values of his claims.

Now, if Taxi said, "Hey guys, I've ridden bikes for 18 years, I've ridden 5 different fixed gears for 2 hours each, etc..." he builds up the credibility as an expert in the field. This does not guarantee that his claims are true, but simply gives a much higher probability that they may be true.

For instance, (and this is essentially what I was trying to find out) if Taxi said, "Well, you know guys this is the only fixed gear I've ever ridden, and it's the best thing on the planet... stiff yet compliant... light but strong... etc..." would you be quicker to believe that, or "In the 15 years I've ridden fixed-gears, this is unequivocally the best one I've ever ridden... etc..."? Now, both forms rely on the argument from authority, so by themselves they are not true by necessity. However, the second statement adds to his expertise and experience in the field, and would be generally held as the statement which would be more likely correct.

Another example would be, "Ocean, wash your dishes, do it because I said so!" Well, just because your mother said it doesn't mean you really should or should not do it.

The same applies to your example with Greg Lemond.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there it is. Now, back to the review...

beard

what the eff.

fetch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u7aUbRyMX0

Billy516

Wow, I never knew it was soooo important to be correct on the internet. Sheesh, you'd think it was the presidential debates or something. Can we move on now? Idiq, did you even bother to look at the guy's blog? Looks to me like he's got some experience, but what do I know...

FWIW Peter, I loved the review and your personal impressions of the Langster!

Jenkinsal2

wow man you really stirred things up today huh? haha

PS nobody is going to win so why dont you all shut up.