rumanic2

Has anyone tried the "globe roll 1" made by specialized? Looks kinda nice. think im gunna get one next week.

https://www.eriksbikeshop.com/ride/pr...ffset=2&s_id=0

^^check out the link

ZakPrell

Looks nice, but a single speed ROAD RACE BIKE? Hmm

TejanoTrackie 

SteveCrowley

i just got one of these. i have not ridden it more than maybe 2 miles (down to the LBS to get the freewheel removed), and I have already switched some parts out (crankset, stem and bars, pedals, seatpost) but here are my thoughts on this bike:

The geometry is fairly aggressive and tight. I am going to take it to the hellyer velodrome tomorrow to see how it performs and i will follow up and let you guys know how it handles on the track. on a side note, I doubt you can fit clamp on fenders on this thing, but I have not tried yet.

The brakes are surprisingly nice. the calipers look like unbranded Tektros but they come with nice cartridge pads, and they feel pretty solid.

The bottom bracket is slightly lower than i would like it to be, and mine came with 170mm crankset, but I have already replaced this with a 165mm from my beater Raleigh RUsh Hour

The stock handlebars are attractive and unique, but pretty damn heavy. of course if you are using this as a town bike you probably shouldnt worry about it. The width of the bars is fine for going through town. They are about 45cm, so its kind of like riding on the tops of road bars. The one thing i didn't like is that there is not much adjustability with the bars. You can raise them a bit, but it will have an unsightly gap unless you can find a white, 22.2mm spacer, which is probably pretty rare.
I replaced the bars with a nitto jaguar stem and some 38cm old style drop bars.

The wheelset is made by alexrims, and features 32mm deep section rims and old fashioned cup and cone hubs (a plus IMO because it makes bearing replacement very easy). without the tires, both wheels weigh around 2390 grams, which is around 5 pounds. The tires are specialized mondo sport, which, if they are anything like the higher end models, are ok tires (i am running a mondo pro 2 on my road racing bike, and it has worn well). unfortunately, they are fairly hefty, weighing in at 376 grams, or .83 pounds because of the wire bead.
I expected better tubes on this bike, because specialized makes nice tubes, but they are "cheng shin" tubes. oh well.

The saddle is what really surprised me. Although being made of hard, unpadded, injection molded plastic, it is actually fairly comfortable! The plastic flexes when you sit on it, acting much like the leather on a brooks. THe seatpost is fine, but I replaced it with a campagnolo daytona that i had sitting around.

A nifty little detail of this bike is that it has a picture frame headbadge. You can put a photo of your girlfriend or boyfriend in it, a business card, a picture of your dog, anything you want!

The headset is kind of chintzy and plasticky and the fork is a pain in the ass because you have to completely remove the nuts to remove the wheel.

The dropouts are very cool because they feature nice, beefy built in chain tension screws. this makes wheel installment very easy, and should keep the wheel from slipping forward during a strong effort.

The crankset quality is fine, but 170s are too long for the bb height. 165s are fine though, but check first when you go and buy it to see what its got (the specialized site says 165s but i got mine direct from specialized and it came with 170s) the stock gear ratio is ok for riding around town, it is 42/17, but i have switched this to 48/16 for training and racing at the velodrome.

All in all, this is a sexy bike with a very cool subtle yet catchy design. The ride is stiff and responsive, It has a decent build if you are looking for a stylish town bike, but could use some upgrades if you want to get more out of it. It is hefty, around 22lbs stock, but i was able to get mine down to about 20 by removing the brakes and replacing the stem and bars.

from a fair weather commuter's perspective i give it a 4 out of 5 (because of the too-long crankset)
from a hipster's perspective its probably a 5
from a racer's perspective its probably about a 3.

koven

Great Review ^^

I have this bike and I love it. Its my first Fixed gear.

arp415

You should post a photo of your globe as modified

ellogubna!

I have one! Also changed out the stem and handlebars to soma urban pursuits and cut 2" off each end, changed seat to a specialized toupe (just cause I like it that much lol). Put on original cog with no grease cause I was lazy and I stripped it because it would loosen during skids and I would mash forward to retighten it, completely my fault but Specialized was cool enough to replace under warranty. They didnt have a roll rear wheel so sent me a new set from a langster, only put the back wheel on for now, this time made sure to grease the cog threads and have had no issues at all. Very solid bike, and I'm pretty rough on it. Here's a pic! :

f50fan

Thats pretty damn good customer service if they gave you a better wheelset after damaging the first one yourself.

Negative Force

That's insane and embarrassing

ellogubna!

Yeah I see where you're coming from, apparently I wasn't the only person this has happened to though, they mentioned several claims of the cogs stripping the hubs. Also, I rode in a Critical Mass yesterday and another rider with a Roll had a stripped hub, I told him to give them a call. I would say that was the only issue with the bike. I'm just glad specialized was cool about it. And yes, all my experiences with Specialized customer service, including with past mountain bikes, have been amazing, good way to create a loyal customer (worked on me after all)

adriano 

the hubs are fine. the installers are defective.

ellogubna!

Agreed, as stated in my first post it was completely my fault, just that they were cool enough to replace it. Would I make that same mistake again? No. I was lucky they replaced it.

Negative Force

I'm feeling benign enough so I'll give that a 'fair enough' and move on.

adriano 

im just saying dont play like the cog stripped the hub.

koven

heres mine, about 2 weeks old. Put in about 50 miles with it and I loved every minute of it.

I replaced the seat with one from one of my old bikes, the stock seat isnt too comfortable for long rides. I also added some hand grips, again if you're going to be doing long rides hand grips are essential.

TejanoTrackie 

^^^ I like the photo

SteveCrowley

Ok here's my follow up review for this bike. I have had it for about a month now. Keep in mind that I have ridden this bike 98% on an outdoor velodrome. I will also try to post some photos.

I will start with quality and design of the parts:
After one month, I have had no problems with any of the components on this bike except for the hubs. These have proven to be quite a disappointment. They are cup and cone hubs (which I generally have no problem with). The big problem with them is the rubber dustcap seals. The ones on the front fit over the locknut and have a hexagonal shape to them so that they will engage with the locknut and remain stationary while the wheel turns. The problem with this is that one of them would stick to the hub and would turn on the locknut, causing a rough feel to the hub, and creating friction. The way I fixed this was easy but should not have been necessary. I took the sticking dustcap off and cut the hexagonal part off with scissors. Another problem with them is that you have to remove them when you want to adjust your bearings, which can be a pain because they are all greased up, and if you are not careful, your bearings end up falling out because the dust cap is not there to catch them when you loosen the cone.

The rear dust caps are a whole different problem. There is a set of regular rubber seals protecting the bearings, and then there is another set that goes over the locknut, I assume to give it a cleaner look. The big rubber "caps" rub on the inner seals, creating a ridiculous amount of friction, from rubber rubbing against rubber. I solved this by just removing them. They are overkill and slow the wheel down too much.

Another thing that was disappointing about the hubs was that the bearings are too rough for how much you are paying for the bike. A set of cartridge bearing formula hubs or dimensions would have been much better for this bike, and still would have kept the cost down.

Aside from this, I really don't have any other complaints.
Again, I am impressed with the chain tensioners built into the track ends. They are just meaty enough to be able to tighten your chain just by turning them with your fingers.
I had no real problems with the tires, except for the weight but that is to be expected. I replaced them with a folding Vredestein Forza on the rear and a Forzetta on the front that a teammate gave me.
The rims and spokes seem very sturdy, although the rear wheel needed a layer of tension after doing intervals and sprints on the track.
The headset, although kind of cheap feeling, has proven to be quite decent. It is smooth and easy to adjust, and has not come loose on me at all.
The BB is fine, no complaints.
The stock cranks are now on my town bike, and I have had no problems except that I wish they were 165mm, so if you plan to ride this bike fixed and completely stock, make sure that if you get it at a shop, it has 165mm cranks, as the BB is kind of low and it is really easy to get pedal strike, or just plan on replacing the cranks sometime in the near future.
One thing I happen to really like about this bike is that the frame is nice and stiff, and the geometry seems to be aggressive enough for racing (although I have not officially raced it yet), but stable enough for riding on the streets of your favorite city. It is also not a dainty little race-specific frame, which is nice as it allows for trick riding if you are so inclined, but please note THIS BIKE DOES NOT BARSPIN WITH 700C WHEELS, and the stock bars do not clear the toptube!
One last comment, I love that it is a 1" threaded fork. I love my Nitto Jaguar track stem, although I had to raise it a tad due to UCI regulations, because my bars were beneath the top of the front tire!
If I think of anything else to add about this bike, I will post it, but this is all I can say for now. Overall, I really like the bike, and if you have $600 to spend on a fixed gear bike, you should probably look into this bike, but still, keep an open mind, and check out many different bikes to find what will work best for you.

Pics!!CLICK ON 'EM!

and for more of my bikes check out my flickr! if the link doesn't work, my screen name is xpsupernoobfestxp
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2625985...n/photostream/

SteveCrowley

ooh one thing I forgot to mention is that the fork on this bike is a pain in the arse. The ends are "integrated" just for looks, but it makes it so you have to remove the nuts all the way off of the axle in order to remove the front wheel. This isn't a huge deal, just kind of irritating until you get used to it. Some day I would like to buy a Spicer 1" threaded chromed track fork, but I will wait and see if I really end up getting into track racing. For now I need to hunt down some campy nuovo record parts for my road bike!

youngandcurious

People on trick track make fun of them because they say "Extremely durable steel fork built to withstand daily torture from skids to stair gaps"

cc700

i've seen the fork, and while it's AWESOME(axle design deserves a front page feature in a design mag imho) i would not want to try stair gaps on it.

SteveCrowley

To me it really does seem pretty damn strong, but not as beefy as the fork that came on the original Raleigh Rush Hour. That beast probably could withstand quite a bit of trick riding.

@cc700 the roll 1's fork is not as cool as the roll 2's. it doesn't have the lugged crown, and it doesnt have those rad integrated nut things. The ones on the roll 2 look cool, but from a practicality standpoint, they really are kind of a hassle, but I guess there is zero chance of your front wheel ever falling off if you forgot to torque the nuts down all the way!

MRI

It's a great bike. I bought one last year and I ride it in all weather, all over NYC. I added a seatpost rack and fenders since it is primarily a commuter, which take away from the cool factor, but add a lot of practicality. I bought some aerobars, but haven't bothered putting them on yet.

SteveCrowley

wow you were actually able to add fenders to it?? the clearances seem so tight! I have a set of planet bike fenders down in the basement but haven't taken the time to put them on since i use it primarily on the track. lets see some pics!
aerobars on the stock bars? hmm... an interesting idea, especially if you could find them in a matching color

koven

Great write up. One thing I might add is that the stock handle bars NEEDS grips (without them you will feel every vibration on the road) and the saddle is kind of uncomfortable at first. I changed those two things and it rides like a dream.

MRI

Hey steve. Sorry I guess I meant pursuit bars (like ellogubna!'s pic). I used the planet bike fenders that are meant to clip on to road bikes. They don't really keep the frame clean but they keep me dry. I'll add a pic later this week.