HStewart

https://ucycle.com/bikes/item.php?nam...e&cat=urbanite

A quick search of the forum turned up an August post about this frameset, but no one who has actually ridden, or even seen, one. Has anyone had a chance to try the Urbanite since then? Among other things, I'm wondering about the straight-gauge tubes. Thoughts, other than it's a handsome devil?

The bike shop itself gets good marks from Toronto cyclists, and the proprietor, Carey Chen, was very prompt and polite in response to an e-mail query about a complete ss/fg setup (approx. CA$800 + shipping).

Let the opinions fly!

luke.harrison

Don't know anything about their frames, but they are fairly high priced when it comes to compoennts, 115$ for a surly rear is a bit of a rip, my LBS ordered it (in canada) from QBP and it came to 80$ + tax. Ditto for the miche stuff, its not worth that much. That being said, the frames do look nice.

Cynikal 

According to the Bank of Canada currently the price for the frame is $290 US. Not a bad deal.

gokiburi

hello

the urbane cyclist is one of the better places for fixed bikes in toronto. i work nearby so i decided to give it a go when i finally decided to get fixed. carey and his staff are really helpful which played a large part in my decision to pick up a fuji track back back waaay back in 2003. here's what i changed:

2002 56cm fuji track
46/16
miche hubs/mavic open pro
shimano cranks and bb
m540 spds
tiagra front brake
pursuit bars with bar end lever
stock everything else
$1120cdn tax included. it's 15% in good ol' t.o. in case yer wonderin.

in hindsight, the bike was probably a bit overpriced but it was one sweet ride and i loved every moment on in... until it got stolen that is.

hope this was helpful.

SamHouston

It's a good frame, I've been rockin mine since 2000, It's now my winter bike. I'd recommend just buying the frame(specially if you can get parts cheaper elsewhere) and building it up yourself, more fun that way! Good steel frame, no decals and nice classy lookin badge it'll make a very pretty ride. He's been building them up awhile and i've never heard of anyone not happy with one.

turd

not sure about that particular frame but i can attest to their great customer service.

darkmother

I have an Urbanite frame. I am of mixed opinions about it.

Plus side:
-it has been reliable for a few years-and I break a lot of frames
-it is fairly practical as an every day bike, sort of a hybrid/cyclecross/MTB halfbreed

Down side:
-my frame has some design flaws. They may have addressed these in the last couple of years, I don't know: the shifter cable stops are mounted on the head tube, and this makes it impossible to use a centerpull cantilever. Works OK with a V brake, but still not ideal. You get small radius bends in the housing no matter what. The front fork is really narrow, so that you can't fit brake pads next to the rim. I had to cut my pads down, causing squeeling and poor performance-eventually I got a new fork. The water bottle bosses on the seat tube were placed poorly, so that it interfered with the front deraileur band clamp. Had to grind it down and clamp over it.
-the frame is HEAVY. I estimate over 7 lb. Really, this is excessive. The thing is a tank
-the quality is less than stellar. Mediocre welds, very poor quality paint that chips easily. For 290 USD you can get a *way* nicer frame elsewhere.
-finally, the bike does not handle very well. It handles pretty much like a MTB-because, you guessed it, it has pretty much MTB geometry. Which leads you to wonder, why don't I just buy a nice aluminum MTB frame for 100 bucks?


Bottom line, I would not buy another one, but it does it's job. I was expecting better, and the sales staff led me to believe the bike had road geometry. When I measured it though, I found otherwise. My bike is around 72.5 deg ST angle, 70.5 HT angle, and with the stock fork it had something like 8cm of trail (too much)

darkmother

BTW, I live in Toronto, if you want me to check out thier current crop of frames for you, I can. I'll probably be in that 'hood on Saturday.

karmaboy

I have one of their frames. No complaints. Its a standard welded steel frame that they get offshore. The frames are designed for the street...no allusions to track geometry. They build it up pretty much any way you want. The service was top rate, and they were very helpful. I went in once to buy a new back wheel (with a flip flop), and they had no qualms about taking one off a Fuji for me so that I didn't have to leave empty handed.

operator

I'm going to be dropping by most of the bike shops on the weekend.

cavit8

Unlike the bike pictured on the site, I believe their new crop is black. They've also gone threadless, but last time I was talking to them, they had some threaded kicking around. They're one of my top two shops in TO, the other being Cavern cycle...

SamHouston

yeah it's too bad you don't live in T.O. hstewart, the Cavern always has some good frames and bikes kicking around.

taras0000

I know James is the one running the Cavern now, but what ever happened to Craig? Where did nappy go?

darkmother

What's the Cavern? Thanks.

SamHouston

179 Queen East
Cavern Cycles
Track/Fixie specialists and any other kind of ride too. Not a huge store so not a lot of stock but what they do stock is good and they can get it for you too. One nice feature is that they have a lot of fixed/track riders as friends and customers so there are usually a few used frames/bikes and always plenty of new parts to keep you rolling. And new bikes of course. Friendly people too.

cavit8

Ditto that. I picked up an old suntour front hub for $5. It's pretty much supplanted Urbane Cyclist for me (although Urbane is a fine shop). Between those two and Parts Unknown, you're pretty much set.

darkmother

Nice. Can't believe I didn't know about that place. Good bike shops are few and far between these days.