cessanfrancisco

I am intrigued by this:

Custom Track Bike | 6061 Black Label - Pearl White | State Bicycle Co.

I saw a bunch of guys tooling around SF on shiny new "Black Label" bikes. They were doing silly skids and bunny hops all over the place. Perhaps it was some publicity campaign by State Bicycles.

Has anyone had any experience with these bikes? Particularly the Black Label stuff?

Thanks.

Scrodzilla

Oh goody, here we go again.

IAmSam

Are State bikes sold thru dealers? Or just available over the interwebz? I've never seen one in person & out of curiosity would like to see if they are really as terrible as everybody likes to make them out to be.

bmontgomery87

I'm pretty sure they have some shops that sell them.

The base level one I had, I rode once and listed it for sale.
Rode it a second time, and while I enjoyed the smooth ride of steel versus my Leader, it was super heavy.
The welds didn't look as bad as some people have said (maybe they're getting slightly more picky about QC).

prooftheory

Worst looking handlebars ever.

bmontgomery87

^^ +1

dan911

Can't tell for the Black Label but I have a Contender and i'm happy with the bike for the price. My bike is not light (21 pounds) with few minor changes ( saddle and front tire) but is not that bad when you ride it. The size of my bike is 55. The weld are nice (again not the same model not even the same material) and the bike look pretty good. Fast shipping and good service with live chat if you have questions.

This bike is my 3rd SS/FG bike that i owned.

Edit: + 10 for the worst looking handlebar.

NormanF

Double butted 6061 alloy? For $750?? You can get a Kilo TT for less!

Sans the hideous bar.

steady407

I like my contender, but i got mine used for $225 and it was practically brand new off of CL, so no complaints here.

PistaB

I have a few friends that work/ride for State.. Beginner level IMO. Heavy, mass produced, nothing special.

As far as the 6160/contender, much better than the run of the mill frames state has. Now, still WAY overpriced. you'd be better off getting a stock Aventon off City Grounds or building a bike for similar prices with better components.

nightfly

That **** is tight yo.

Kidding, the ugly handlebars do match the ugly frame perfectly though.

street_sweeper

i have a contender i got off of CL as well. Took the wheels off immediately and resold them. My 59 cm weighed under 20lbs(19 low something) with my wheel set, stem and bars. I would never pay retail for a state. Id maybe do just a frame and build it but too many of their components are just mass produced trash that they use to save money.

PointBlank

What should you get around that price range then?

cessanfrancisco

Honestly, I don't know much about State Bike Co. I've never tested any of their stuff, nor do I know anyone who has. But for the price it doesn't seem like a terrible deal. Sure you could spend a couple to a few hundred more and get something better, but if you're on a budget, and $800 (for a complete bike) is your limit, it looks like a good deal. Sure, the frame may be ugly, but I don't think it's any more ugly than a Leader, Aventon, or any of the other aluminum Cinelli-wannabe frames.

Then again...I prefer the mid to low range stuff. Why? Well, so I can beat on it, ride it, and leave it locked up in public (you know, actually use it instead of parading it around, so I can be the coolest kid on my block), and not worry about it being dinged, dented, stolen, or whatever. I like bikes that are functional and leave me enough money at the end of the day to buy lunch. But most importantly, I don't care what anyone thinks about my bike (I mean, come on, I'm a grown man for Christ's sake--I have more important things to worry about like work, family, etc).

cessanfrancisco

Precisely!

Scrodzilla

A bigger budget.

europa

He's actually being serious. If you read this forum at all, you'll realise that a lot of people just don't want to pay for bikes and then get stroppy when we tell them their choice is poor. Buy what you want, but you get what you pay for ... and some poor bike mechanic will have to fix it whereupon you'll discover it would have been cheaper to buy a nicer bike to start with.

JeremyLC

No, it doesn't. For that money (or less!) you can do better a Specialized Langster or a Cinelli Gazetta, for example. If you look for NOS or sale items you could get, say, a Leader 722, or, for just a bit more money, an All-City Big Block. If you're willing to buy a secondhand bike you'll have a world of options in that price range.

Nice of you to imply that they just want to buy street cred to try to impress people (with an indirect accusation of immaturity on the side). Your use case describes a need for a beater bike, but not everyone has the same needs or wants.

Helifreak

I could be wrong, but doesn't the Black label from state bicycle have better components than the specialized bike? The black label has sram crankset and sram bottombracket, while the specialized appears to be no name?

Scrodzilla

The Sram S100 and PowerSpline BB is nothing to write a letter to your Mom about.

Helifreak

LOL i would assume any bike under $1000 is not anything to write to my mom about, but what makes the specialized bike, cinelli gazetta, or kilo tt better? i'm not seeing anything about any of them to write to my mom about?

Scrodzilla

What's your mom's address? I'll write a letter to her about my bikes instead.

europa

Relax Scrod, he's just another State troll who's joined to promote the product - two posts, both in this thread, both hailing the virtues of State. It'd also be nice if he explained how he can tell his State bike has better components when apart from the cranks (which you've addressed), they don't tell you what the other components are.

Helifreak

Actually I own a specialized geared bike and a cheap bigshot fixed gear bike. I ride both every week. But just like other new people to fixed is curious why yall say one is better over the other?

PointBlank

Pics or it didn't happen Bro.