Originally Posted by genericbikedude
I'll be moving to new yourk from philly in a couple of months, and my current bike is both too blingy-looking and crappy-riding to take up there. I'm building a fixed, and here are some questions for NYC riders:
Thievery related:
--I want to shell out for the quality track frame, but I'm thinking that anything shiny will be stolen. Steamroller or Marushi gas-pipe chipped-paint 10speed conversion?
--Same question, but for Suzue Promax/Level hub on one hand, or el cheapo track jr hub on the other?
--Are theives savvy enough to recognize a carbon fork?
--If I use 700x28s, will thieves think that it is not a "racing bike?"
--What about bullhorns?
Ride-related:
In philly, I've happily rocked a 39x13, giving 78 or so gear inches. Philly is stop and go, but with lots of places where you can/have to get going fast, and some hills. Should I down gear some for NY?
Thanks "you'ze" guys
theives will steal most anything that isn't locked well in new york. carbon fork or bullhorns are irrelevant.
just lock your bike well and don't lock your bike outside in a crappy neighborhood, on a deserted street, or overnight.
every day, i see a beautiful guerciotti frame locked up in manhattan on 5th ave around 17th street. i'd be fine with this setup too, as this street is crawling with (typically upscale) people all day long.
if the owner worked evenings in bushwick, i doubt s/he'd make the same decision.
get yourself a reasonable-to beat-up track or road frame. build it up with solid, but not overly fancy stuff.
as for wheels, i'd get some solid wheels built up locally (so you can just drop by the shop and have em trued when you need them). i happen to be quite hard on wheels, so the extra $50 spent up front pays off in free truing.
39x13 (on a 700c wheel, according to
http://www.bikecult.com/works/wheelsizes.html), yeilds 81 gear inches, the same as 48x16. i run 48x16 on my SS freewheel bike and find it a bit stiff for bridge climbing and cold starts from lights. i run an easier gear (46x18 - 69.0 gear inches) on my fixie and it's a lot easier on the starts and stops.
i used to run an even easier gear of 43x18. spinning it got a bit tedious, but i could do the most glorious skids.