Hi everyone, new member here from Cincinnati. I have been messing with bikes for about 10 years now. I have built 2 from the ground up and upgraded a couple others. My current stable includes 2 mountain bikes and a Road bike:
Giant Defy
Voodoo Sobo 26"
Cannondale Flash 29er Carbon
I have decided my next project needs to be a single speed. I have researched fixed gear vs single speed. Right now I am leaning towards single speed but I will probably buy/build a bike that can do both just so I can say I tried it. Statistically I doubt many folks on the SSFG forum live in Cincinnati because I really do need every last gear on my Road bike to get around here. I even had to upgrade from a 12-25 to an 11-28 in the rear just to make it up some of the hills here. That being said I am up for the challenge and I think a low gear inch SS with coasting ability is probably what will end up working best for me.
Having read the "post your bike megathread" cover to cover three times, my eyes have taken a liking to the following frames:
Wabi Lightning SE
Cinelli gazzetta
Fuji Feather
Bianchi Pista
and a few others.
I'm about 80% sure at this point I will be getting a Wabi Lightning SE. Mostly because I don't see a point in owning a single speed that weighs more than my road bike at 17.5 lbs. I don't think any of the others will come close. Not sure about the weight on the Cinelli. My road bike is a little too big for me with a 560mm top tube so if I get the Wabi I was looking at the 52 with the 540mm top tube. Should be just right with a 100mm stem. I'm not in love with either of the colors on the Lightning but I think I will go orange since I don't think blue and black go well together. I'll call it my Cincinnati Bengals bike lol. Well, to make this thing interesting I will ask a couple questions, and maybe throw up a pic or two of the current stable. Sadly they are all for sale, but once I sell one I will be able to afford a nice single speed!
1. Anybody live in Cincinnati and bike around Clifton or Ft Thomas or in-between? How many gear inches are you running?
2. Can anybody recommend any other high quality steel frame bikes with weight similar to the Wabi?
3. If I find a gear ratio I like on my road bike, will that be fairly close to what I need on the SS even if it takes a significant amount of cross chaining to get there?
4. Any other good SSFG forums on the web you guys like?
