Originally Posted by
BobbyG
I don't want to soundlike Old Man Buzzkill, but You are going to end up a smudge on the pavement. Only one of those bikes looks to have brakes. If you're gonna play in traffic, you've gotta have brakes. Skid-stopping is technically stopping, but it is not quick, and it leaves you unable to steer or manuever. Look up bike commuting videos on youtube; the long, uncut, unglamorous ones. You will see why most bike commuters use brakes, gears, mirrors and more. Some are for comfort, convenience, and utility; and at 22 those things may not be important. But safety is important; and if you want to keep riding until you're a bitter old(ish) man like me, you'll put safety first.
And, oh yeah, welcome to the forum...just stay off my lawn.
The bikes are pictured without brakes but if you look at the tech specs, brakes are included. They just ruin the fixie aesthetic. Note the lack of valve stems in the pics as well, but you will still find them on most bikes.
I ride a fixed gear a lot of the time and I'm a relatively old man at 51. Gears can be nice but I didn't need them when I was 10 and I don't need them now. And it was uphill to get anywhere when I was 10. People seem to forget that they got along OK on single speeds when they were little.
If you can buy from a local shop and try the bike first that's the best. Some bikes just feel right and others don't.
Anyway, there's not a whole lot to a single speed so I can't imagine spending $500 on one. I use an old converted road bike from the 80's. If you're going with steel make sure it's a good chromoly frame. If aluminum, you might want to consider a carbon fork. If you're going to ride in the rain, fender mounts are really nice but not many people put fenders on a fixed gear.
The last thing is tire clearance. It's good to have some flexibility and if the bike can take some wider tires it will make riding on bad roads more pleasant. I ride on 25mm tires and it's fine but roads on my commute are in decent shape.