Originally Posted by
Tarzan77
Thanks so much for all the input everyone!! I believe the one for me is the kilo wt! I am planning to build it myself but am having the hardest time finding the frame(size 52-54(I'm 5'8)) think what I am going to do is buy all the parts I need and then just wait till the frames are available at bike island in the size I need! As for the type of bike my friend has, I remember him saying that they no longer make it, and I know it had 26in tires on it. Will clarify the exact model tomorrow! Thanks again to everyone for the help and suggestions!
Well, first you may want to go with a 26 inch wheeled bike for how you ride although there are far more 700c wheel sized single speeds out there.
Second, consider used Craig's list or local bike shops often have used bikes. I cannot think of a cracks in sidewalks and uneven streets where a road bike with 28mm or 32 tires and also where you could get a bike used with rims that would accept those width tires... (Usually Cyclocross and touring
tires range from 28mm to 38mm).
I bought my Fuji Feather 700c bike with 25mm tires for $200 on Craig's list. It was in excellent shape. It had a singlespeed hub on one side and a fixed hub on the other side (16T and 17T).
I could have kept it just like that and rode the heck out of it but instead I bought new ultra light wheels, new cogs both are single speed (16T and 22T), new tires, new Pista drop retro handlebar, new Nitto Jaguar Stem 58 degrees, new saddle... And now it is precisely what I like a lot!
The other thing you may want to consider is changing to slicks on your mountain bike. Like these:
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...t-26-inch-tire
I did this to my mountain bike, took of the knobbies and put on slicks, and it was so fun to ride in urban and rough banging around riding! Yet it was FAST and SMOOTH!
If, as you say, you need to bang into things and bang down hard on things, modifying your mountain bike for urban use is a sage alternative.
If you are set on a single speed you do know that 700c is the far more common wheel size and there are not as many 26 inch single speeds. If you want to bang into things you can certainly buy a 700c with skinny tires and put on 32mm or even 38mm tires in MOST rims although I would ask a local bike shop guy what sized tires you can put in the rims ONCE you find a single speed bike.