Originally Posted by
chas58
I like light and fast. I've been using a langster, which at 19lbs and $600 is a heck of a price to performance ratio. Probably only a couple of hundred used. But over the years I have to agree with #
5 DiabloScott in that 32mm (or larger) tires are the way to go.
I did commute on a Kilo TT for a while. The steel was kind of nice, but that thing had a weird way of understeering....
Still - it is great riding a bike that has nothing much to break on it.
+1 on the Langster - I paid $110 for mine and need only a new spoke and bar tape. I put new tires on it and have been riding ever since. Weighs in at 17.5 lbs with FSA carbon fiber crankset.
To directly address the OP's question - you can't go wrong with a 70s or 80s horizontal dropout bike and make it what you want. Would be very cheap and fun. Just make sure to get a decent frame, not high-tensile steel, should be lots of CrMo bikes out there. Double or Triple butted would be awesome. Japanese bikes are out there for cheap meeting this criteria. Most will have 32mm tire clearance plus, more if you run 650B rims but that's a whole new thread but TOTALLY doable on these frames. A lot of older MTBs would be great too, clearance for wide tires and cheap in the 26" size, just have to watch out as many don't have horizontal dropouts, not a big deal to run a tensioner too if you're not running FG.
If you're not looking to work on something, bikes direct is great for inexpensive bikes, then just change out some of the more vulnerable components, but there aren't many because it's an SS