Originally Posted by jacobpriest
Also, the Motobecane and the Mercier come with brakes that I would remove and put the front brake handle on the bottom of the top tube near the stem as an E-brake. Has anyone had any experience with this set up?
That sounds really dumb. You
NEED to have a brake, and it should be mounted on the handlebar.
I'd say all the bikes you post are about equivalent: basic [heavy!] steel frames, basic but usable components.
make sure that the cog and lockring before riding, and also do a quick check on all the bolts and the like to make sure that everything is tight. have a friend or a friendly local bike shop [lbs] help you do this if you don't know too much about bikes.
for the bikes that don't come with a brake, factor in that cost as well. it is absolutley imperative that you have a brake.
a tt mounted brake is just stupid. you won't want to take your hands off the bar to make an emergency stop.
don't be surprised if stuff breaks on you and you have to upgrade/replace, eg. the wheels, etc. don;t be surprised if you plunge another $100-300 in new wheels, etc. as stuff breaks. you get what you pay for in such a cheap bike. for not much more money and a
signifcant upgrade in quality, check out the IRO mark v, the raleigh rush hour, specialized langster, and other pre-built fixies. the iro is clearly the best ready-to-go fixie, as nothing needs upgrading, and the wheels are by far the best out of any mass-produiced fixie.
www.irocycle.com