Single Speed Bike for Commuting to Class
 

Hi everyone,

I am a university student who is looking for a cheap commuter bike for next year. My buddy just got a single speed from Vilano, and he is pretty happy with it. Currently I am trying to decide between a Vilano Edge and a bike from Big Shot. Now I know that all of you are going to tell me these are crap but please spare me the trouble. I know they are heavy, I know they are no name parts. I only need to commute to classes at University, about 10 minutes each way, and bike around town for general stuff. I really don't plan on riding any triathlon distances. Also these bikes are not absolutely terrible, just because they're not $2000 carbon fiber road bikes. I would like some genuine advice on which one you think would be better, or suggestions for other bikes around this price with reasons why they are better.

I really like the bullhorn handle bars on both, and the steel and single speed will really be beneficial around campus when it inevitably get beat on.

Thank you very much :)

Vilano Edge Vilano EDGE Fixed Gear / Single Speed Bike
Bigshot Fixed Gear Bikes | Custom Cruiser made easy | Single Speed Bikes For Sale | Fixies and cruiser bicycles from Big Shot Bikes

If you can test ride them, do that. If not, go with whatever you like the looks of! You can commute in anything, you just gotta get out there and do it!

For a 10 minute ride to a college campus, any college campus, I'd go buy the cheapest, POS, BSO I could find (that would somewhat fit my body size/leg length). I would buy a decent lock, and assume I would need to replace the BSO several times per year (thus almost guaranteeing no one would steal it).

Thanks so much for the positivity! Do you have idea where I might be able to test ride one of these? They seem to be pretty exclusively online.

My university isn't quite that bad, I will have a good lock but bikes don't really get stolen all that much. I live in Canada, everyone is nice here :P

both of them, IMO, are perfectly acceptable for your expressed intent.

and yes, Canada and Canadians are nice. :thumb:

Bigshot is a much better quality bike, - Chromoly vs. Hi-Ten.

Do you know where you read this? I only ask this because they both say Chromoly on their sites, not that I believe them, but I would totally buy the chromoly one over the hi-ten. If you could tell me where you got that info that would be a big help, thanks!

Same page as you linked to:

I didn't even see that! There is another page for the edge here Vilano EDGE Chromoly Fixed Gear / Single Speed Bike.
That says it's chromoly, but I can't find this sold anywhere. So I think the chromoly will be the best choice for me, way better than hi-ten. Thanks for spotting that!

I had a BigShot, that is what got me into the SS/FG scene. It was alright for what it was. Nothing on the bike is that great of quality, just mediocre. The best part about it is that it is plain looking and you can customize it to your liking. If you don't expect a lot out of it, you will be fine. Me? I replaced everything on the bike except the headset, seatpost and chain. The rest was replaced, and the bike eventually sold.

As close as possible to stock of a picture that I have. Aerospoke obviously didn't come on the bike. The brake they included was absolute garbage and was replaced rather quickly. The bike was sized a little small with me normally on a 58, this was a small 56.

http://i.imgur.com/reS1NHX.png

I don't know what university you're going to but I wouldn't spend more than a couple hundred for biking to UBC. I gave my son an old Apollo 10-speed with a cable lock and I think it lasted one day before being stolen.

I probably have the same bike over here (called a Mango). I selected Mango because they assemble and test ride the bikes before shipping them out.

I've racked up about 3500km and haven't had any problems except tubes/tyres which is more of an issue with the crap roads here than anything else.

You can read about it here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...term-test.html

edit: and, I agree, the brakes were crap BMX brakes but have worked for 3500km.

Ah, internet specials. I would be surprised if you found them in a shop then. From everything I have read others saying, sounds like one is definitely better than teh other re: chromo vs hi ten. Enjoy it! Ride the heck out of it and if you don't have fun you are doing it wrong

Not really convinced it's worth paying more for CroMo over Hi-Ten. My CroMo has been fine for commuting duty.

However, I can't easily discern for the OP whether (s)he would be paying more, so your point may be valid.

I can't find the prices for both of them....assuming they are close in price.

OP: I don't know where you are located, but utilizing the websites for both bikes you should be able to find out if there is a distributor near you.

http://www.bigshotbikes.com/wholesal...er-locator.php

Vilano Bikes Where to Buy: Authorized Dealers

Otherwise, you will just have to trust the web

When I was in college I commuted on a 80's Schwinn Predator BMX bike (black chrome!) and it was great. Solid frame, but not flashy parts, looked like a beater, and you can't discount how handy it is having an extremely nimble bike to weave in/around pedestrians, and hop curbs on campus. 10/10 would use a BMX bike for this purpose again.

Ok now I have a new problem, Big Shot Bikes charges $125 to ship to Canada, and after converting to Canadian dollars (we're not doing so hot right now) it's pretty expensive. Amazon won't ship them to Canada I checked. Any ideas of how to get around this?

p.s. The bike is on sale for $300, plus $125 shipping, then converted to CAD is $525.75.

Buy your bike in Canada? Maybe even try riding it before buying? :lol:

As stated before these are predominantly online bikes, with no retailers in Canada as far as I can tell.

You pay $525.75 for a BigShot, and I will drive up there and slap you. Not worth it at all. If you could get it for $300, eh, go for it, but not with the shipping and currency exchange. Keep looking. SE makes a decent single speed. Do you have Performance Bike there? I just looked on their site and it is only $25 ground to ship to Canada from the US.

Yeah, I got that. I'm talking about buying a bike from a store, which could be cheaper than shipping one from the US. I'll give that idea time to sink in... :)

I completely agree, I'll look for something I can get here for cheap.

"Better suggestion for campus cruising" ?
Consider a used mountain bike, a model 3-4 years old is a good balance of features & price.
Replace the tires with some type of rugged touring tire.
This time of year, bike shops often have sales events in which customers bring their old bikes to sell,
proceeds going to new bike stuff. Often pricing is quite reasonable, 200-300. Gets you a solid, reliable ride.

You don't mention, or I missed it what part of Canada you are in but in Toronto, there has to be a hundred fixed/single speed bikes on Craigslist that would do just fine for school. If you want to buy new I agree with others, buy in Canada, it is just easier.