Hello all! My name is Greg and I live in Boston, MA. I have been riding a 1970s Austro-Daimler Puch single speed conversion for the last two years or so and have loved it. I've never had any problems with it until recently when the hub started slipping, then recently a blown tube. While trying to replace the tube myself by watching a few YouTube videos, and failing miserably, I decided it's high time I actually start to learn more about something I enjoy so much.

While chatting with the bike folks at REI who were replacing my tube for me they informed me my wheels were irregular and would be tough to find - and I definitely need some new ones. So I am currently in the market for a new bike - anyone have any experience with bikesdirect.com? Looking at a few of the low range price single speeds.

I am also interested in getting into more multi-gear road cycling - I grew up on the NH border and would love to do some long rides, but it's nearly impossible on my city commuter single speed.

I hope to learn and contribute a lot to these forums. Thanks for reading!

Hello Greg and welcome to Bike Forums!

Do a search on bikesdirect, and you will find a LOT of threads on them, their business model and the bikes they sell. You will also find it's somewhat a heated discussion topic in here. By the way, what does "irregular" mean with your current bike tyres? Odd size?

--J

They are 27 1/4 I believe - I guess they don't make these much anymore and are tough to find.