Quality/Cost Advice
 

Hi

I'm looking at one of the bikes below. Looking for advice related to quality & cost. Will be using for leisure, to/from work on occasion. No real long rides over 20+ miles. Don't want to go with the cheapest, if I'd end up wanting to swapping out pedals or other items. Rather just pay the higher price for the better quality within reason. Any thoughts/recommendations would be appreciated.

6KU Fixie -$200
Big Shot - Havanna - $300
State Bicycle - Rigby - core line -$300
Golden Bicycles- Abigail -$?
Retrospec- Harper - $219
Pure Cycles - Pure Fix -$400

Thanks

If one or more of those are sold by a Bike Shop that is Local to you (an LBS), I’d recommend buying whatever they sell in a color that you dislike the least.

Buying from them makes any services that have to be done (whether you’re either less than mechanically apt or you just have too many better things to do than wrench on a bike) less unpleasant all around.

If your closest bike shop is over an hour’s drive away, I’d highly recommend ponying up a smidge more and get something from a bigger brand that “makes” all types of bikes like Trek, Raleigh, Specialized, or Surly. They’ll be easier to deal with in the rare event that something goes wrong.

I would avoid the Retrospec. The State or the Pure Fix are of better quality; I'm not familiar with the others. Around here, fixies are abundantly available on Caigslist, and you could buy something of much higher quality than any of those listed for not much more cash.

I'd go with a state bike. It's 4130 chromoly and has sealed bearing hubs. The rest of them are either hi-ten steel or have loose bearings.

I wonder whether this one should be in the running. CR-MO frame and has nice, big tires for a variety of surfaces.
https://www.citygrounds.com/collecti...31658476699759

I actually like the look of that Crew Defender.
But I have a feeling the parts spec will disappoint as cruelly and quickly as the stock parts on a kilo tt.

I have had a State bike for a couple years. (sorry I don't remember the model) I replaced the stock cog immediately and the stock tires were garbage that got thrown out within the first few rides. It has been a good bike since.

The stock parts on a Kilo TT are much better than those on the Crew Defender. Look at the steel crank with the non-removable tiny steel chainring. Or look at the cheap tires. How about the cheap sidepull single pivot brake calipers, great I guess if you don't need to stop quickly. Even though it is a chromoly frame doesn't mean it will be particularly lightweight. It has a lot of heavy components, and chromoly isn't always butted, so it can also be heavy. And then there's the sizing choices, just two sizes SM/MD and LG/XL.

You need to be careful when you buy something from City Grounds, they sell really low end stuff like the hiten SE Draft coaster I bought from them 8 years ago. Out of the box it weighed over 26 lbs, even though it is a tiny 43cm frame with 650c wheels.

Yeah, as much as I like the look of the bike, I’m pretty sure it would be a little bit of a disappointment in real life.
Especially if the parts are as crummy as we all suspect.

And, jeeze, they’d have to be pretty bad to beat the kilo tt parts spec in general crappiness. The last one I built up, the saddle started peeling within days. Three weeks later, I had to rebuild the rear hub. Then I had to replace the bottom bracket. After that, I just swapped out the cranks, pedals, and wheels on general principle. The stem, handlebars and headset too.
The frame’s okay, tho.

You bring up a great point. The tubing might be straight-gauge and a boat anchor. I just listed it because it looked like a decent geometry and can handle larger tires. I didn't spend a lot of time looking at the components. I could tell the cranks were cheap, but I didn't realize they were that cheap. I think I'd pass on it knowing that.

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