I'm getting ready to take the plunge on a fixed gear bike after riding a crappy SS-conversion for the better half of last summer. Now the cycling scene in finland isn't that evolved yet, the only model i can find in a shop here is the Langster, and aluminium just doesn't do it for me.

After browsing most of the online shops in europe, the one that makes most sense to me is Alien Bikes of Norway.

I had never heard of this company, I can't find any reviews or testimonials anywhere and the hompage, although listing a few specs, doesn't offer enough information for me o make a definite desicion. I have emailed them and they did answer, but I'd like to get some user opinions as well, so if anyone owns one of these things, or har tried one then please write a few lines describing it.

It's odd that they have no pictures of their frames, and all their photos are from an italian cycling groups website. It's hard to say. I don't trust it.

i agree with 128. it's weird that there are no pics.
i would try and go see one, visit the shop, but they seem pretty nice (if they are legit)... i'd take one

anything that comes from the factory fluorescent yellow and pink have gotta be the ****.

Sketchy

I'd like to go visit the shop and try one, but it's two countries away and outside the european union wich means I'd need to get a passport and spend more on travels than the bike itself costs. Not really an option. Do we have any Norwegian members who could shed some light on this company?

Btw, the guy who replied to my email did have an italian last name, could explain something about the pics from the italian group.

there is probably a pretty straightforward reason that they don't have pictures yet -- they haven't received the framesets and parts from the factory yet. they have obviously spec'd the build, but probably haven't actually seen any of the bikes yet. indeed, the site says that they will have them in jan/feb 2006. i am not 100% sure that i'd trust the company, but my reason isn't due to a lack of photos. even the ever-praised iro didn't have any pictures of the angus up for a very long time.

That makes some sense. I googled the guys name and found some bikerelated newsgroup-messages and a gmail adress registered with his name (don't want to put it out here) wich seems slightly reassuring.

https://204.73.203.34/fisso/ <-- rotafixa, italian cycling group.

check https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005...hantomEcho.htm

thats a pretty nice looking bike there, and from finland. he mentions a shop there, perhaps you could track them down and call them and get some help, or email the owner of the bike.

Now THIS is interesting :-D I'm calling that shop later today, from their homepage(sorry, in Finnish: https://www.chebici.fi/index.html) they seem to know what they are doing.

it makes me think of the frankenstein bike works alpha track frame you see on ebay all the time. i saw someone on myspace the other day with one, and it made me laugh.

Well, I ended up ordering a bike from Chebici. After customs-fees and VAT the Alienbike 001 would have been too expensive to make sense. I have to mention that the guy was very cool about it, and even offered me a cut price deal wen I emailed to cancel my order. So norwegian fixies, check him out.

The bike I'm getting is very much like this one: https://www.bc-hellsinki.com/images/z...u_sannino2.jpg

But fitted with a road fork drilled for a brake, so it accepts 700C wheels insted of 650C as it originally did. Miche components except for the headset and brake (shimano 105 and sora respectively), 32 spoke wheels with miche track hubs and Mavic MA3 rims.

I'll be throwing on some stuff from my parts bin to save a bit, bar and quill from my SS and so on.

Thats a fine looking ride, good going! Make sure you post pictures somewhere on this forum.

i think we just had a thread around here about putting a 700 fork on a 650 frame... might check it out.

The bike that onetwentyeight linked to is almost the same as mine, and has a 700C fork. Also, I'm not venturing out on my own, the shop is bulding the bike up for me.

glad it worked out!

Me too, can't wait for the bike to get here(and the #"&¤ snow and ice to f*** off) so i can wreak some havoc in my sleepy little town. onetwentyeight, I think I owe you a pint :-)

Well, uhh.. next time I'm in finland...

Can you give us a price?

630 Euros. Definitely not cheap, but I expect the quality and workmanship to be top notch and its still 70 euros less than a Langster. And they offered me free shipping.

Damn.. those frames look hot... MUCH better than the alphas. I see em EVERYWHERE here in philly... not impressed at all.

Edit: What is the mechanical advantage to a curved top tube like that?

That fixed geared bike makes me visually drunk.