jacobpriest

I have been riding road bikes since I was about 16, but in the last half year i have got into building tall bikes and other 'different' bikes. With this friends have turned me on to fixies. At first I was looking on craigslist, ebay, etc for a road frame but have had no luck finding anything in my area my size. About a week ago I noticed that Bikes Direct is making some pretty decent priced fixies. Does any one have any experience or advice on one of these three bikes?

Mercier kilo TT - $307+$40 shipping (sprtymama is BikesDirect's ebay name)

These next two are from CycleSpectrum bike shop in my dad's town (a division of bikedirect):
Motobecane Messenger - $395
or
Windsor Hour - $350

I know these bikes are not the highest quality, but for a first fixie thats premade, i figure its something that can be upgraded eventually.
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?
Any advice on these bikes would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

eddiebrannan

use this link and enter the bike names, you'll find plenty of useful information and useless opinion.

https://www.bikeforums.net/search.php

disregard all snarky responses that follow, and welcome

humancongereel

i'd suggest getting a cheap bianchi pista frame, since you can get those for 150 bucks...then spend the rest of your money on better wheels and bb/crankset than actually comes with any of those bikes.

just what i would do.

Phillio

or find a road frame for cheap and get good parts and eventually upgrade the frame

sr20det

zomg... search
now for the snarky response:

jacobpriest

i would live to see where you can get a pista frame for 150....... i have only found them for rediculous prices.

and i needed to be run all over for not being able to see the little blue button on the top of the page that says "search the forums" so thanks for that...ass...

eddiebrannan

oh you got off super-light, kid. just hit that search and don't seat it

yeah i don't think you could get a pista frame for $150. what size are you? i'm gonna be selling my bike fairly soon

zelah

get the mercier

jacobpriest

56cm

rvabiker

You've been here for less than a month and are already calling people dirty names? Have you ever used a forum before? Is the fact that you can search for info brought up in the past a new concept? Cool out some.

humancongereel

ebay, craigslist...i don't recall why i was looking, but browsing around, and 150-200 for the frame was the range i saw.

jacobpriest

Alot of old posts talked about how the components were crap and that hubs and cranks were breaking pretty fast. Do they just have ways of screwing people out of the lifetime warrenties that are suppose to be on these frames and components?

humancongereel

i dunno...i got mine second hand, and there's not much that's stock except the frame, so i don't know...that's part of why i suggest upgrading them anyway. as entry level track bikes, you can't expect them to be that great.

trons

theres no way theres a lifetime warranty on these things.

wangster

Chill the f**k out and search. He didn't say a brand new pista frame did he? you can get a pista frame for cheap if you look and are patient.

jacobpriest

when i called cyclespectrum, thats what they said. although, i imagine youre prob right. i bet they would say it was abused or something.

eddiebrannan

you're too big for my bike.

as has been said, the mercier's the best of that bunch. perfectly decent off the peg bike - not a deathtrap or a un-upgradeable POS.

and as for the "use the search" thing - after you've been on the board for a while you'll see how often your question comes up. "board etiquette" dictates that n00bs need to search frequently-asked questions, and yet n00bs don't know which which questions are frequently-asked. how's that for a catch-22?

thebankman

300 bones for a fixed bike plus 40 shipping for the Mercier looks to be a very good deal. As a starter bike, might as well start at this level and upgrade if anything breaks...I mean, why spend more on fancy light wheels when you can't guage what you need yet? BTW a Bianchi Pista fully built at a shop near me sells for $550, that is pretty outrageous if you ask me. Beautiful bike but the Mercier is pretty similar not to mention the two hundred extra saved can go towards tools and parts. I might just pick up one of those bikes as a fixed/SS starter...I'll spend the extra money on brakes.

Post a picture when you get it and tell us how the quality is!

jacobpriest

hahha thanks for the help.
still not sure what to do yet.

eddiebrannan

we know what they look like and how the quality is.
how much should a pista run in your view, mr appropriately-named bankman?

Aeroplane

Surprised nobody's mentioned the oft-parroted IRO. Cheap, good parts, and 10% off. They go on sale on Wednesday. www.irocycle.com

concernicus

yeah why not an iro? i would go with the mercier

goldener

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

thebankman

Well, considering you're paying the money for a frame and a couple cheap components, 550 is too much money. The Mercier above is basically the same thing less the fancy chrome paint work of the Bianchi. For a few bucks more than the Pista you could get a Trek 1000 complete with gears and brakes and an ugly paint job...maybe fifty bucks more?

And my screen name here has to do with my name, not my tax bracket unfortunately wish it were otherwise!

worker4youth

IMO, out of those 3, I'd get the Mercier. It's the best for the value, out of the three. I have one, and it rides great.