Which bike to get?
 

I've been reading about how great it is to ride a fixie and how it helps your pedal stroke and improves your road riding abilities and I'm sold. Plus, it'd be nice to have a bike in the stable that I can just jump on and ride.

But which bike? I think I'd prefer something like the IRO Jamie Roy over a dedicated track bike. Are there other bikes like IRO that I've missed? Are the Lemond Fillmore or the Fisher Triton worth a look? And if I did order an IRO, which upgrades are worth it? The upgraded wheelset seems to be a good idea but I know nothing about anything else.

not quite sure, but as far as I know, the wheelset is the only upgrade available through IRO. but I could be mistaken. If you read other IRO threads you will find nothing but good things about them

edit: you might want to check out the KHS flite 100 or binachi pista if you havent already

Do any of your local shops carry anything fixed? As nice as this forum can be, nothing anybody on the internet says can compare to a test ride.

Off the peg or roll your own? If you have something that'll convert, that might be a good option. Unless $ isn't a limiting factor - then a whole bike is easy enough.

I haven't seen anything at the bike shops here to test ride. Occasionally they'll get a track bike on order or a singlespeed mountain bike.

I've got nothing to convert to fixed and the bike shops here don't carry used bikes except one place has some expensive used Colnago and Sano frames. I can spend up to 1k.

The geometry of the track bikes is more aggressive than my road bike, particularly with the track bars. I like the looks of the bullhorn bars and the moustache ones and they look like they'd ease the agressiveness of the track frame.

The change in geo is certainly noticeable. My first few rides on the Pista freaked me out a bit, but now that I'm used to it, no handed is as easy as on the other bikes I have.

I'm beginning to dislike Pista drops. I might go back to aeros.

Co-Motion has one, too...

http://www.co-motion.com/streak.html

edit - holy **** - $2400

"Plus, it'd be nice to have a bike in the stable that I can just jump on and ride."

do you own a bike on which you cant do this?

hey, i have several bikes i have to assemble before i can ride them....;)

i think (maybe?) he's just referring to lower maintenance. there is, after all, less to break/go wrong on a fixie (though most of us have broken plenty, i'm sure).

Man, Huntsville Alabama. Not many fixies there I'll bet. You're going to have to travel to get on one. But also check out Soma, Surly and of course ebay. Plenty of bikes on ebay at all kinds of price points.

This is uber-geek town, USA. We've got NASA and the Redstone Arsenal and all their defense contractors plus the second largest research park in the country. Can't swing a cat without hitting an engineer. If there are any messengers in town they probably drive BMW's. Bike shops sell a ton of road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid/comforts. Old guys get their recumbent fix from Birmingham or Nashville. Fixies come in by Fedex.

Check out the Jamis Sputnik and Redline 9-2-5 also.

IRO doesn't really sell a true track geometry bike. The steel Mark V is actually rather similar geometry to traditional road racing with a higher bb.

On mine, I feel the need to pretty much upgrade everything. The stem was pretty flexy, and the seatpost would not hold the rails of my Selle SLR. The wheelsets (even the basic) are solid. I am not a huge fan of the formula hubs, but I think that is a minority opinion around here.

Oh, and the FSA headset seems just fine. I see no reason to spend the extra hundred on a king.

+1 on the Sputnik. If you have 1k to spend, that wouldn't be such a bad way to spend less than that (for off the peg).

Thanks for the input, I've got lots of bikes to consider now.

IRO is a great great company and tony is perhaps the nicest man in the world.

Everyone is making a track bike/fixie/njs commuter/singlespeed with a flipflop this year.

Ignore the new guys, Tony has been in it for a while. Go with him, or at least compare like with like.

oh, yeah. And then go with IRO!

+1 for IRO...i got mine last december and i love it...As far as upgrades u can get the king headset, a brake (not a bad idea, but you make your own decision), the wheelset, mks pedals and straps, nitto bars, etc. a new mark V with a brake should run you about $600 with shipping

get a jamie roy. i have one and ride it every single day. i love it like a son. i have about 2k miles on it and nary a problem. get one and thank me later.:) :D :) :D :)

I think if you're not going to ride on a track, a fixie with road geo makes more sense. Don't have to deal with toe overlap as much. Unless you like that kind of thing. But, really, some people like the aggressiveness of a track bike on the street.