wanting gears...
 

hey

so i'm taking the plunge and looking for a road bike to add to my collection. the fixie is great for commuting, but i recently rode up to twin peaks on a pretty lax gear (46x19) and it was still pretty hellish. thinking its time to add some gears to the mix

any suggestions for good, fun, responsive road bikes in the sub $800 range? i missed an auction for an 80's schwinn paramount which would've been awesome.. but im open to any suggestions

i see a lot of motobecene's on ebay too but on the road bike forum claims these arent so great. a local bikeshop also has a cheap deal on this ($800 new though im not a big fan of the 'compact' geometry type bikes): http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/...27_Dream_l.jpg

thoughts?

yuck...it's a triple

It's really funny to me that there's a whole segment of the population whose first experience on a bike as an adult is on a fixed gear. It's not a bad thing at all. Just makes me feel old.

But to answer your question, Craigslist.

don't discount compact geometry...i dunno if you have a track frame or not, but they're both pretty similar, and compact geared bikes can be as responsive as track bikes.

anyway, since i started fixed, coasties have been dead to me, so i don't really know what's good. i had a used specialized allez comp that was a pretty nice ride.

hehe

actually i grew up on bikes. used to pretty much spend ALL day after school on my bmx when i was in elementry. then got into veledrome when i was 15 (after school activities basically). once in college, i got more into MTB stuff, then moved to vancouver where downhill/MTB was huge..

now ive gone back to fixed as my commuter.. but climbing the big peaks in SF is a bit challenging w/o gears. i want to get a road bike just for long sport rides....

-a

here's my two cents on the matter. Buy an older, cheap roadie and use the money you save to upgrade the components/ put STI style shifters on it/ put decent modern, light wheels on. You'll be in under the price for a hooked up new road bike and you'll have a great ride that might be slightly heavier than a contemporary frame.

Plus, you can run a quill stem on it to keep true to your old school track roots.

Or they only ever rode el cheapo generic mountain bike. I am convinced this is a large portion of the militantly pro-fixie faction. If you go from riding a pos mountain bike around town to a decent fixed gear of course its going to feel nicer and smoother.

I disagree diregarding problems with the rear spacing there are still alot of expense in modernizing an old road bike.
nice old road bike: 450
sti shifters:150
wheels: 200
rear derailer: 20
cassette: 30
chain: 20
cables: 20
brake pads: 20
tires: 40
chainrings: 30
bartape: 10
tubes: 5
total: 965

For that price you could get a pretty nice new or almost new bike.

Personally, for a bike to do alot of more extensive and aggressive riding, I would stay away from older vintage road bikes. They look great, but weight and parts availability can become quite bothersome.

You can still find newish steel bikes. I'm riding a Spec Allez comp that is steel and its just a few years old. I think mercier makes a reasonable steel frame too. If nothing else, just get a no name frame for cheap off ebay and do your own build. Thats what INKDWHEELS did and he got a great bike and nice deal once all was paid for.

Bianchi uses Reynolds 631 on a lot of their road frames. I saw some last week that looked pretty nice.

I agree if you're pushing a fixed up the mountains now, you probably don't need or want a triple. I ride a Fuji Cross for my Road/All rounder. Nice light (by my standards) aluminum bike that can take a beating.

I've built quite a few Trek Pilot's at work and they seem like a fairly decent, lower-end road frame.

I disagree. For aggressive riding (as in racing) it makes sense to go with a modern bike for the weight savings and shifting convenience, but for long distances or daily riding I would rather have a nice old bike. Thanks to the internet, finding parts is not the issue it used to be. Older parts are not as desireable by weight weenies, and therefore usually cheap unless they have some kind of collector/fetish value.

Check out the under $700 road bike thread on the Road Forum. Plenty of good choices.

hit up craigslist man, there are a lot of people who buy a road bike and let it sit for a couple years without riding because they are no longer into it. their loss, your gain. my road bike was like 450 used, you can see it here. if you are just using the bike for training i would go for something a little newer, just because of the availability of parts and bikes. if you want to use it as a bike to get around in as well, i would probably go the older route, since it will be a little less prone to theft due to not being as flashy, and would also be a bit more durable.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - three-speeds are the best geared bikes for people accustomed to fixies. Lace an old SA hub to a new rim, throw it on the best frame you can find, and you're ready to rock. Fewer components to maintain and less shifting to think about.

The Trek 1200 is in that range and although not that unique is a solid bike. Also you might want to look at Giant. I have been really impressed recently by how they are specing their bikes- about the best parts per dollar on the market today.

Oh, and don't forget about Felt, if you have a dealer around you...I am not sure they are as good of a value as they used to be, but still a good choice. You should be able to get an f80 in your price range.

ya. i really like the older/vintage style frames... but finding them in great condition isn't always easy. the big advantage to a vintage bike is that i actually *don't* like the STI shifters.... would prefer the older style on the toptube (it's just what i'm used to... plus theres something nice about reaching down pedalstroke)

i saw the $700 road bike forum which is what brought me to the specialized. its basically the only new, non-alum bike that i can stand looking at (barely, since its compact geometry).

i might have to go for it.

thanks
-a

hmm..

this seems like another approach: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/awfixed.html

anyone here ride a multi-speed fixed?

Why are you asking this here, it would seem the road forum would be a better place.

Oh and for the record, I like my Moto a whole lot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...icture1629.jpg

Check CL, there are 1,000,001 Allez and Treks out there. At that price range people buy it and never ride it, no need to pay retail.

I agree though, if you like the old stuff find a nice fuji or whatever and hook it up. $200 should get you the frame and probably stem/bars/cranks and some other useful bits.

Hating on compact geometry is the new pesto. Looks, whatever, but if you can tell the difference once on the bike you're either on a crappy bike, making stuff up, or you should get back to training for the TDF or building waterfords. Head tube length has 1,000 times more to do with all relevant variables in the frame, too bad the necessary evil of sizing makes it no fun to argue about on the internet.

3 speed retrofits on roadies = pending trend. Hell, even I'm building one...

haha.. let me know how it goes. seems like a good intermediary solution (3speed fixed rear end or even a double up front w/ a chain tentioner). i just hate too many cables

You should be able to get this for way under $800:

http://tinyurl.com/lyss4

It's got more class than anything in the same price range you could buy new. If you get tired of it, you could part it out and make a nice profit. That model replaced the PX10 and has way better components.

I have to admit that I'm partial to vintage French road bikes.

I was talking about S-A 3 speeds, so no fixed unless you do that insane sheldon mod. Although...

Some guy asked about flip flops and multispeed and stuff over in the mechanics forum the other day and I suggested some madness, which I may just have to build. 2 chainrings set real close, so that 9 or 10 speed chain barely clears, with a FD and a tensioner. Then set up a flip flop rear slightly offset so that the chainline was right in between the chainrings on the freewheel side, and perfect on the larger chainring on the fixed side. Then nail the chain length so that you can run fixed like normal with the chain tensioner out of the way. Bingo, fixed gear for fun, 2 speed freewheel for lazyness. Takes a FD and some cabling, but I suggested using one of those biga$$ single lever stem shifters off of a 1x6 suburban, wouldn't look any less clean than a 3 speed.

I guess maybe the narrow chain wouldn't be the best idea strength-wise, but if you started breaking chains you could just add a little space between the chainrings and go with regular stuff.

But yeah, I need some kind of beater multispeed rig because I'm looking at a long commute with a lot of wind. Definitely going to be some kind of frankenmonster, either something like this or a 3 speed rear with aero bars (bwahahahahaha...)

Good way to not save money is to buy STI. Same deal with "light wheels".

i vote for the allez. it seems a good fit for your needs and you'll appreciate the service at your local shop.