|
I have a San Jose coming in this week. They are sometimes coming with the Pista wheelset now; the "Alex Solo" variety. The last one that hit my LBS had a fixed/free rear hub, straight off the Pista. Of course it only came with a freewheel.
I'm hoping mine is setup the same, I'm going to add a cog and ride off into the sunset. Er, sunrise. (it will be my new commuter, too; replacing the Bowery). |
Re: Marinoni
friend of mine got one (Pista zona). total custom job ordered through that dealer in Toronto. http://www.bikespecialties.com/bikes.html full custom Geo. Beautiful paintjob (they have tons of choices) you can get it pretty darn plain if you want. Marinoni only insists on his 'signature' on the top tube. Took about 3 months. My friend had his set up sorta 'road fixed' with a long headtube & water bottle mounts. He went for a carbon fork rather than the aluminum one. really nice bike |
rim choice for street riding
Can someone recommend some good rims for the street that aren't too pricey? I read somewhere that Deep-V rims were good for general street use. I would like something good for commuting on roads that sometimes have potholes.
|
Originally Posted by ducati
I have a San Jose coming in this week. They are sometimes coming with the Pista wheelset now; the "Alex Solo" variety. The last one that hit my LBS had a fixed/free rear hub, straight off the Pista. Of course it only came with a freewheel.
I'm hoping mine is setup the same, I'm going to add a cog and ride off into the sunset. Er, sunrise. (it will be my new commuter, too; replacing the Bowery). thanks for the heads up on that one. |
Originally Posted by dudeman
i liked my khs flight 100, but if i knew then what i know now, i probably would have bought something else. i think if your going to buy a new budget bike with the intent of upgrading the parts you should go with a pista.
I couldn't agree less I really like this frame and have since replaced everything on my mercier / khs it is quite stiff and quit comfortable and I tip the scales at 230 I am actually rebuilding this bike with a new frameset because I want to go threadless..... my only complaint is the hubs wore out in about a month other than that it is a great bike |
Originally Posted by Aeroplane
It was discussed in the Interbike thread, here are some thoughts:
1. Supposedly, SE Racing has been purchased by the same folks that own Mercier, Windsor, Motobecane, Dawes, et al. So, definitely a cheap bike. 2. One-piece cranks = super-cheap, and for the most part unsealed. However, you can easily upgrade to Profiles or other blingin' BMX cranks to make it look ultra-dope. 3. Nobody has said that it's fixed yet... I would bet on it simply being a flatbar SS. 4. Seatpost is in the style of ultra-cheap BMX-style clamp, another ridiculous place to save money, but they did it. 5. As has been the case with other BMX-centric companies who put out a cheap bike of another genre (redline *cough* *cough*: It might be just supercheap BMX hubs, in other words, 110mm rear spacing. I am sorry but I do beleive that the khs/mercier .... fuji/windsor ..... and dawes are all three made by different manufacturing companies in taiwan and I don't see how the draft has one peice cranks without having an american bottom bracket shell i.e. a one peice sized bb shell |
Originally Posted by vinnydelnegro
granted these are very similar bikes, but i don't think they are identical. the most obvious difference is the cranks. also, the fuji track has formula hubs with alex rims. the windsor has trackspec? hubs and drx2000? rims. while these might be the same, i question the logic of not listing the well recognized name brands for these parts. the last difference that i noticed (and this may not be a difference at all) is the tube material. windsor specifies their frames as 4130 while fuji calls theirs Fuji Elios 2 custom butted Cro-Moly. These materials may just be the same thing. Other parts on these bikes are either identical or cannot be differentiated from the respective webisites.
reminds me of a conversation i had with a guy out here that runs his own mobile bike shop. he told me that performance cycles is so big that they can special order bikes from major brands like fuji and others. these special order bikes, often referred to as "limited editions", have cheaper bottom brackets, hubs and other parts. most people can't tell a difference and think they are getting an amazing deal, but they are actually getting a slightly different and cheaper bike. i'm not 100% sure that this is true, but it sounds similar to what bikesdirect does....except they just put their own name on the bike. from what i can tell, the bike is very similar, but not identical. the price difference is something like $140, so it could be worth it. i'm not trying to criticize bikesdirect or anything. they offer great deals. however, if i was choosing a fixed gear, i would want to know that the rear hub, cog, lockring were solid. these are the most important parts on the bike in my opinion. the formula hub on the fuji seem preferable to me over the no name hub on the windsor. as for the cog and lockring, can't tell if they are different. just my opinion....you guys are free to tell me how off base i am.:) sorry to say but the frames are the same |
Originally Posted by Retem
I am sorry but I do beleive that the khs/mercier .... fuji/windsor ..... and dawes
are all three made by different manufacturing companies in taiwan and I don't see how the draft has one peice cranks without having an american bottom bracket shell i.e. a one peice sized bb shell It does have an american bottom bracket shell, that's what I was pointing out by saying that it has one-piece cranks. With an American BB shell, it's easy to find blinging BMX parts to put in it, since a lot of BMX bikes use the same shell. |
Originally Posted by ducati
I have a San Jose coming in this week. They are sometimes coming with the Pista wheelset now; the "Alex Solo" variety. The last one that hit my LBS had a fixed/free rear hub, straight off the Pista. Of course it only came with a freewheel.
I'm hoping mine is setup the same, I'm going to add a cog and ride off into the sunset. Er, sunrise. (it will be my new commuter, too; replacing the Bowery). hope i get lucky. |
Originally Posted by Surferbruce
just got off the phone with bianchiusa and basically it sounded like the factory mistakenly boxed up some san jose's with pista wheels. he said the bike should come as spec'd with the freehub but right now it's a crap shoot because they don't know how many boxed in the warehouse have the fixed wheel. he did say if it came fixed they would replace with a freewheel if i wanted but not the other way around.
hope i get lucky. So as long as it has the Pista hub, you're in business. Supposedly the '07s should come with the SOLO wheelset, anyway, although the latest Green one at my LBS did NOT (it had the old Alex ACE 19's). So I'm betting Bianchi is right: the factory just started churning out SOLOs for the Pista... Hopefully all with Pista flipflops. I'm betting if your (and my) San Jose's come in with Solo wheelsets, we'll be in business. Here's to hoping :D Mine should be at the LBS now, I'll stop in to check on it if I have time, and post the result. |
how is the tubing on these various bikes? I've gone through 2 frames in the last few months for various reasons and I'm looking for something a bit burlier rather than lighter. I had a Standard Steel Spicer frame fold up on me in a crash, do you think it was because the tubing was kind of thin? (fork was bent all over and bends in the TT and DT) Yesterday, I flicked the top tube of a pista on a bike rack and it seemed a bit more heavy duty than how my spicer felt. What's the deal? Different tubing types? What's going to take a beating better? (boston seems to beat on bikes)
|
hi
The following message was started in a new thread without seeing this one... I was pointed in this direction so I thought it best to reprint the original. I have read through the rest of the thread and got some great stuff but thought that I would add this just in case Hey everybody, I was looking for some help with a school project that I have to do (Memorial University In Newfoundland). I have to do a report for an imaginary company of my choosing. I have chosen to do a bike courier company. The Idea is that I have been put in charge of buying a fleet of bicycles for this imaginary company (I know that this is not realistic but it was the only way that I could do this stupid thing on bikes). Since I have to buy a number of bikes, I thought it best to buy an off the shelf bike, rather than custom build each. I have chosen four fixed gear bikes and was wondering if you could all voice your opinions on any or all of them. If you have ridden any of them, if you know people that own them, what you like, what you hate etc... The four bikes that I have chosen to look at are: 1. Kona Paddywagon 2. Giant Bowery 3. Surly SteamRoller 4. NYC Bikes CityFixed I appreciate anything that you guys could add. Any opinions that I use will be properly sited in the report. Thanks; Shawn |
1. Steel, good wheels, compact geo
2. AL, not as good wheels, compact geo 3. Steel, ? wheels, classic geo 4. AL, good wheels, compact geo Everything else is pretty much up to you. Keep in mind the Steamroller isn't available as a complete bike until next spring, so the components will vary. You should read the rest of this thread, I'm sure a lot of them have been discussed before. |
On the Bowery, if you did indeed read the thread and follow my link, you have my complete review. I disagree with the above poster Aeroplane about the quality of the Bowery's wheels. The Alex x2100's aren't fancy or flashy, but I found them to be nothing short of excellent. Straight as an arrow, really take a beating, nice machined rim surface for powerful braking, and the hubs (no name) spin forever. One of the better parts of the bike, actually.
|
Originally Posted by daship
(Memorial University In Newfoundland)
|
Originally Posted by ducati
hubs (no name)
|
Originally Posted by ducati
On the Bowery, if you did indeed read the thread and follow my link, you have my complete review.
|
I converted a Miyata 110 steel frame a few years ago and have been building it up since. I like the geometry of a road bike with the simplicity of a fixed.
My BIG concern is eventual failure. I am 6'2" 180lbs and ride pretty hard from time to time...and that the frame is more than 20 years old concerns me. I check the welds for cracks but am still terrified by a complete failure at some point (like around 25 mph on a street). What can I do to check the strength of the frame? Any suggestions? |
Because drinking and bikes go together like pedophiles and the internet:
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ewc3c/sefix.jpg |
Thnks for the pics.
|
that stout looks awesome.
|
Originally Posted by slim_77
I converted a Miyata 110 steel frame a few years ago and have been building it up since. I like the geometry of a road bike with the simplicity of a fixed.
My BIG concern is eventual failure. I am 6'2" 180lbs and ride pretty hard from time to time...and that the frame is more than 20 years old concerns me. I check the welds for cracks but am still terrified by a complete failure at some point (like around 25 mph on a street). What can I do to check the strength of the frame? Any suggestions? Just monitor the joints and around the joints for cracks. If you see a crack retire the frame. I've eventually cracked every steel frame I've ever owned, except the one I'm currently riding, and I was always able to find the crack long before it failed catastrophically. Mostly these have all been TIG welded BMX frames, but this year I cracked a low-end 80's bianchi road frame that I had set up as a beater fixie. I'm bigger than you 6'2" and 205 lbs. I rode the piss out of it for about 2200 miles and the bottom bracket shell finally started to crack. |
Originally Posted by powerames
I've looked through this thread a few times, and I can't find the "perfect" frame. I'm looking to build a fixie this summer, and I'd like a frame that's solid and on the lighter side, but where it gets tricky is that I'd like one that comes in a range of colors, with as few advertisements for the company on it as possible. Maybe I'd be better off buying one used, or painting one (but that never looks as good)... but if you guys could help that would be great. The sexiness of the bike is very important.
|
Originally Posted by mihlbach
Just monitor the joints and around the joints for cracks. If you see a crack retire the frame. I've eventually cracked every steel frame I've ever owned, except the one I'm currently riding, and I was always able to find the crack long before it failed catastrophically. Mostly these have all been TIG welded BMX frames, but this year I cracked a low-end 80's bianchi road frame that I had set up as a beater fixie. I'm bigger than you 6'2" and 205 lbs. I rode the piss out of it for about 1200 miles and the bottom bracket shell finally started to crack.
Man, I had a friend that didn't check and he ate it hard after a catastrophic failure...real hard. What about tapping the frame with a hammer to listen for odd reverberations? Is that just pi$$ing into the wind? |
Originally Posted by Surferbruce
bareknuckle?
great. thanks very much. |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:46 PM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.