whatsham

hey everybody.im new to the forums!
basically i have been riding a friends fixie and have decided to go about getting my own.

i am living in ireland and want to spent in and around 600.
the bikes i have looked at are the giant bowery and the specialised langster.
anybody know what bike would be a better buy?

cheers

dayvan cowboy

i test rode the bowery and I didn't really like it. That was just personal preference, the guy didn't really tell me anything about the bike when I was in the store, so i'm no expert.

And i don't like the way it looks.

Suttree

google these and check em out

Surly Steamroller
KHS Flite 100
Mercier
IRO Cycle
Kona Paddy Wagon

My suggestion to you is to read up on frame geometry and then go ride
bikes with different geometries. See what you want. Don't pull the trigger
without making a decision based on some time testing out diff. bikes.
Decide if you care about frame material. Steel or aluminum. Also do you
want a good frame that you will put your own components on or a good all-around
starter bike, requiring minimal or no upgrades. Read up on the components.
Use the search function to see what people have to say about __ headset, stem, cranks, wheels,
hubs.

Think about stuff like do you want a sloping top tube cause it does ___ magical thing for your
bike or do you want a more classic horizontal, or near horizontal tt. Endless decisions,
google and sheldon brown are your friend.

whatsham

thanks for the advice.
ive considered the paddywagon too...how does that compare to the giant or langster?
those are the three bikes i have seen stocked here commonly.
basically i want an all round good starter bike with need for minimal upgrades.
most of the above bikes in the post above this are not commonly available here and would cost a good bit to order in as a once off.
does anybody happen to know any uk retailers who ship internationally??

djeucalyptus

what type of riding are you looking to do? that makes a big impact on bike choice. What else are you taking into consideration when looking at different bikes? and it's hard to begin to suggest a bike without providing us with a bit more info first.

whatsham

im looking to cycle about 10k to college everyday through the city and back and perhaps get into messaging during the summer.

im currently cycling a very old raleigh bike and its coming to the end of its carreer!

Suttree

+1 if you want to get skidding and skipping all things considered
a shorter wheel base and a fork with less rake is better. If you
want a bike for off-season training and riding long distances or
long periods of more relaxed geometry is good.

Charlesbian

for a first timer, no toe overlap and brake mounts are key things to look for

curiousincident

Really? I guess it would be nice, but I'd like to think that would be something most people can learn on the fly - it's usually only an issue at slow speeds and with small frames anyways. I 100% agree about brakes though.

doofo

can the word fixie please be added to the banned word list

im not normally one for censorship but this is getting a little out of control

sheesh

whatsham

haha.sorry mate

Charlesbian

i was going to say get used to it as well, but i thought it better to ease him into fixed gears with something more relaxed like an IRO or something. Then again, no time to learn like the present.

curiousincident

True. I'm used to the fixed gear newbies around here, which is a good 50% of the fixed riders I know, being the ones who are all *******s about riding brakeless. As an example, a picture of me on my bike when it was first set up with a brake popped up on facebook and within 24 hours I had 3 comments to the effect of "take off that brake *****!" It's pretty annoying.

So what I'm saying is that I'm used to toe overlap being the least of these kid's problems.

nateintokyo

brakes = great!

whatsham

im only asking for some advice on entry level bikes....



you guys are very lame.








im sure your bikes are superb.

Mofopotomus

Aww you're so nice. It's all good man just understand that Fixed Gear riders are just like Roadies and Mtn. Bikers. Each have their own different weird traits. Anyhow both the bikes you listed are good bikes and it's going to be hard for me to recommend anything else because you live in Ireland and frankly I don't know how much of a ***** it would be to get a Surly or something of that like over there.

Between the Langster and the Bowery I would choose the Langster because it looks to me like the parts it comes with are better. Specifically the wheels. Call me paranoid but Specialized lists an Alex rim where as Giant lists a "Alloy Double wall, 36H". That and I like Specialized. They make very fine bicycles.

RapeVan

Maybe I have lost it somewhere in this thread but do you have a LBS? If so, why not mosey on down there and give a couple different bikes a try. Or is this not an option?

whatsham

i have been to several shops....8 approx,but they all seem to order to peoples needs rather than have a range of fixed gear bikes/sizes in stock.its quite irritating actually!thanks for the help though.

Suttree

If you have to take a shot in the dark and just
order go with a Surly Steamroller complete.
Maybe pay a local shop to figure out which size you
need and then go online to see who will ship
it the cheapest. Order from the Poms or something-
cheaper = closer?

whatsham

does anyone know of any online shops that would ship a complete bike to ireland?