I know it's comparing apples to oranges, but my Kilo was stolen, and I have about $400 to spend on its replacement. Originally, I was just going to grab one of the un-branded Kilos off Bikes Island, but I've been a bit interested in some of the Spartons I've seen. I've heard mixed reviews, but I love the look. Any opinions?

kilo is better

what is a spartan? I never heard of it.

https://search.stores.ebay.com/sparto...2em118Q2el1248

I like the lugged construction of the Sparton. I did some searching and it appears that they have a road geometry. The Kilo is not as pretty and cheaper tubing/construction but it has a rear brake hole and rack mounts. Things to consider there...

a) spartons do this

b)

a) jackassery on a bike not intended for jumps begets broken parts on any bike
b) asinine

I don't intend on any 180s anytime soon.

i love my sparton alot
i had trouble building it tho, but i went through it pretty easy

I ride a 58cm Sparton and it's quite decent, I also had a Spicer which was just a Kilo. Comparing those 2 the Kilo built up easier, was lighter and more responsive and also came with a 1 1/8 headset. Don't get fooled by the pretty colors of Sparton.

elaborate.

Track bikes are not made for freestyle BMX tricks. A basic understanding of simple physics should make that amply clear.

I have to say, the craftsmanship on the Spartons has certainly come a long way since the original "batch" was found on ebay. The paint and fit and finish sucked hard then but these newer ones look halfway decent for $290.

oh come on, since when did BFSSFG members stop getting BFSSFG inside jokes?

...you guys need to lurk more

Why is it so hard to build up? The only problem I can see is the 26.0 seat post, and I can get one at my lbs for cheap.

QFT

If you want to do tricks get some straight gauge heavy steel bike, not double butted dedacciai.
Now if the fork snapped in a race (Vivalo anyone?), then there would be a case.

search these forums and you will find A LOT of posts complaining about spartons and their inherent build-up difficulties.

^Inherent Build up difficulties? By searching these forums you might also find that the people making those complaints are "inherently" useless. Installing a Bottom Bracket/headset wouldn't be any more "difficult" on a Sparton frame than on a Kilo.

the issues mentioned are in reguards to headset facing, and bottom bracket chasing and facing. The frames also have been known to have other issues such as missalignments, ect. It seems like they just have low quality control

Kilo.

What sort of issues? Just that it needs it done? I think that it's fairly standard to have to face, chase, and ream a new frame.

Alignment is another story of course.

If I recall correctly the issues were that the BB had to be chased (or however you spell it) and that some of the threads on the forks were messed up. Other than that, I don't recall any inherent problems other than perhaps the folks building the bikes were inexperienced.

Check out the Bikeisland thread and you will see that a few of the Bikeisland Kilo TTs came with forks that were too short and one guy got a shipment of parts rather than a frameset.

So, yeah.

wasn't the original batch also like $175 shipped or something? not $300. you could get an alien for $50 more and get good geometry and (probably) better craftsmanship

or you could get the kilo: tried true and tested to be a decent, lighter, more responsive frame for less money.

unless you want dem lugzzzzz

For those of you interested. I was talking to the guy at Sparton, and asked if they might be getting any frames with different geometry. He said for $350, you can get a custom frame, with geometry to your liking.

That video proves jack. Except that the bike is not designed to be a freestyle bikes used by noobs who do not know how to properly bust a 180. If you want to be the new Dizz Hicks grab a bmx bike/cruiser and get your flat land on. Spartan makes a decent lugged track bike for the money and they have gotten better since there first batch. They have tubing options and custom builds for $350. Plus, Mike from Terrafirma is in colaboration with Jorge from Sparton from what I have been told. Mike if you are on here can you confirm this?