i've beat this bike for nearly 4 years. it was turning brown. i gave her a bath today, repacked the headset, and the paint, under the dried roadgrit/blood/greasydirt was chipped up as hell, but i forgot how nice the orange really is:

*****TY CELL PHONE PIC ALERT:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...g?t=1247952883

I don't see the Messenger on the BD website anymore.

if you google it you can get to it though and order it???? Is there a glitch in their site? Is the bike discontinued?

still there bro

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/trackbikes.htm

So I'm looking to put some wider tires (I'm running 23cc gatorskins now) with a little tread on my Messenger for the winter. I'm not looking to ride in the snow, I just want something a little wider for the sand cover streets around there after the first snow. For reference, I have a 28cc gatorskin which fits fine on the front and looks like it will fit fine on rear. Anyone go bigger?

Roland

28mm was the biggest I could fit on the rear.

I gave up on gatorskins after I snapped a plastic tire lever and bent a steel lever trying to get the tire back on after changing a flat. I know a lot of people rave about them but I was unsatisfied and would not purchase them again. I hope you are having better luck with them.

I own 2 wheels (stock flip/flop and a 7 speed IGH wheel) and 5 sets of handlebars (road drops, dirt drops, flat bars, bullhorns, and these northroad cruiser bars) so I have a lot of options for my messenger. Last night I got bored and switched things up to make a 'tarckish' townie bike by swapping the wheel back to the freewheel and addding the northroad cruiser bars. I know this bike will never be a 'real' townie but it's amazing how different the geometry feels going from ridign hoods stretched out over the front wheel to a hand position that is 10" further back with the back-swept northroad bars. This thread doesn't see much action anymore so I felt this was worth posting:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...yan/Townie.jpg
Yes, that is a carbon seat post, because all townies need at least a little composite material.

So the Messenger doesn't come fixed gear :( What are the best parts to add to make it fixed? Bikesdirect suggested these:
http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ils&ProdID=572
http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ils&ProdID=333

Are there cheaper/better ones to be found elsewhere online or locally?

Thanks in advance,
J

Hey so I know this thread has not been updated in a while, but after reading through the whole thing twice (!), I have decided to go for the Messenger. However, I can't decided on size. I'm 5'7" 1/2 and inseam is around 30 to 30.5 inches. I know some people who were similar heights got either the 52 cm or the 54 cm so I'm not sure. What do you guys recommend?

the messenger colors are awesome.

Looks like it only comes fixed with a flip/flop hub less a freewheel.

"15T Fixed Gear (1/2 x1/8) and LockRing or Flip/Reverse the wheel to add your own Freewheel (freewheel not included)"

mrhogghead, I'm where you are at on a SSFG, I have 2 bikes I'm the original owner of. A 1986 Fuji Allegro 12 speed, this road bike was $ 350 back in the day from a bike only shop that had 100's of them, which I wound up with the only Allegro they had, but certainly no more special than anything else of it's vintage. It's more than enough road bike for me. The mountain bike, a Fuji MX-200, late 1990's for $ 175 at Sport's Authority. Again, more than enough bike for me. After every ride, each gets cleaned and lubricated, I store them in a spare bedroom indoors. The track bike I'm considering is a Vilano and it's less expensive than the BD bikes. Anyway, take good care of it and do the maintenance and even a Wal-Mart bike will last forever.

A friend emailed me, he has a Motebecane road bike that he trains and runs triathlons with. He's happy with the bike, the performance and price. Is there one that shaves off time on his runs, certainly, but then again, maybe it's his improvement in fitness or another variable that makes the bike irrelevant ?

Back to a Vilano track bike, There are 3 velodromes in the SE USA that I've read about on-line, one is outdoors and 15 miles from me @ Brian Piccolo Park in Broward county. If there are only 3 tracks around me, why am I looking at a FG ? Because certainly I'd be smarter to use the free wheel SS flip flop application and ride it as a courier/messenger bike ? And that's why I want the track bike, the duality of it's application. The Vilano will be $ 270 delivered, $ 40 is S&H. My rule of thumb, don't pay more than $ 350 for something that can be like the Nicolas Cage movie, "Gone in 60 Seconds". BTW, I went to the local cycle shop, looked at 2 bright yellow Schwinn Madisons and a Giant Bowery 72, @ 600+ each. I didn't see paint or framework that was any better than the Fuji's I own for a fraction of the price. Components weren't any better either. Some of it's obviously newer stuff, but I'll be honest, as clean as I keep & maintain my bikes, the aluminum shimano and sugino components are virtually brand new and it's OEM standard issue on the Fuji's. I figure the Vilano will be just as meticulous an effort to maintain and should last too. I have another rule, others don't borrow or use my bikes, period. I don't let others even around them. Any bike I've ever had a problem with was borrowed out to a friend. Well your friends won't ever take care of your equipment, it's why they're borrowing your's in the first place. So buy the Motobecane, use it yourself and you shouldn't have any issues.

And if my bike weighs a couple of pounds more, guess I have to get in better shape. I've passed a lot of folks on higher end bikes with the one's I have, been passed too by higher end equipment. At the end of the day, take some of the garbage off a Wal-Mart bike and it gets lighter too, get in better shape and a 10 mile commute is nothing. I'm up to riding 30-40 miles every other day with less and less effort with bikes under $ 350. The MM will do that too, I have no doubt of that.

Bump. Has anyone recently purchased a Moto Messenger in the 43cm size? I was interested in a Windsor Hour in 43cm, but they have been OOS for a long time now, and the Messenger appears to have similar geo. The Windsor Clockwork geo is quite different, so I've rulled it out. How does the quality of the welds and paint compare between the Moto and the Windsor? Any issues with frame/fork alignment? I plan to run as fixed with front brake only, so I don't care about the lack of rear brake cable guides. Thanks for any experiences you wish to share.

Almost two years, riding through snow, salt, and grime - no official tuneups outside of regular oiling the chain and freewheel - 1 in of grime on the frame, and still my daily rider... strong performance...