Expensive frames?
 

Just curious. I have now officially been off the cigs for one year and have promised myself the money I've saved to go for a bike. That was a bad grammar thing, I know. Anyway, what kind of bike would you recomend? Assuming you had roughly 2k to go for a bike. I'm not sure it will be a fix as I don't have a Mountain Bike and getting one is something I've been thinking about. So have at it! You have 2k in your pocket. What do you buy?

Vanilla
 

This could be a pretty long list....
Me personally, I'd probably go for a Waterford 'cross, as I've got a nice track, mt, and road bike already and Waterford makes a sweet custom steel bike.
If youre thinking about a moutain bike, I've always been a big fan of Ritchey and Breezer (I'm not sure if he makes mtbs anymore) if you're looking for steel.

don't listen to these guys...(not that they don't know what they are talking about, cuz they do!)..

because you should go to your LBS, look around, see what makes you drool, and reward yourself for quitting a nasty habit!!

good luck, and keep us posted..

randy

If I had 2k sitting around for a bike, I think an Independent Fab would be underneath my ass right now.

I'd talk with IF and have them recreate that one they have in the show circuit. Steel fork with one leg normal, the other side cross fork leg. Used so that they can run a disc brake on the big leg side. I know, I know, no brakes....but it looked so damn cool.....

Dave

2000 dollars
 

I think you would have to spend under 1000 for the frame in order to get the components and frame for under 2000. That is assuming you want better quality components and not bargain box stuff. Think Cinelli Olympic for the fixed. Classic design and great looks and ride if built up with Campy, Mavic, Phil Wood, Sugino or other high end components.. Don't know about the off road stuff. Road frames would probably be out of the price range when you consider the cost of components for a total price of 2000 for higher quality road stuff. Campy 10 Spd Chorus is about $1400 or so, Shimano Ultegra is about the same. Not even the highest end groupo.


fixedgearhead

https://www.pacecycles.com/product.a...D=1&subcat=441

tell bush to sort out your economy so you can import one of these without blowing the whole budget.

fssb
sparky

Hi,
get a single or a fixie AFTER you get your legs used to riding again.You can put one together easily with a used bike. There are dozens of great bikes at that price. Here are a few that kinda jump to mind. Rivendell Romulus might be just what you are looking for. It is retro (which is part of the charm of single speed)...comfortable...At $1550 they are discontinuing the bike because (I think) the falling dollar has killed their profit. A great bike to get back into riding on; and one that would be as good riding across the country as it would be down to the local Starbucks. Sorry if I'm over the top. For a sportier approach, I adore the Gunnar Sport. The Schwinn family makes them, with that wonderful Schwinn style. It's a lot of fun to ride, but without the jarring ride of a high perfomrance bike. Another bike in that same category is this.....
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/habanero.html
When I test rode the Century Special I was astonished at the the ride. It had the smoothest ride of any bike I have ever been on. It has slightly more lean than the Sport which has more lean than the Romulus. I mention that because you need to get your back used to that lean; now that you're not a kid anymore.Hmm, how old are you? However with the smoothness of the ride; it would not be too hard to do on that one. If you do decide on that one, get a carbon or steel fork. One last suggeston would be the Airborne Valkyrie. This is the highest performance of my choices. Despite it being titanium, don't expect a buttery ride; or even the mellowness of the Sport. But it has a sweet ride for a high performance bike, and if you're young and fit; it could rock your world. It's the most expensive of the bunch. There are many other wonderful bikes I haven't mentioned. These offer a range from a lite touring (Romulus) to sporty to mellow/performance to high performance. Just remember you'll be spending hundreds of hours in the saddle (trust me, the hard part with any of these bikes is getting off, not getting on) so I would be a little conservative in my selection.

I rode 3000 miles last year and am on pace for 4000 this year. I'm currently riding a fixed 1978 Raleigh Competition GS. I'm just looking for ideas on what to spend the money on once I actually get it in my pocket. I'm currently broke but I WILL reward myself with a new bike for getting off the cigarettes.

Ok,
there is a mechanic at my LBS who got himself a Waterford fixie with the old Schwinn burnt orange color and Henry James lugs. The bike is beautiful. I am thinking of 'borrowing' the color for my next bike. Btw, the second smartest thing I ever did was quit ciggarettes. It's tough, but it's the best thing you can do right now. Soon food will taste better, you'll ride faster, and even, ahem, recreational activities with the fairer sex will be better. No ****, I even had better vision after I quit (took a year for that)

Vanilla

SS MTB all the way

For $2000, I'd get one of these:
http://www.bianchiusa.com/sass.html
http://www.bianchiusa.com/typo3temp/391a4274b4.jpg

AND one of these:
http://www.bianchiusa.com/pista.html
http://www.bianchiusa.com/typo3temp/95662e67cb.jpg
Henry

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking for a 29er. Something nice and steel with horizontal drops. Slide in a set of big burly meats for the trail one day, a set of skinnies for fast road work the next. In fact, for $2k, if you do some good shopping, you 'might' be able to outfit somethink like a karate monkey with road and offroad parts. Give yourself the ability to change gears (at least in the rear) offroad, strip off all that silly shifting stuff for day to day fixie riding.
I keep toying with this idea, I screw with my bikes so much now it's starting to make sense to get a bike that is meant to be screwed with all the time. Fixed, SS, geared, internal geared, on road, off road, coffeshop cruiser, long distance tourer, flat bar, drop bar, bullhorns, cruiser bars, cantis, disks, brakeless.
The frame looses quite a bit in beauty (and it's heavy so I hear) to achieve it's incredible versatility, but if you wanted to drop the coin I'm sure IF or any other good builder could put together a frame for you that would look much nicer and accomplishe the same stuff. Wish I had $2g's to drop. I'm still using my quitting smoking to justify my current crop of bikes.

Pick me! Pick me! :)

Thylacine for instance could build you anything you want, and he's a poster here on the forum and appears to be a stand up guy. :)

Well I already have a cyclocross and 2 road to fixed conversions. The cyclocross doubles as a geared road bike. So I'm left with the decision between a MTB or a real track bike. Something purty.

I kinda like Blast radius's idea. i could call them the twins.

Okay, hows this for an idea. A 29er with clearance for 2.1" tires, with horizontal dropouts ( groovy ones with a derailleur hanger so you can go fixed or ss or geared ), nice steel rigid forks, maybe with a Pauls KISS gruppo, some Thomson in there for fun.....

Naturally I'm only saying this because its kinda what I want to build for myself once my new roadie is done :)

vanilla vanilla vanilla

or a surly LHT and then quit your job and ride around till your 80, then write a book about it and retire to a nudist colony with lots of cash

ellsworth truth

or pinarello track

I have to admit. This picture is making my blood burn a little bit

Holy-jumping-bejesus-f*** !!!
That's sexy!

How did you quit? Im going to be trying in about 2 months(after the stress of school fades into the ease of summer break) and am looking for suggestions.