mercier vs pake
 

initialy i'm thinking on purchasing pake frame. however the deals at bikesdirect kinda place me on a dilemma. that is true i'm bulding a bike on a budget, however i'm willing to pend my purchase and save up more if the wait really worth while. i have a question regarding $300ish worth of frame (pake) and $350ish for a bike.
i found out that pake is made in taiwan (and so does mercier). as far as i know taiwan make some of the name brand bikes out there so its i have anything againts it or doubt on their quality.
so my question is, what is the big difference between paKe frame and mercier frame? anything significant ( material, welding quality,size and weights, handmade vs machine made?) or its all about name brand..

i'm very new to fixie world and even to bike world in general, and i really want to get as much input before i proceed to anything else..

thank you very much
ivan

you can get just the frame from the Mercier for 199 at bikeisland:

http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1084

And it comes with a fork, which the pake does not.

my kilo tt should arrive sometime this week, if you wanna wait that long i can give you some impressions or ride, build quality, etc

i'm also new to fixed gear riding, so we'd be on the same page

ya, there's not already a ton of those on here.

Ivan, I am looking to get a fixed CX as you are. I will probably just go with this one as a starter bike; http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/uno.htm
I find the price hard to resist.

definitely the kilo tt. i've been super happy with mine (except for the quality of the stock hubs).

WORD.

I stripped mine the other day with a skid on totally wet bricks... (preemptive to finger-pointing dickheads, yes it was properly installed and tight and blah blah blah... never came loose once).

Did your other track bikes come from Wal-Mart?

I own a Pake and my girlfriend owns a mercier and the only think that I can tell is different is a little difference in weight. I believe they are made with the same tubing and the mercier comes with a nicer fork.

both great, get whatever is cheaper.

i've only owned a pake. that thing can put up with some extreme abuse. i dont mean trick's just hard riding/crashing.

kilo tt has a lighter frame, if that's important to you.

haven't had any experience with their frames, but pake cranks are really really bad.

my friend stripped all the threads trying to get the cranks out (with proper tool). As he was pushing the cranks off all the threads bended like butter. thank goodness for dremels.

I love my Kilo. I've heard so many horrible things about the stock hubs on the complete.
But the tubing on both frames are similar. The Kilo uses Reynolds 520, and the Pake is CroMo 5120. They're basically the same thing, except the Reynolds is lighter.

The fork on the Kilo is tons better (Crowned) and for $200 you can get both the frame and the fork.

Kilo is a much better deal man.

i have a Pake and a Kilo TT. i bought the Pake, back when they first came out, for about $160. it was worth it, the thing is a tank, in all the good and bad ways. but between the Pake and the Kilo TT, i like my Kilo a little better. it is a little lighter and the welding is a little cleaner (at least on mine). i got the Kilo for $200, as mentioned, whereas i haven't seen a Pake for $200 in a while. the included fork is also a bonus, it took me a while to find a fork i liked for my Pake. there is a convenience to just having one included, especially when you are building up a frame and already have to buy all the other parts.

so basically:
mercier=lighter, cheaper
pake=tank

for $60 more you can get a tank, but is that what you want?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PAKE-TRACK-F...3%3A1|294%3A50
they have different sizes too

The Pake is not worth the extra $

i was making this choice myself and i went with the Kilo and couldn't be happier. I really couldn't justify spending more money on the pake when i could get a complete bike for cheaper.

Mercier and Pake same tubing = wrong

Mercier is butted, manipulated tubing.

Pake is seamed ,straight gauge and round.

Mercier is better.

kilo

i still don't understand why the the mercier is better. why wouldn't you pay 50 more for a super tough frame? i mean, does it just feel better?

Because the steel is higher quality, it is stiffer, stronger, and rides smoother. Higher quality steel has a higher strength to weight ratio, so the Pake may not be any stronger, and just heavier.

Even if the Pake is stronger, you're not going to break a Mercier.