help me choose my first fg
 

ok, i'm in the market for a fixed gear, and im looking for something sturdy that will handle lots of abuse.

heres what im looking for:

frame that can handle LOTS of abuse

$800 or under

aggressive geo.

no bikesdirect

bonus points for aluminum.



all of the above are guidelines. im open to any suggestions.

currently looking at the Fuji Track. any thoughts?

bump

Build a Leader, or the fuji track. Either would be decent choices for that budget.

Or if you're willing to go steel, an iro or spicer would be a good choice.

Define "handle lots of abuse"? If you just mean something you can ride hard, pretty much anything will work for you. If you mean something you can beat around and dent up a bit, aluminum is a bad choice.

felt curbside

trek soho-s

they aren't liked on here because they lack your oh-so-cool aggressive geo... but they're much better than most for ruff and tumble.

i think the only aggressive geo left are IRO and leader.

Specielized City Langster

sears free spirit conversion

Pengy

Pengy for the win!

Why no bikesdirect?

i saw a thread in which multiple members had recieved boxes from bikesdirect that were damaged, and there were gouges from the wheels. not the type of damage that could have come from the post office.

whats a pengy? i googled it to no avail.

cant go wrong with a pista

you can if the nearest bianchi dealer is 90 miles away

Schwin Madison...beautiful bike, steel, ss/fixed flip flop hub, way under $800, comfortable yet aggressive and did I mention beautiful

Steamroller?
It may not be aggressive enough for your needs though - how aggressive are we talking here?

Why so abusive?

he probably wants to bmx on it.

800 bucks thats a ton. Man, you know like you should totally build it yourself. Watch for vintage track bikes on the Classic and Vintage ebay/craigslist sticky and in your hometown. Figure out what size frame you need. And start off with something nice. I saw one on indianapolis CL in cicero Indiana for 400bucks (it was vintage, custom built frame). I'm sure you could probably get if for 300 if it's still up there (listed like a week ago but no one lives near cicero).. Just a short drive to nap town. Then keep the other four hundred for upgrades and a killer lock. And keep it inside or much hate will come your way from me. You could always go the surly frame route or the bd killo frame route too. Build it up yourself, the same people that told you to buy a langster are going to call you a poser when it's all said and done. 800 bucks is a lot of money for a bike!

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...9378&page=1539

If you want utilitarian ultra godliness check out the surly on this page that is linked. I'm pretty sure you could do this up for 800 bucks, but ask the dude that built it what he did. It is freaking beautiful (it's the black surly with the wide ass tank tires..it looks bomb).

i have a habit of wrecking my stuff. that and its got to last for another year and a half of HS, then 4 years of college.

building it up yourself is a terrible idea if you want it to last five years of abuse. you'll be tempted to get theft-magnet parts, you'll spend more overall... it's just a bad idea.

high levels of abuse on an actual vintage track frameset is even worse of an idea.


i'm still saying curbside.
http://www.feltracing.com/09-catalog...-curbside.aspx

they also offer the 'gridlock' frameset which is the curbside in black without any of the parts. you could build that up with stronger wheels and your choice of parts and have a stronger bike.

If you're going to "abuse" your ride unconsciously then I suggest keeping your money, converting an old Schwinn and seeing if you like it or not. For a fraction of your budget, and a big fraction it is, you can determine if FG is for you.

I'm converting an 80$ Miyata to FG for my first. If I had eight-hundo to just blow it wouldn't be on a bike I may not like and can only sell for 80% of it's original price.

Convert a beater.

cc700- if i was going to go that route, i would go with the bowery. $100 cheaper and i can buy locally. but im not sure that i like the sloping tt.

quixo- i dont have 800 to blow. thats just the max im willing to spend. im saving with my job, but i currently only have $270 saved.

What really? Wow I wish I was your bike mechanic, I'd be rich. Man learn to put it together yourself, you don't want to feel the same way you do about your car (that you can never fix it because you never learned how)

True here, I didn't pick up on the abuse, but if you have 800 bucks to spend spend it on something nice. I just assume by beat on it he meant ride like a bat out of hell, not actually treat it bad!!!

Man FW craigslist SUCKS ASS. Is there a bike shop around there maybe south bend, maybe Michigan that sells used road bikes from the 80s. Talk to Pops, and see if he wants to road trip with you one day. Parents eat that up, and they like to feel useful. So talk to pops, hell he may even help you pay for it if you find something too pricey! If he's like my dad he knows someone at work who has an old (insert object) lying around. Just look around, some one must have old ten speeds rotting away, ask if you can buy one off of them. Dude, your location is totally killing you. As for BD bike or bike island frames. I got my wife a BD bike and it made it here just ok. I'd bet that you'd get better luck looking through actual paper classified ads (I mean your neck of the woods isn't so up to date, I used to live in Indiana and it's backwoods brother---born and raised a Hoosier, so don't take offense, but look at your CL nothing but new target/walmart bikes and old huffys and women's Schwinns (F THAT). As for getting a new frame to beat up..DON'T. But don't beat up your bike. Ride it like you stole it but lock it like you love it.

im not out to just beat the hell out of it, heres a good example:

i play lacrosse, and i purchased a tank of a stick, because i know that when im on the field i dont have to worry about breaking it. no second thoughts to affect my gameplay.

so what im saying is that i will feel much more comfortable with something that i wont have to worry about breaking (and im paranoid). plus i dont have the best track record with breaking stuff.

edit: btw, im 6'0", 185 lbs. at 16 y.o.

You're right, he should buy a headset press and all the other tools he'll need as well... because that's a good value.

if you're paying msrp for every single part, it's going to be more than if you bought complete. unless you can get parts at wholesale, only want used parts, or will end up replacing all the parts anyway... a complete is a better value.

i just found out that my LBS carries masi. any thoughts on the speciale fixed?