porkch0p

I know there is alot of threads like this buy please stay with me. So this is going to be my first fixed gear bike. I had done research on sizes i need, brand and etc. I just don't exactly know where to start. I want to get a bike which don't cost that much $500-$650 range. I am mostly using this for street riding. I have a couple of questions hoping i can get some answers for it. First off, is it better of for me to buy a complete set then building one up myself? I was thinking of getting a complete set at first and then just build up on that bike but after i read up on some threads, they recommended buying parts and building one up yourself would be cheaper. Thanks and help would be much appreciate it.

jet sanchEz

Kilo TT from Bikesdirect.com

/thread

Scrotze

Let me be the first to say, don't worry about being superfluous, it happens! There are just some people on the forums that have no time to sift through redundant posts and that's totally understandable. Ok, lemme come clean. I don't ride a FG...yet. But I have been seriously riding road for 2 years now and though I don't claim to be an expert on FG and FG riding, I have accumulated some knowledge and I ain't half bad on the subject, at least that much is true. Personally, and this is just me ok, I would buy one pre-made, tailor-made in fact just for me to start riding. I say this partially from experience and partially from some of teh disasters I see riding around me.

Let me elaborate if you'll allow me. There are so many more things that can go wrong with the DoItYourself route. One being death. But that's worst case scenario, I don't intend to scare you. First personal experience: although it is ideal to build your own bike, for the experience and knowledge you gain and all that phooey, you don't want to do it with your FIRST bike especially if you have no idea where to start (that IS what you meant right?). I have tried to build a SS with AND without help (luckily I have the Bike Kitchen! Google it: bicycle kitchen los angeles) and even then my bike was not in tip top condish, one time I was pedalling up a slight incline and my BB gave way! to this day I have no idea what it was, if I were trying to beat a red light and that happened? Well, let's just say YOU would have gone the DIY route. Unless you have some sort of Master Jedi mentoring you, I would not suggest DoingIY>That's not to say that you can NEVER do it yourself, of course once you learn the ins and outs of FG and FG riding (with your professional setup) then you can start goin' "what's this, how does it work?" and proceed to take that shiznit apart.
Oh and there are a lot of DIY disasters I have seen, let's take my buddy for example..For security reasons let's just call him bob, Oh shoot that's his real name, oh well. Ok so bob went the DIY route and this dude is one of the reasons why I STILL haven't gone FG. I mean this dude is danger on wheels man...he has NO idea what he's doin'..ok here lemme tell you why> homeboy wanted to spray-paint his bike right? So we (I had to do this) take his bike apart, this is AFTER I told him that he couldn't just spray the paint over everything and that he had to sand/remove the previous paint. so he paints his bike and I decide bob fudge you dude you put it back together, I say this also to test if he knew what the duck he was doing...and I ended up ****in doin it anyways. But come time to regrease the headset, he tells me: naaah I don't really need it maan i'm good. On top of that his chain sags and he has no care in the world to fix it. He wants to buy bike lights "because they look cool" and also (against my EXPERT advice) ended up spraypainting his brake PADS "stealthy black" as he calls it. Oh and on this ride once he rode the whole ride with his left pant leg up. Also, he used to call every fixed gear bike Trek bikes. He doesn't know the difference between a track frame and a road bike converted to a fixed gear..Let me stop now. This is getting to be a long annoying comment, sorry you had to read all that. Once I get going, the tendency is to keep going. Hope it sorta helped.

porkch0p

Thanks for the reply, that bike looks fine and the price is well around my budget. The thing is that i ride my friends 52 and it seem like that brand doesn't carry it in that size. I read something about the sizing and i am sorta confused.

Scrotze lol thanks for your reply also, i guess i will go with the pre made bikes. saves me from all the trouble that you told me. lol



Anyways, anymore suggestion from anyone in here?

Dodgnkarz

Schwinn Madison is also good for what you want to spend.

jet sanchEz

What did you read that confused you?

What sort of bike is your friend riding that is a 52cm frame? He has a track bike or a road bike? Track bikes and road bikes have completely different measurements. A track bike has a much higher bottom bracket for going up into high turns on the track so the measurement that you have on your friend's bike could be irrelevant for a track bike.

Go into the Kilo TT thread and ask guys in there what size they are riding with your measurements. So many folks have those bikes nowadays that I bet you there is someone in there with very similar measurements who can help you out.

There is a reason for their popularity...

porkch0p

my friend has a 52 track GT frame and I ride fine with it, I am 5'7, I am just a bit confused on the sizing that they talked about on the bottom. I will go ahead and post on the kilo thread and hope I can get an answer. Thanks for all your help btw.

jet sanchEz

I ride a 56cm GT track frame and would fit a 57cm Kilo TT very well. There is no official measuring guideline as far as frame measurements go...some companies start at 49cm and go up in increments of 2cm and some start at 48cm.

My perfect road bike fit is a 59cm frame and my perfect track bike fit is a 57cm frame BUT I can happily ride a 60cm road bike (which I do---my Ciocc) or happily ride a 58cm road bike (which I do---my Concorde) or a 56cm track bike (which I do---my GTB) or a 58cm track bike (which I do---my Fuji).

porkch0p

So you are suggesting to go up a size which mean a 53? You know any other or do anyone else in here know any good sites and cheap to buy bikes off other than bikedirect???