I saw the SE draft outside of performance bike.

I saw the price.

I saw that it had a threadless stem.

I saw it had 700c wheels.

I remember hearing the weinman rims were better than the alex rims on a motobecane messenger

I remembered that the bottom bracket could be swapped with something decent.

I was charmed.

I found one in 49cm.

I thought I could make something of it.

I was wrong.

So, to maintain interest, lets start with a picture.


At least it's pretty.

I've put maybe six miles on it. Just to give it a fair shake. I found the chain to make noise for half the pedal stroke every crank rotation. I found the handlebars to feel... funny.

I do like a few things about the bike. I don't think I've ridden a stiffer frame. I like the pedals it came with, but I have no intent on retaining the stock 1/2" thread crank. I like the paint job, it's nicely understated. I like that it has a threadless headset. And I really like the saddle.

I only paid $154 for the bike. so I don't feel so bad. I'm going to give it two weeks worth of time on craigslist to see if I can turn a good profit. If I can't, I think I'm going to turn it into a track bike.

So, on hand, I have a variety of stems, and some drop bars, which will solve the crap bars situation. I have a good 27.2mm seatpost. Which means, to make this an acceptable bike to me, I'd have to get an adapter to run a euro style BB, or square taper American thread BB and some cranks.

Finally, I'd need to rebuild the rear wheel with a track hub. I have been itching to build a wheel, so that actually sounds like fun to me.

I think I can manage getting the parts for $100-150. So that would put me in $300 on the bike.

I do have a velodrome local, so running the bike as a track bike isn't as ******** as it sounds. other than it being a SE Draft.

Thoughts? Comments? A measure of my insanity?

I would have bought it too, for that price.
Keep it as a bar running beater?
If it gets messed up or stolen, you're not out much $$$.

Hell, I live in chicago, which PB shop did you buy it at? N. Halsted?
I could use a care free, cheap bike for around town....

Put a basket and a bell on that thing and bar duty's covered.

if you don't want the bike why do you have to turn a profit? why not just sell it for what you paid and call it a settled mistake?

I'm guessing it wasn't a mistake, OP bought it from the beginning to try and make a profit

Flogging a POS to someone else at a profit doesn't earn you much in the karma stakes.

If you really want to race track, get yourself something half-way, decent. Then, it's not gonna fall apart on you mid race, and if racing doesn't appeal to you, you can on-sell it without making too much of a loss.

great bike for $150 - if you do anything to it, build a 3 speed wheel and put the fattest tires on it that'll fit and go


don't waste your time and money trying to make it "hip" - it won't be, and you'll always feel dirty for trying



or donate it to Working Bikes

for 150$ it'd be a great bar bike. i'd feel comfortable locking it ANYWHERE.

i've been looking for a decently priced 3 speed hub for a couple months now...

anyone know a good source for cheap 3 speeds?

Looks like a fine bike for what you paid. Get it tuned up and ride the crap out of it.

I'd put a front rack on it and run a real low gear. Use it as a winter bike or for hauling **** and for that price it's perfect.

I had an impulse buy on the SE Premium brew, but I love it and can't put it away...wifey's getting jealous : (

For 150, I'd jump on that thing. It's not the nicest thing out there, but I've seen much worse being ridden much harder.

Thrift stores are a goldmine for that kind of thing, even in the bay area.

Yup, that PB. Went to chicago to get a bike that fit me. The thought did cross my mind to buy and resell it. I don't doubt I can flip it for $175 or better. But the thought of a unique, cheap, track bike also appeals to me.

I'll say it again, a TRACK bike. I have the northbrook velodrome here :-) I'd use the TRACK bike, on the TRACK. :-)

If a 49 is your size, make me an offer ;-) If you wanta 54 or 56, they're at the northbrook PB.
I've bought bikes from working bikes. :-) Good organization. This is to good for donation. That reminds me, I have a bike to donate to them. I have absolutely no desire to make it hip. I make bikes useful. I run a triple on my road bike because it's useful, a double would be trendy.

The bike is well tuned. The only silly thing I might do is go through and rebuild the wheels. I'd need to at minimum do the rear to make it track. :-)

So how stupid would be putting a good crank on it be? That and a fixed hub are the only real expenses to make this thing track worthy.

I think the threading on the Draft require a BMX crank.

It will, but I mentioned earlier that there's a few potential options. There are american thread square taper BB's. And or, I can spend $18-25 on a american to european adapter and run a standard european BB. Instead of a single peice crank.

what's the geo like on this bike? with hi ten steel, though fine for commuting, does not seem to be track grade material

I have a windsor clockwork as my "beater" / fixed gear track bicycle / unicycle with a front wheel and handlebars. It flexes like over cooked pasta and the bottom bracket creeks but I ride to school/store/bar and could care less if it gets scratched or abused. IMO bikes like the ones we own are low end and don't warrant high end components. I've never been to a velodrome but I'd imagine people would look at you a lot like we used to look at the guy who would bring his kia to the drag strip, I maybe wrong though.

As for comments: I thought those came with a flipflop hub, you could always craigslist a cheap rear wheel with a fixed cog and transform ur bike into a fixed gear fixie track bike equipped with direct drive unicycle technology. Also get some pedals with toe clips, ditch the back break and reflectors, flip that stem down and throw some bullhorns or drops on it. Then get a can of flat black spray paint and black out the logos THEN with white-out write BIKE TANK on the top tube... at least that's what I would do

best wishes,
Fauxer

That's the thing that suprizes me about the bike. The frame is stiff as all get out. I was expecting limp noodle. I remember cheap bikes, and how much the bent. This thing... no bend. Swapping to 'other" pedals isn't as easy as it sounds. The bike doesn't have normal pedal threads. To get good pedals (I won't go clip+strap, I have lots of SPD style pedals, and will use them) I iwll need to swap out the cranks for something good.

The geometry on the bike is tame. I can't see that being a problem on the track. The fact track bikes have radical geometry is something I consider insane. But that's a long discussion.

Let me get this straight...you bought a $150 bike on an impulse buy, put 6 miles on it, then complain about how ****ty it is and want to sell if for more than you bought it. LOL...please post a picture of yourself in the jackass thread.

The noisy chain is probably a chain tension issue. If the bars feel "funny" to you WTF did you expect? Did you not notice that the bike had flat bars when you bought it? As for frame stiffness issues...its a straight gauge steel frame and fork with a solid chromoly crank, an undished rear wheel with straight gauge spokes, and the bars are probably steel...of course its stiff.

That bike is fine as is....use it on the street, which is what it is intended for. You can put a few track parts on it (but not track cranks), but thats not going to make it a track bike.

Track bike geometry is not "insane". It is what it is for good reasons, and that bike does not have track geometry. In fact, I would consider that geometry potentially more dangerous on the track given the sluggish handling and probably low-ish bottom bracket.

Your probably better off with a KiloTT if you want to ride on the track for cheap.

Good luck!

Never did I say I was expecting much from the bike. What you're taking as complaints, are me reviewing the bike. All the informatino on the bike has been "oh it's just a pile of crap" But why? Nobody could explain adequately why.

The noisy chain is a front sprocket alignment issue. It's tied to crank position, not chain position. The crank/chainring on the bike is not designed with chainring alignment in mind.

Since when did I say the frame stiffness was an issue? I think I need to quote myself on this, because somewhere you got the impression I was complaining about it. So here we go.
Where that comes off as being a critique, I can't comprehend.

The handlebars are just plain crap. Even if I kept the bike, they'd have to go. I've bent this sort of handlebar several times in my past. ... remember me saying I have experience with cheap bikes :-) I've bent this sort of handlebar in half.

I'm not "putting a few track parts" on it, and calling it a track bike. The frame seems to have qualities that would make it good on the track. It's not like I'm looking at some single speed beach cruiser and going "hey, that's got fixed gear potential" and deciding to call it a track bike. And I think I did make mention of replacing the cranks with something quality.

What does make a track bike? Why do they chose the bikes they do? From what I've seen track bikes are more about tradition than necessarily smart choices.

Care to tell me why track bikes have steep steering angles and short trail numbers? I can understand it on a crit bike, but on a bike where keeping it in as smooth of a path, as close to the line as possable, I don't see the advantage to having a twitchy bike. I've also watched video of track bikes, where's the advantage to steering a snake around a corner when you could waste less energy and cut a smooth arc. Every time you twist that head tube, you're wasting energy. Every time you load that tire sideways, you're wasting energy.

The bottom bracket is a valid concern. It's higher than any of my other bikes. They are however, road bikes, so high BB's aren't the name of the game there.

I come from motorcycles.... I can imagine a bike that would be sluggish enough in the handling department to bother me. But the only times I've seen them were motor-pacing bikes.

This is probally true. We'll see what I come up with. :-)

And the bike is still up on craigslist. I may not have the bike much longer.. and I may just have money for a real track bike.

my upstairs neighbor has one. He locks it up to the front railing next to the trash. do you see where i'm going with this?

seriously though, keep it as a beater. riding that at the track would leave your bike with lifelong emotional issues.

2 axles cabled brakes drivetrain pedal axles headset bearings capable of carrying a 200lb human.....

why do people think a bicycle should be Wal-Mart priced? Bicycles are an investment, you failed and fell victim to someone who knows what is born every minute.

what?